If you’ve ever been to our house for Shabbat, or ever for that matter, you’ve probably tried this slice of heaven. This recipe is one I have been reinventing and perfecting for years, and it’s the first recipe I made that made me think, “woa, maybe I can start blogging my recipes.” This recipe uses no refined sugar, very little oil, and as you’ll soon come to reveal as you browse through my blog posts, the staple of my kitchen: spelt flour.
So why spelt flour? Firstly, because with all the flour alternatives I’ve tried, spelt perfectly replaces all wheat recipes. Seriously, if you come to my pantry, you will only ever find spelt, I haven’t had regular flour in our stash in years, and no one has ever known the difference.
But on a nutritional note, spelt is easier for the body to digest than regular wheat flour. It is not gluten free, but many people who are minorly gluten intolerant actually can digest spelt much better. This is mainly due to the fact that the spelt grain is more water soluble, so the body is able to break it down more efficiently.
Once I started using spelt, I never looked back.
For my Israel followers, I usually buy the Tvuout brand, because its whole and organic, and I have had no issues ever with subbing it in place of regular flour recipes. Depending on my recipe, I either buy the white spelt (which is completely interchangeable with regular white flour) or the whole grain spelt flour (a bit more dense, so more interchangeable with whole wheat recipes). Both can be found in virtually any health food store, and comes in a 1kg package, so perfect for your Shabbat challah needs.
Recipe Title
Spelt Banana Bread
Recipe Servings
Sixteen
Recipe Ingredients Title
Ingredients
Recipe Ingredients List
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• ¼ cup avocado oil*
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup whole spelt flour**
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 100 grams dark chocolate, chopped***
Recipe Ingredients Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180°c and pre-grease two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans
2. Mash the bananas well. I like to use an immersion blender here to ensure a smooth texture, but you can definitely just use a fork and some muscle.
3. Add the eggs, oil, and maple syrup and stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until fully incorporated.
6. Chop your chocolate bar into nice sized chunks, and fold into the batter.
7. Divide the batter up evenly between the 2 loaf pans, and bake in the center rack in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are slightly browned.
8. Cool completely before slicing, and enjoy!****
Notes:
*I like to use avocado oil as my go to neutral oil, but feel free to swap the oil with coconut oil, butter, or any other oil of your choice. Just note flavor will change depending on what oil you’ve chosen.
**I usually use the whole spelt flour, but the recipe is just as perfect when you use the white spelt flour, so really whichever you have on hand.
***You can swap this out for ½ cup of chocolate chips
**** This recipe freezes beautifully, and since its makes 2 loaf pans I usually just toss one into the freezer to have on hand. Can be kept in the freezer for up to two months.
Spelt Banana Bread
Ingredients
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• ¼ cup avocado oil*
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup whole spelt flour**
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 100 grams dark chocolate, chopped***
1. Preheat oven to 180°c and pre-grease two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans
2. Mash the bananas well. I like to use an immersion blender here to ensure a smooth texture, but you can definitely just use a fork and some muscle.
3. Add the eggs, oil, and maple syrup and stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until fully incorporated.
6. Chop your chocolate bar into nice sized chunks, and fold into the batter.
7. Divide the batter up evenly between the 2 loaf pans, and bake in the center rack in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are slightly browned.
8. Cool completely before slicing, and enjoy!****
Notes:
*I like to use avocado oil as my go to neutral oil, but feel free to swap the oil with coconut oil, butter, or any other oil of your choice. Just note flavor will change depending on what oil you've chosen.
**I usually use the whole spelt flour, but the recipe is just as perfect when you use the white spelt flour, so really whichever you have on hand.
***You can swap this out for ½ cup of chocolate chips
**** This recipe freezes beautifully, and since its makes 2 loaf pans I usually just toss one into the freezer to have on hand. Can be kept in the freezer for up to two months.