Tag Archives: bread

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo

Quick & Healthy NuttZo Banana Bread Recipe

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Oh boy, do I have a treat for you! Peanut butter and banana sandwiches used to be my staple snack, but they can be a bit messy when out and about. Plus, I’m too good for regular ole peanut butter; we’re a NuttZo loving family now!

NuttZo makes excellent sandwiches on its own or with a banana, but I still wanted something that travels well so I could feed Avery and myself when away from home. Then the light shone down upon my jar of NuttZo and I suddenly had a brilliant healthy recipe idea; use my favorite ingredients to cook them right into a bread!

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I quickly removed the jar from the light and the windowsill after my epiphany. Too risky!

We can’t get enough of NuttZo in our house lately. Avery, Kelley, and myself have been wreaking havoc on each delicious jar that comes our way. This recipe had to impress my lovely ladies or I risked breaking the “Happy wife, happy life” motto along with the lesser known, “Happy kid and you still live” motto. Scary, huh?

I used the microwave to make this bread, but have provided instructions if you want to bake it instead. Microwave cooking is my top choice, and while not gourmet, it still turns out tasty, healthy meals for any time of day.

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Batter in and ready for the microwave!

 

Make this bread, then cover it with more NuttZo and have zero regrets as you enjoy every last bite.

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Until you realize those bites were for your kid…..oops!!

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Healthy NuttZo Banana Bread

by RC Liley

Prep Time: 10 min

Keywords: bake microwave bread breakfast dessert snack nuttzo

Ingredients (12 thick or 16 thin slices)

  • 1 cup whole grain spelt, whole-wheat, or brown rice flour (I used whole grain spelt)
  • 1 cup unflavored or vanilla protein powder (I used an organic plant protein powder, but other types should work fine); if not using protein powder, just add another cup of the flour you used above
  • 1/4 cup peanut flour (or another nut flour of choice)
  • 4 tbsp NuttZo (any flavor); warm in microwave to make sure it mixes easily
  • 1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (applesauce or pumpkin puree would be good, but you’ll have to change the name)
  • 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract (or use 1/4 cup sugar/honey/agave if you don’t have or like stevia)
  • 2 – 4 packets of stevia powder (I used Pyure Sweet Stevia)
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups milk of choice (reduce by 1/4 cup if using honey or agave)
  • Optional: Add 2 egg whites for extra protein and to help bread rise. I did not do this and the bread turned out fine though.

Instructions

In the oven

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients to combine well, and then mix in the wet.

Pour into a lightly oiled or non-stick loaf pan (a muffin pan would be great too!) and bake 40-45 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack for 10 to 20 minutes.

In the Microwave

Coat a microwave-safe bowl with cooking spray, coconut oil, or good quality butter. You will need to do this in two batches for this method.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients to combine well, and then mix in the wet.

Pour half of the batter into greased bowl and microwave on high for 7 minutes.

Let cool in bowl at least 5 minutes to allow bread to pull away from the sides, and flip over to allow it to fall out. You might need to give a little tug if it doesn’t fall right out.

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What I love about this recipe is you can swap out the banana for applesauce or pumpkin puree for a totally different, yet equally delicious bread. Give it a try and let me know how you love it!

Now, excuse me as I make another batch to make Avery happy again. Remember that motto…..

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Phew, crisis averted!

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo

Sugar Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread Recipe

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The other day I posted a picture of my Sugar Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and promised a recipe was coming soon.

Since I like to deliver on my promises, I’m sharing it with you today. Consider yourself lucky, or maybe it should be forewarned…..hmmmm. Here’s the thing…..

I do about 90% of my cooking via the microwave. My main cooking method is steaming, mostly veggies, and microwave steaming is quick, efficient, and retains the most nutrients compared to roasting, sauteing, boiling, etc. I still cook with these other methods, just not often.

Now, many people avoid microwaves at all costs for fear that they’ll turn radioactive or some other harm will be done. This was a concern for me at one time, so I looked into it and was convinced it was a safe, if not safer cooking method. Think about the carcinogens resulting from grilling, roasting, or toasting, that’s not safe either.

Anyway, I wrote a post on my old healthy food blog, Just Add Cayenne, titled Is Microwave Cooking Safe that you can check out for my reasoning if you’d like. But that’s my preferred method, and that’s how I make most of my breads.

I’ll let you in on my little microwave bread cooking tool that I absolutely love; it’s a microwave omelet cooker! Yep, it’s the Nordic Ware Microwave Omelet Pan and you can get it off of Amazon for less than $7. The link is my affiliate link and I’d be ever so happy if you went through it to make your purchase. Check out my other favorites on the Amazon sidebar to the right.

I’ll save my microwave cooking details for a later post, but for now, how about that bread recipe? I adapted it to be cooked in the oven, so you’ll have to wait for my microwave version. It’s a lot faster, using less ingredients, and still delicious and healthy!

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Sugar-Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread Sweetened with PyureSweet Stevia

Get These Ingredients….

  • 1 egg + 4 egg whites
  • 1 cup steamed carrots
  • 1/2 cup steamed spinach, only drain a little of the excess water and leave the rest*
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups oat flour; could probably use whole wheat, spelt, kamut, or high quality protein powder too
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut; I used the kind from Let’s Do Organic
  • 1/2 cup PyureSweet Stevia; if using pure or liquid stevia extract, use the equivalent of 1 cup of sugar which can be between 1 to 2 tsp depending on brand.
  • 1 Tbs Cinnamon; you can use less, but I’m obsessed
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of sea salt

Now Do This….

  1. Add wet (first 4) ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and puree until mostly smooth.
  2. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 
  3. Add your puree to the dry ingredients and mix with a large spoon or spatula making sure everything is incorporated.
  4. Pour into a loaf pan and bake 50 – 60 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. 
  5. The bread is ready when a fork or knife comes out clean when inserted in the center.  Cover the top with foil for the last 20 minutes to avoid burning.

*The water from the spinach helps retain volume and moisture since baking with stevia requires less bulk than if using sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.

Give this to your kids and call it “Green Monster Bread” or something fun like that and feel good knowing they’re getting healthy food for their constantly growing body. Avery knows what’s up….

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And of course, this bread’s deliciousness is only compounded when you put a think layer of NuttZo on top. Remember, save yourself 15% on the best organic nut & seed butter in existence and used code liley15 when purchasing from their product page. It’s good for you, good for me, and everyone loves it! Winning all around! If only I can get Avery to give me back the jar…

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What are your thoughts on microwave cooking?

Have you made bread in the microwave before?

Since we never go out to eat and I take on cooking mostly all meals in our house, it’s a must and I swear by the microwave. Never mind that odd glowing I get around 3am……