Banana Cranberry Bread Calories

- Written by Poonam Vinod

The modern banana bread recipe began being published in cookbooks around the 1930s. Some food historians believe banana bread was a byproduct of the Great Depression as resourceful housewives did not wish to throw away overripe bananas (as they were still a costly item to purchase), others believe the modern banana bread was developed in corporate kitchens to promote flour and baking soda products. Whatever be the theory behind the origin of this dish, today we have invented a variety of breads and cakes by experimenting with the original recipe. The best thing about this dish is that it makes overripe bananas - that are otherwise looked down upon – look like heroes! So the next time you find some old, black-as-coal and unappealing bananas lying around – you know what to do with them! ☺

When you read the word ‘bread’ one of the things that comes to mind is - Wheat = Gluten = Not the best option for someone with gluten sensitivity. But how do you get bread without the gluten? Look no further! Here we have an easy to bake, gluten and dairy free banana bread! Although the idea of baking something with zero flour or milk products may seem questionable, this is a fool-proof recipe with extremely satisfying and mouthwatering results.

Banana Cranberry Bread Recipe -

The main ingredients used in this recipe are – bananas, almond flour, eggs, cranberries and honey.

If you’re looking for something to snack on which is also power packed with nutrients, this may be a good choice for you. This recipe calls for the use of almond flour in place of regular refined flour(maida). Almond flour is low in carbs, rich in vitamin E and has a slightly sweeter taste. Almond flour may also provide more health benefits than traditional wheat flour, such as reducing "bad" LDL cholesterol and insulin resistance. Almond flour can either be bought from a market or made from scratch at home by simple blanching the almonds to peel off their skin and then powdering them in your mixer. Almond meal is also a term used interchangeably for almond flour. However, almond meal is different as it is coarser since the almonds are ground without removing their skins. This makes a huge difference in the texture of your baked product.

Here is a link to the step-by-step video on how to make banana cranberry bread.

https://youtu.be/Q5ISeDQFyH0 - This recipe can give about 10 servings.

P.S. In this video, blueberries are used instead of cranberries. However, equally amazing results can be obtained with the use of any berries or any other additions of your choice eg. chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

The benefit of adding berries to your banana bread is the powerful antioxidants they contain which protect your cells from free radical damage. Berries also contain fibre, which may increase feelings of fullness and thereby help prevent a session of binge eating!

Using overripe bananas will enhance the sweetness of the dish. Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits which have many nutritional benefits such as: good potassium content which helps in lowering blood pressure, fibre and vitamin C content which helps in maintaining healthy heart conditions.

One serving of the dish contains 310kcal.

The overall nutritional intake is as follows:

Carbohydrate : 30%

Protein : 10%

Fat : 59%

The fat content dominates the carbohydrate and protein content of the dish because of the almond flour. Although this may seem worrisome to those who anxiously track the movement of the needle on the weighing scale, by making sure that the portion size consumed is limited – you have yourself a yummy but guilt-free snack. Another alternative would be replacing the almond flour with regular whole wheat flour which is richer in carbs but has a low fat content.

This makes a perfect, nutritious snack for someone who is gluten/lactose intolerant but also can be enjoyed by all as it is a super simple and healthy! It makes a good snack to give to your children who are picky eaters as it contains a lot of hidden goodness and will give them the energy boost they need to keep them active and playful.

Happy Foodgymming!