Date Banana Bread

Banana bread is the best. When I think back to my childhood, most of my memories are around food. Not people, not experiences, but food. And one of those food memories is a banana bread loaf (and sometimes pumpkin bread) that we would get at the local grocery store. I would eat it straight out of the tin with a fork because cutting it into slices seemed like too much work…and I didn’t understand portion control. I simply understood the dopamine dump I was getting from consuming such a lovely piece (meaning loaf) of bread. Well nowadays I prefer my dopamine dump to come from a banana bread that has no yellow #5 or canola oil or propylene glycol. Instead, I much prefer some dates, bananas, and some delicious butter…inside AND on top.

Since I’m currently in the third trimester of pregnancy, ready to pop any damn day, I’m eating a lot of dates. And if you’ve never been pregnant or never heard about what dates can do for you during pregnancy…let me give you a visual. I know that’s what you came here for when you were searching for a banana bread recipe! Starting at 36 weeks, eating dates daily can help ripen your cervix. That’s right…we’re talking about ripe bananas AND ripe cervix over here. That’s where my life is at these days. So I’m eating dates, adding them to smoothies, and consuming them in banana bread since that way is the most enjoyable way…all in hopes that labor is even just a tad smoother than it would be if I hadn’t eaten dates. I’m also do about a million other things like drinking raspberry leaf tea, taking evening primrose oil, curb walking (these sneakers and these ones, too, are majorly coming in handy since my feet are swelling and need allll the support), getting abdominal uterine massages, and about anything else they say may help induce and improve labor. Let’s gooooooo, baby girl!

I’m thinking I may whip up one last batch of this banana bread before she gets here. It’s just so damn good. It’s much more dense than the normal banana bread I make and I really dig that. You have to make sure it’s heated up and has a big ole helping of organic grass-fed butter on top. No skimping when it comes to this banana bread. Get that dopamine rush, baby! Speaking of that…maybe I’ll order some groceries today to not only load up on ingredients for this banana bread, but so I can make sure I have all the snacks for our birth center bag! Birth is a marathon and I want to be fully prepared with food that keeps me energized throughout! I’m so damn excited for birth! Kloveyoubyeeeeeee!

Date Banana Bread

• Author: juli
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
• Yield: 8-10 slices 1x

• 12 medjool dates, pitted
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 3 brown bananas
• 1/3 cup melted butter (ghee, coconut oil, etc.)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups gluten free flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bread pan with coconut oil spray and line with parchment paper.
2. Place dates in a bowl and cover with hot water then let stand and soften for 10 minutes.
3. In a food processor, add dates along with the water and pulse to begin to break down the dates. Then place food processor on low and blend until the dates have completely broken down and begin to thicken up, almost like a caramel. Then add the bananas, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Once completely combined, add to a large bowl and slowly mix in the gluten free flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Pour mixture into greased and lined bread pan.
5. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the loaf. Let stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan and then let cool on a rack. Serve warm with some butter and enjoy your life!

What I Used To Make This Recipe:

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