Year after year, I start getting excited about fall more and more. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and the afternoons after the first days of school spent lighting candles with my mom and telling her about my new classes. Fall is also the time of sweaters, warm drinks, and yummy pumpkin flavors. Pumpkin pie, as you all know, is one of my favorite things, so this year I am trying to find new recipes to add pumpkin to.
The back story to this banana bread is a funny one; my dad and I both like to eat bananas when they are still green, but we had a couple that were too brown for us, and my mom just doesn’t really care for bananas in general. My dad always gives me a hard time about not eating the bananas before they get too brown, so I bet him (we’re a slightly competitive family) I would eat them before we ended up throwing them into the yard for the raccoons to eat.
I was just about to suck it up and eat one of the too-ripe bananas when I realized I could use them to make a really yummy banana bread. I started looking up recipes for healthy and gluten-free banana bread, and found a couple that looked promising. Applesauce was used in a lot of them to make sure the loaves were moist, and I thought, why not replace the applesauce with pumpkin and make pumpkin-banana bread?! I was skeptic of how it would turn out since pumpkin is a lot thicker than applesauce, so I used less pumpkin than applesauce was called for, and added some water to thin it out a bit. This worked really well, and the batter ended up really smooth!
I used the one-to-one baking flour from Bob’s Red Mill, and it is my favorite gluten-free flour! You literally just substitute it with the exact measurements as regular flour in recipes, and they turn out great. I would definitely recommend buying this for gluten-free recipes! My mom uses it to make our family-favorite cheese sauce, and you can’t tell a difference in taste.
The whole process of putting the bread together is really simple: you just mix the dry ingredients separately from the wet, and once they are ready, you mix the two together in one bowl!
I used about 3/4 cup of pumpkin and added in 1/4 of water to make a full cup!
Mash the bananas until they look about like this!
All of the wet ingredients mixed up should look like this!
The batter should be really smooth once you combine the wet an dry ingredients.
You can totally add in some chocolate chips, too, because why not…
I made muffins as well as a loaf of bread since I had enough batter!
Just look at that pumpkin-chocolate-banana-y goodness!
Healthy Gluten Free Pumpkin Banana Bread
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (plus 1/4 water)
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey (or sugar if you would like!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill One-to-One Gluten Free Baking Flour (or any other gluten free flour!)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 mashed rip bananas (or about 1 1/4-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup chocolate chips if you would like!
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, and in another small bowl, mix the pumpkin and water together until it has an applesauce consistency. Add the other wet ingredients together, and mix until everything is combined. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and add in chocolate chips if you prefer – if not, you could add in some nuts, or nothing at all! Melt some coconut oil and soak a paper towel in it to coat your muffin tin and/or bread pan with. Pour the batter into the pans, and put the muffins in the oven for about 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown, and put the bread in for 45 minutes. Check on them regularly if there isn’t as much batter in the pan. Let your yummy gluten-free goodies cool and enjoy the wonderful taste that is pumpkin!
I think I could eat pumpkin year-round and be perfectly happy, but there’s something so special about getting to enjoy it as soon as it turns to fall! I’m so happy I decided to use those pesky brown bananas instead of throwing them away, because now I get to enjoy these gluten-free muffins and bread! The Bob’s Red Mill flour really does make gluten-free baked goods taste just as good as regular goodies, and it’s so easy to work with. I would definitely try it out if you haven’t already!
What is your favorite fall flavor?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂
When I was younger, I actually really hated oatmeal cookies. It hasn’t been until the past couple of months that I have really been able to appreciate oatmeal and food that contains oats. Being at college ,though, I have realized that oats are so good for you and easily fill you up! They make for a great snack because a little bit fills you up for a long time. That’s why today I’m going to be talking about these Banana Oat “Cookies”!
Also just a quick announcement – I recently got a separate Twitter and Instagram for my blog! I would love for you guys to follow me on there so you can stay extra up to date on my posts, and I love interacting with fellow bloggers and beauty/fashion/whatever-else-my-blog-is-about lovers! 🙂
I originally found this recipe on Pinterest from The Burlap Bag and decided to add a little bit to the original recipe since I love vanilla…
Recipe
-2 large bananas (preferably old)
-1 cup of oats (I used quick oats)
(optional, but they give these cookies a little bit something extra)
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-Handful of chocolate chips (you could also use something else, like nuts)
Put the oats into a large mixing bowl.
Break up the bananas into large chunks and put them in the bowl. This makes the next step a little bit easier!
Using a fork, mash the bananas up and mix them with the oats. Make sure all of the bananas and oats are incorporated! This may take longer than you think.
Mix in a handful of chocolate chips (or anything else you would like), making sure they are evenly dispersed throughout the mixture.
Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet about an inch or so apart. They don’t expand, so you don’t have to worry about having them super far apart!
Mmmmm look at that cookie. Bake them for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven!
The finished cookies! I just kept them in an airtight container, and they stayed nice and fresh! I wouldn’t keep them in there for over a week, but don’t worry, they probably won’t even last that long! I had mine finished within about three days haha. They were such a nice little treat when I needed a small snack! And you don’t have to feel guilty about eating them – they are just made up of bananas and oats! Yes, there are chocolate chips in there as well, but a little bit of chocolate is just fine for you 😉
So this is totally optional, but you can “frost” these cookies with peanut butter before eating them! I did this because I am addicted to peanut butter, and ohmygosh did it taste amazing!!
What are your favorite kind of healthy cookies?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂
It’s time for another addition to my healthy snacks series! Today I’m going to be sharing with you guys one of my obsessions – greek yogurt parfaits!
I absolutely love eating this whenever I need an afternoon pick-me-up, or honestly anytime I’m hungry…it’s just so yummy!!
Start off by putting about 3 or 4 spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt into the bottom of your bowl. You can put as much or as little as you would like!
Drizzle some honey over the yogurt, and mix it together until it’s smooth.
With whatever berries you would like (I always use blueberries and strawberries, but you can use as many or as little kinds of berries you please), wash them and layer them over the yogurt!
If you use strawberries like I did, I would suggest slicing them up into smaller pieces!
Layer some more yogurt over the berries, and repeat the process of drizzling and mixing the honey in!
Put some more berries on top, and then sprinkle on some granola! I personally love the granola from Kind because it is not only good for you (and gluten free!), but it tastes amazing!
JUST LOOK HOW PRETTY. Looking at these pictures makes me want to eat some now…even though I had some already today…
Alright, there you have it – greek yogurt parfait! This is my personal take on this pretty common recipe, but there’s so many more combinations you can do! I’ve found a lot of different recipes that I want to try out, so stay tuned for them!
What do you like to eat greek yogurt with?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂
I’m back again today with my Healthy Snack series!
I don’t know about you guys, but chocolate pudding is definitely one of my weaknesses! Ever since I was little I have loved those little pudding cups that my mom would put in my lunch, but being gluten free these past couple of years, I’ve had to avoid pudding! There isn’t any wheat on the ingredients list of most puddings, but some people who are allergic to gluten – like myself – have said that it sometimes causes a reaction when they eat it. So, in order to avoid all of that, I just haven’t really eaten pudding!
However, since starting this healthy snacks series, I actually found a chocolate pudding recipe that uses avocados as the base! I was kind of skeptical at first because I really don’t like avocados, but the end result was super yummy!
All of the ingredients you will need, minus the milk because I forgot to put it in this picture…
Recipe
2 ripe avocados
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I ended up putting in about a tablespoon extra at the end)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup milk (almond or soy works too!)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
The whole process is super easy – just peal the avocados and cut them into chunks, put them in the blender, add everything else, and blend! As you can see, I used my magic bullet for this, and everything barely fit! I don’t really have the luxury of having a full sized blender at college, though, so I use my magic bullet a lot!
Funny story – I could not get the cup open after I blended it! I needed to simply open it real quick in order to stir the last bits of avocado around, but the lid would not budge. I had to go and get one of the guys on my floor to open it for me! Apparently magic bullets double as vacuums now.
The end result! When I first tried the pudding, it had a very different flavor, but I got used to it after the third or fourth bite! I absolutely hate avocados, so I was extremely weary of trying this, but oh my gosh it is super yummy! It doesn’t taste exactly like classic chocolate pudding, but it is still just as great. I was super satisfied with the results, and I could have a quick little dessert each night this week without feeling guilty!
Well that is it for this recipe – you guys should really try this one out if you love chocolate! Also, I’m going to try and do a more “savory” snack for the next one since the first two in the series have been sweet.
What are your guilty pleasures when it comes to dessert?
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day! 🙂
The title of this post is about as much of a mouthful as these amazing mini-sandwiches, and trust me, they are a very yummy mouthful. If you love bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate, this snack is for you!
Lately I’ve been really hungry because I’ve been working out a lot, and I have a lot of walking to do for my classes, but I haven’t been wanting to eat unhealthy snacks like chips or anything really sugary. So, I took to Pinterest to find some healthy ideas and wasn’t disappointed! I found a lot, so I decided I’m going to do a “Healthy Snacks” series, and post all of the recipes I try! They will all be gluten free and vegetarian since I’m allergic to wheat, and don’t eat meat (ha ha ha…insert cringe-y face), so anyone can eat them! I’m super excited for this because it means I get to eat a bunch of yummy healthy snacks! Without further ado, here are the Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Mini-Sandwiches!
Ok these little globs are a little piece of heaven! Each bite is filled with the perfect amount of bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate!
The whole process is really simple: start by cutting a couple of bananas into little chucks about 1/4 of an inch thick. Match up the slices for the mini-sandwiches to make sure there is an even amount.
Look at that peanut butter.
Spread some peanut butter on one little slice, probably about half of a tablespoon.
Put the other slice on top, making a little sandwich.
Once you have made all of the sandwiches, put them on a plate and place them in the freezer for about an hour. (Don’t you just love dorm freezers…)
Melt some chocolate in the microwave, or the stove top – just make sure the chocolate doesn’t get burned! Then dip half of each sandwich into the chocolate. I didn’t take any pictures of this part because it was extremely messy haha. Once all of the sandwiches are dipped, put them back in the freezer for another hour. After they’ve all set, they are ready to eat! I didn’t eat all of them at once of course, so I kept them in a tupperware container in the freezer. I finished them in a couple of days, and they kept just fine!
Alright, so that’s it for the first healthy snack in the series! I have a lot planned, so expect many more in the coming weeks!
What healthy snacks do you like to eat?
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day! 🙂