Spelt Banana Bread is deliciously moist and full of fibre so healthier than your average cake! It’s also the perfect way to use up 4 overripe bananas.
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”.
This 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
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!
I’m sure you’ll love this quick banana bread so please leave a comment and rating when you make it! If you’re on social media you can also share a photo by tagging @FabFood4All as I love seeing my recipes come to life!
Pin this easy banana bread for later!
Thank you to Sharpham Park for my gifted 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 bicarbonate of soda
- 1 pinch 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.
Tim
Loved the recipe, and have now made this several times, thanks for sharing. I have adapted it slightly and removed sugar and added honey and some fresh dates for sweetness.
Camilla
It is a great recipe isn’t it Tim! I bake it all the time and it doesn’t seem to mind which flours your throw at it which was handy when lock down was at it’s worst!
Jessica
I just want to let you know that this is hands down the BEST banana bread I have ever tasted. As soon as one batch is almost gone, I have another one in the oven ready to devour. I think I’ve made 10 so far during this quarantine. Thank you for your wonderful recipe!!
Camilla
I totally agree with you Jessica, we can’t have this banana bread enough:-)
Angela brooks
very easy to make and i lessened the sugar but added dates , nuts and seeds and spme flaxseed.
its baking now ,cant wait to east it x
Camilla
Fab Angela, great to add what you have and make it your own:-)
KerstinM
This is the best banana bread recipe I’ve ever tried! It’s utterly delicious! I’ve varied it a couple of times by adding chopped walnuts, cinnamon. coconut and swapped a bit of butter for vegetable oil and it’s come out perfect each time. I’ve never baked with spelt flour before but it’s been an absolute revelation. Am going to try it with some swirls of Nutella next…. Yum Yum!
Camilla
Excellent Kerstin, it is such a good recipe and I so wish I could get hold of some Spelt flour or any kind of flour for that matter! I resorted to making it with half Strong wholemeal and some self raising flour the other day as really craved it. I turned out fine! Love the sound of your additions!
Gaby
Love this! most banana breads don’t taste enough of bananas but this packs it in! I added cinnamon and chopped walnuts and a little less sugar – i was worried i’d mucked about with it too much but it was delicious!
Camilla
Excellent, great additions:-) I’ll be making this for my mum’s birthday tomorrow!
Anna
I had the same problem as one of the other reviewers. The cake was mushy on the inside despite cooking for longer than the recipe states.
Camilla
Hi Anna, I don’t know what to say. I make this recipe from Sophie Dahl all the time, it’s from her book. I even made it last week with strong wholemeal flour and self raising and it still came out wonderful. Perhaps an oven thermometer is the answer.
Jan Marie
Hiya! This is the first time I baked anything, so I was scared for the result. But it ended beautifully, I love your recipe. Thank you for sharing, I took a photo of it as well, though I cant post it here. Also, 200 g sugar was too much, I put 150 g, but it was still too sweet for me. So if you don’t like it to be sweet, just lessen the sugar to half.
Camilla
Great Jan. The sweetness will depend on the ripeness of your bananas:-)
Marisa Sim
My banana bread sunk and was mushy inside. I baked it longer but it was still quite mushy. What size bananas did you use? Thanks
Camilla
Hi Marisa, it’s been a while since I made this recipe from Sophie Dahl but I would use medium sized bananas. I saw someone else with the same recipe (it was released to many of us at the time) say 360g peeled weight. I hope that helps and sorry you cake sunk, it’s always worked for me and not aware of anyone else have this happen. I shall add medium bananas to the recipe though as large would be too much.
Angela
Perfect every time, the only change is that I use less sugar as the bananas are sweet and of course to reduce the calories
Camilla
Thank you Angela, great to adapt a recipe to your own needs:-)
Kelly McKee
Omg this is delicious!! My little boy devoured it
Camilla
It’s so good isn’t it! So glad he enjoyed it:-)