Last week Amazon had a flash sale on some of my favorite paleo/gluten-free cookbook authors’ ebooks, so I took advantage and downloaded a bunch of ebooks to my ipad, one of them being the The Zenbelly Cookbook by Simone Miller. With Easter rapidly approaching and Simone’s book loaded with delicious recipes, I decided to create a grain free banana macadamia nut bread to see how I liked it.  Safe to say the 2015 cookbook challenge has struck gold once again.

There’s a strong stigma surrounding grain-free baking, especially if you are dealing with someone who prefers your standard white flour, butter and sugar.  But truth be told, grain-free baking results in some pretty tasty treats.  I’ve had people tell me that sometimes they like the grain or gluten-free version better than the original (see: gluten-free carrot cake cupcakes).

I still haven’t decided if I will bring this bread to our family’s Easter brunch, but it’s definitely a hit in our house.  The macadamia, coconut and banana remind me of those delicious pancakes I had in Maui, and the chocolate chips just make this bread that much more awesome.

If you haven’t experimented with grain-free baking before or are curious to try it, then I highly recommend this recipe!  I tend to feel better when I don’t have gluten in my diet, and this grain free banana macadamia nut bread is the perfect thing when you are looking for a quick breakfast on the go or want a sweet (but not too sweet) treat.

Grain-Free Banana Macadamia Nut Bread (adapted from the Zenbelly Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

3 eggs

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch (original recipe calls for arrowroot powder)

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a loaf pan.

Combine your bananas, eggs, butter, vanilla in a bowl and mix until well blended.  In a larger bowl, mix your almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking soda and salt.

Gently pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients.  Add your macadamia nuts and chocolate chips.

Pour your batter into your loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.  Cool, eat and enjoy!