Having had some requests for some sugar free recipes, I thought I’d share this one. I make this modified banana bread (originally another Nigella recipe) in muffin sizes for my kids lunches all the time and the best part is I know that the only sugar in it comes from the bananas themselves. This recipe calls for stevia instead of sugar and you can buy it in a variety of granulated brands in the sugar aisle next to the artificial sweeteners. The exciting thing about stevia is that it’s totally natural so there’s no bad after taste and it’s also much sweeter than sugar so you really only need 1/4 of the amount you might normally use when baking with sugar.
- 250g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 125g unsalted butter, melted
- 50-75g stevia (add enough to suit your desire for ‘sweetness’)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.
- In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and stevia and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1-11/4 hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.
foodthatserves 
Our family are huge banana bread fans and I am delighted to say this worked a treat. The kids loved it and they were pretty chuffed about the no sugar!! Thanks Jane xx
That’s great, Bron!
Hey Jane, love your blog and often cook from it! Having started a sugar free diet for my eczema recently I’ve done some research into stevia. It seemed too good to be true and this article gives some reasons why: http://empoweredsustenance.com/is-stevia-bad-for-you/ I don’t understand all the details in it but the first point makes a lot of sense to me. So I’ve been baking without sugar and without stevia and it’s so delicious. This banana bread was devoured by the whole family and is so easy to make: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/baby-making/online-blog-bake-sale-rules/chocolate-chip-cookie-pie/sugar-free-banana-bread/
I didn’t soak the dates for four hours. I just soaked for ten minutes in boiling water and that worked a treat. If you don’t own coconut oil, it’s available in some supermarkets and all health food shops. It’s such a great oil. I use it for lots of baking now as well as frying.
Thought I’d share it with you if you’d like to give a try. Let me know what you think.