It’s late summer. Labor Day weekend is right around the corner and I’m ready for fall. I can already tell the sun is setting earlier in the evening and rising later in the morning. My two-year-old starts preschool next week for the first time, so with it, September takes on a whole new meaning. The end of summer is always bittersweet, it’s a reminder that change is never anything we can quite control. We must flow and unfold alongside it.
Just like with any transition, I find I have one foot forward and one hanging back, straddling the seasonal line. I want to wring out the final moments while I am also ready to move on. This time of year has always seemed to denote new beginnings more than the New Year. Perhaps it is something that is ingrained in us from an early age; “back to school” being more of an abrupt change for little hearts and minds. When you think about it, it makes sense: you spend days splashing at the pool and playing freely with friends to sitting in a classroom.
But I’m excited. I’m excited for cooler temperatures, sweaters and boots, sipping red wine while being warmed by a fire, cooking chili in a crockpot, and of course all of the fall baking that is about to begin. I’m kicking off the season with this Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread. I saw a similar recipe in a magazine, and immediately made a note to recreate it. There are a couple of ways I Healthified it, and it turned out deliciously.
Here is what I did:
I used gluten-free all-purpose flour rather than regular all-purpose. Normally I would have created my own ratio of gluten-free and grain-free flours (such as brown rice, almond, oat, or coconut), but I wanted to more directly translate the base of this bread to a 1:1 gluten-free option. Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour works well in this way
In the original recipe, butter was listed and there was no banana. I wanted to incorporate banana for a natural sweetness while also adding moisture without adding dairy. I do bake with butter, but I wanted this bread to have a banana bread feel as well, so I made that substitution. This change also made it so I didn’t need to add a liquid sweetener in order to decrease the sugar content.
It called for a ¾ cup combination of granulated sugar and packed brown sugar, so I substituted coconut sugar 1:1 for this combination. If you don’t have coconut sugar or would rather use another sweetener, you can revert back to the original recipe: ½ cup granulated sugar plus ¼ cup packed brown sugar.
Planning and prep
There is nothing too much to think about ahead of time. I didn’t even really bring the eggs to room temperature. I did beat them in a medium bowl before I prepped any other ingredients, so they were sitting out at most maybe 10 minutes. There aren’t any other ingredients that would negatively interact with cold eggs (like butter or coconut oil), so you should be fine cracking them directly from the fridge. It is a rule of thumb that room temperature eggs better interact with other ingredients from a chemistry perspective, so if you think about it, take the eggs from the fridge an hour before baking. You will also have to let the batter rest for 20 minutes before baking.
An added benefit with this bread is that my toddler loves it. Any time I can hide a nutritious food in a baked good is a win in my book. I gave him a slice for both breakfast and a snack. I enjoyed a piece with some greek yogurt for my morning meal, and with some peanut butter for dessert. So delicious!
Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}
Equipment
- loaf pan
- Mixing bowls
- hand beater, stand mixer or whisk
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray for the pan
- 1¾ cup gluten-free all purpose flour
- ¾ cup coconut sugar or granulated sugar of choice
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 2 ripe bananas mashed (equals about ⅔ to ¾ cup)
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips plus an extra couple tablespoons for topping if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×4 inch (or 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch) loaf pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, coconut sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Stir until blended.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, mashed banana, ginger, and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and beat until a batter is formed. Fold in the ½ cup of chocolate chips. Allow the batter to rest for 20 minutes
- After resting, give the batter a good stir with your spatula and transfer to the loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, before removing the bread and allowing it to cool completely on a wire rack.
