Spelt Banana Bread is deliciously moist and full of fibre so healthier than your average cake!
I was completely blown away by this Spelt Banana Bread today and have to say it’s the best Banana Bread I have ever tasted. I have never used spelt flour before and have heard so much about it and yet knew nothing about it until now.
Last weekend I read with great interest an article in the Daily Mail about Roger Saul, the founder of designer label Mulberry and his journey in setting up Sharpham Park. It is here that organic spelt is grown and turned into Bran Flakes, Pearled Spelt, Spelt Flours, Spelt Risottos, Cereal Bars and Artisan Pasta.
Spelt is a great source of fibre and therefore Sharpham Park decided it would be a great idea to work with Bowel Cancer UK for their Bowel Cancer Awareness Month (April). The British Medical Journal has published research which shows that an increase in fibre, especially cereal fibre and whole grains can help to prevent bowel cancer. By adding 3 servings (90g) of whole grains into your daily diet you can cut your risk of bowel cancer by about 20%.
To promote their joint message they have collected some tasty high fibre recipes from 30 famous culinary friends which have been published online as “Great British Spelt Recipes”. The Spelt Banana Bread is from Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl (Harper Collins).
After today’s resounding success I can’t wait to try some more recipes out, I think spelt has put a spell on me! Not only is spelt high in fibre but it also contains plenty of iron, potassium, zinc, riboflavin and other vitamins and minerals. Also because of its unique gluten structure, it is far easier to digest than its distant cousin wheat and therefore great for people with wheat intolerance.
For more information on Bowel Cancer UK visit www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk or free phone 0800 8403540.
More recipes using Spelt Flour
- Spelt Banoffee Flapjacks with Dark Chocolate
- Apple & Chocolate Spelt Swiss Roll
- Quick Spelt Butternut Squash Cake
- Spelt Danish Apple Ring
- Spelt & Wholemeal No Knead Loaf
- Spelt & Chia Fishtail Plait
- Apple & Pear Cider Spelt Soda Bread
More Banana Recipes
As this recipe uses up ripe bananas and store cupboard ingredients with hardly any butter I am entering it into this month’s Credit Crunch Munch which is a joint challenge run by myself this month and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours. I am also entering this months No Waste Food Challenge which is the fab Kate at Turquoise Lemons’ brain child and is being hosted by the equally fab Elizabeth over at Elizabeth’s Kitchen this month where the theme is fruit and this recipe is perfect for those over ripe bananas!
Can you use different flour to spelt flour in this banana bread?
Yes I have made it with ordinary plain flour but would recommend using wholemeal as it adds a nuttiness similar to that of spelt flour or use a combination of the two. I have also used a mixture of strong plain flour and self raising flour when that’s all I had and that worked fine too. This is a very forgiving recipe!
I do hope you try this Banana Bread as it’s a great way to use up 4 ripe or over-ripe bananas!
Pin for later!
Thank you to Sharpham Park for my samples of spelt flour and pearled spelt.
Spelt Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 75 g soft butter plus extra for greasing and serving
- 4 ripe bananas (medium sized) mashed up
- 200 g soft brown sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 1 pinch of salt
- 170 g spelt flour (see notes for alternatives)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Grease a 13 x 23-cm/ 9 x 5 inch bread tin. (I used my largest loaf tin).
- Pour the mashed bananas into a big mixing bowl. Mix in the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract.
- Add the bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix in the flour last. Pour into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 1 hour, remove and cool, then serve in slices with a little butter.
Recipe Notes
I thought my mixture looked all wrong when I made it with flecks of butter but I needn't have worried it turned out perfectly!
If you don't have spelt flour then wholemeal flour or a mix of wholemeal and plain flour works well. You can even use a mix of strong wholemeal and self raising flour if that's all you have!
Natasha
Loved the recipe!
I used 100 g of sugar instead of 200 but added two table spoons of manuka honey and walnuts. Yum!
Would definitely recommend. Very moist and delicious.
Camilla
Excellent Natasha, I bet those additions tasted amazing!
Freda
This is an excellent recipe. I adapted it slightly, I almost always reduce the sugar in recipes and in this case, reduced it to 120g. I also added some chopped up 80% dark chocolate to the mixture – about 50g to the mixture itself and another 10g dotted on top.
Took about 55 minutes in my Neff Circotherm at 160 degrees, I think I will reduce the temperature a bit next time as the top was a bit darker than I’d like. (I’m still not totally used to the Neff oven.)
The banana bread was absolutely delicious I must say, will definitely make it again, great to have a good recipe that uses Spelt flour.
Camilla
Great Freda, I’ve taken to adding dark chocolate chips too if I have some chocolate to hand. Glad you like the recipe:-)
Suzy McGregor
This recipe I’ve now made over 8 times! It’s totally amazing. I actually use it as a base and add mixed fruit. My friends think it’s the best fruit cake they have ever had. Today I’m adding blue berries and will lop it with cream cheese icing. Spelt flour is my favourite. Thankyou so much for the interesting yummy recipes .
Camilla
So glad you like the recipe, I’ve started adding chocolate chips to it lately but the possibilities are endless and I love the sound of your cream cheese frosting:-)
Amy Woelke
Thank you for this recipe it was actually shared with me by a friend. I have to say I think my bananas were quite large but reading the comments 360 g I’ll see how much they weigh… I had no problems at all using large bananas and at the last minute I talked up some walnuts and stirred them into the pan that I had already poured the banana batter into. It came out delicious and I have one in the oven right now! Thanks from California!
Camilla
Hi Amy, so glad you like the recipe all the way over in California:-)
Amy
OK I have a quick question I love this recipe! And I have made this banana bread multiple times however this time I took it out of the pan and the bottom was stuck to the pan so I reread the directions and it says remove cool and slice… Does that mean you’re supposed to let it cool in the pan? And then we move it? Or does that mean you take it out of the oven remove it from the pan and then let it cool. So I let mine cool probably five minutes and I loosen the sides and we had to scrape all the goodness out of the bottom because we weren’t letting any of it go to waste! Or do you have another suggestion because I used A nonstick pan the one I have used previously and I also buttered it. Should I perhaps put some parchment down?… Thank you so much it’s the best recipe ever!
Camilla
Did you loosen the side with a spatula before turning out? I would leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes as the cake firms up as it cools. I’ve started using baking paper loaf liners which make life a lot easier, you just pop in the loaf pan and no need for any greasing, plus the loaf won’t break on tipping out.
Amy
Thank you so much for your sage advice! I will definitely try leaving it in the pan for 10 minutes (I should’ve known better!) and I’m also going to look for the loaf liners. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes
Camilla
A pleasure Amy:-)
Natalie zemmel
This is absolutely delicious! So moist and soft! Best banana cake ever and the spelt flour feels like it’s slightly more healthy… ! Thank you xx
Camilla
It’s such a good recipe isn’t it, I make it so often:-)