Healthier Banana Bread

Banana bread has always been one of my favourite treats growing up, but with any baked good comes a lot of sugar and processed carbs. I've been experimenting for years to try and make a healthier version with ingredients that I feel more comfortable eating on a daily basis. As with most healthy baking, many of my attempts ended up very dry and tasteless which no one wants. This version is my favourite to date as it's very (dare I say) moist with tons of banana flavour. I love eating a slice with peanut butter as a quick pre-workout or adding to yogurt bowls for an afternoon treat.

Ingredients:

- 300g banana* (approx. 3 medium sized bananas)

- 1/2 cup oats (I find the quick oats work much better)

- 3 eggs

- 3 tbsp honey (could substitute for maple syrup as well)

- 2 scoops (20g) collagen peptides (I haven't experimented but I believe you could substitute with 20g of whey as well - I would recommend unflavored or vanilla)

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp sea salt

- 2 tsp vanilla (I also added 1 tsp almond extract but not required)

Directions:

1. Mash the banana in a bowl until texture is smooth.

2. Add the eggs to the banana and stir until very well combined.

3. Add the remaining ingredients into the egg and banana mixture and stir again.

4. Bake at 350 for 45 mins** in a parchment paper lined (could also grease but this will even further reduce your clean up) loaf pan.

Macros for 1 slice (presuming the loaf cuts into approx. 10 pieces), 15c/2f /5p

Happy Baking!

*The key to this banana bread is to use very ripe bananas, I like to use bananas that are almost completely brown and are quite mushy. This is a great way to use up old bananas that are past their prime for regular consumption.

**You can tell when a baked good is finished when a fork can be poked into the loaf and removed cleanly, meaning without any batter being left behind on the fork.