Ever looked in the fruit bowl and seen overripe, spotty bananas? Then ever looked in your fridge and saw you had no eggs… That was the dilemma I was faced with earlier. Thankfully I had some egg whites leftover from the weekend – I guess I have my mum to thank for never letting me throw any food any. I dare you to leave the high-calorie, high-fat ingredients of the traditional banana bread behind and try this alternative.

My banana bread recipe uses 100% whole wheat flour, is naturally sweetened and has a light crumb – plus it hardly uses any equipment so there’s not a lot of washing up!

You’ll need… 

• 2 eggs (or 2 egg whites)
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 large bananas
• ¼ cup milk (I used skimmed cow’s milk)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 25g of vanilla protein power
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
• 1¾ cups whole wheat flour
• Totally optional: ½ cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried fruit, fresh banana slices…

Preheat oven to 165 degrees and grease a load pan with some coconut oil.

If you’re using just egg whites whisk then until they are light and fluffy, and if you’re using normal eggs just beat them with a fork.

Add the melted coconut oil and honey to the eggs and whisk.

Mash the bananas and also add them to the mix.

Then add your milk, baking soda, vanilla protein power, salt and cinnamon, and stir.

Carefully fold in the flour with a metal spoon.

Pour your batter into the loaf tin and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for about an hour, or until  a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Let the bread cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

How do you like your banana bread? For some extra protein, I like to top it with peanut butter. If I’m feeling indulgent, a dollop or honey or a large slab of butter.