I spent years trying to deny my sweet tooth. I'd swear off sugar for a few days, weeks or even months if I was lucky, only to find myself unable to overcome an uncontrollable urge to binge on it at some stage.
Stuffing my face full of sweet junk food of course, made me feel terrible, and then led to more overeating of sugar to comfort myself, which only led to a more miserable mood and weight gain, Eventually, I'd go back into deprivation mode and lose a bit of weight, only to start craving sugar again.
This cycle of binging and deprivation and yo-yoing weight defined my health for decades. It was miserable and affected every aspect of my health negatively.
It took a while but I finally figure out that for me, eating something sweet - preferably baking - every day stopped the cycle of deprivation and bingeing. I wanted to make my baking as healthy as possible without feeling like I was missing out on something really delicious.
Eventually, I came up with this recipe - a sweet treat that is full of nutrition and doesn't taste like disappointment or punishment! It provides a good amount of energy but relative to baking, is not a calorie bomb. I treat it like a small meal when I'm considering my energy intake for the day.
Banana chocolate bread for breakfast, lunch & tea
I love bananas and I love chocolate. I settled on using dark chocolate because the bananas are sweet enough and the dark chocolate adds a richness that makes it super special. I love using a 72 per cent cocoa chocolate but I once used a 90 per cent cocoa variety and it was also excellent.
This high-fibre banana and dark chocolate bread makes a lovely brekkie, snack or dessert and can be served warm or cold.
After baking up a batch, I portion up and freeze whatever I won't eat within a day, as it doesn't stay fresh/moist for long as as baking made with butter or oil. I serve this warm with high-protein yoghurt, or fresh as a snack with coffee. It is soooo good.
Use whatever flours you like, including wheat, in quantities of 1.5-2 cups for recipe: I've used buckwheat and chickpea flours, which worked well.
Banana and dark chocolate cake/pudding
Ingredients:
1 x large ripe banana, mashed
2 x eggs
½ - 1 cup soy/oat/almond/dairy milk
1 cup of gluten-free flour
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup protein powder (vanilla works well but you could try chocolate)
¼ cup stevia or other sugar substitute
1 x row of Whittaker's dark ghana chocolate (72% cocoa)
6 x walnuts (optional)
Method:
Mix the combined wet ingredients (banana, eggs, milk) into combined dry ingredients. Dice/smash chocolate and walnuts (if using) into small chunks/shards and mix through at combined mixture.
Consistency should be like a thick cake/muffin mixture. If it's too wet, add a bit more flour and if too dry, add a bit more milk.
Bake in a lined small loaf tin or divide into a muffin tin (will make 8-12 small muffins) for about 10-15 mins, or until cooked and golden brown, in a 180deg C oven. Leave until completely cool before slicing, if making a loaf.
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