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
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 slices 1x
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bread pan with coconut oil spray and line with parchment paper.
- Place dates in a bowl and cover with hot water then let stand and soften for 10 minutes.
- 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.
- Pour mixture into greased and lined bread pan.
- Place in the oven and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the loaf. After 30 minutes, take a piece of aluminum foil and place it lightly over the top of the banana bread to keep from browning too much. Once banana bread is cooked through, 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! Store in the fridge in a closed container.
What I Used To Make This Recipe:
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What if you don’t have a food processor? Would a Vitamix work for the dates?
Could you sub pumpkin for the banana? Perhaps estimate the volume of banana and use pumpkin instead?
i haven’t tried it that way so i can’t say for sure!
I have made so many banana breads but this recipe is the best I’ve had in quite a while! Wonderful recipe!
OOOOOKAY….
Made this for my 3 and 7 year old kids in place of my classic banana bread recipe which has an entire cup of white sugar in it. They LOVED this. Devoured it and told me it was better than my original. Juli this is just magical!!!!!
yay!! so glad you loved it!!
I’m a million weeks pregnant (or at least I feel that way) and I hate dates and am so grateful I found this recipe and your date smoothie recipe. My husband said its the best banana bread he’s ever had. I added bits of 70% dark chocolate in mine!
This was SO GOOD!
So I’m assuming one slice is approximately the amount of dates we need to ripen our cervix? I wouldn’t be opposed to eating more than a slice though, good lord this was so good. Thank you Juli!
39 weeks pregnant today, and whipped up a loaf after dinner tonight. It’s so good! Added a little butter on top and it was fluffy and moist and delicious still warm from the oven. This is going to be a great treat the new few days while we wait for our daughter to arrive!
Made this today at 38 weeks pregnant! Didn’t have bananas so I used pumpkin and it is sooo delicious! The only way I will eat dates from now on. Thanks Juli!
Delightful as mini muffins too!
Baked for 16-18 minutes for the cutest little fluffy bites of banana bread. Pro tip-wet your finger and gently smooth the tips before baking to keep them pretty.
Made up my own gf flour blend too:
5 oz cassava flour
2 oz tapioca starch
1 oz coconut flour
1 oz oat flour
Absolutely amazing! So fast and easy to throw together and toss in the oven. I always want banana bread when I see old bananas sitting there, but I dread making it. NOT anymore! LOVE you and your genius ideas.