Gluten Free Banana & Pistachio Loaf

Makes 10-12 slices

Ingredients for the loaf:

• 1 chia egg (mix 1 tbsp of chia seeds with 3 tbsp water, for 10 mins until a gel forms)
• 260g (11/2 cups) buckwheat flour
• 160g (11/2 cups) coconut flour
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 50g (1/3 cup) pistachios, shelled (unsalted)
• Coconut oil

Ingredients for the icing:

• 1 tin coconut milk (chilled in the fridge overnight). You just want the fat from the top of the can
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• Extra pistachios to to

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4, 350°F).
2. In a mixing bowl, make the chia egg by adding 1 tbsp of chia seeds with 3 tbsp water for 10 mins until a gel like substance has formed.
3. Whilst the chia egg is forming, shell the pistachios if you haven’t managed to buy them this way. Crush them with a rolling pin until they are into halves.
4. Line a bread baking tin with baking paper greased with coconut oil.
5. In a bowl mash four ripe bananas with a fork until there are no lumps.
6. To the chia egg add the coconut flour, buckwheat flour, mashed bananas, cinnamon and maple syrup and mix with a spoon.
7. Now add the pistachios and mix in well with your hands until a dough forms.
8. Tightly press the dough into the baking tin and place in the oven for 20 mins.
9. Whilst the bread is baking, add the
   coconut fat (top thick part of the coconut milk can) to a bowl and machine whisk until it starts becoming slightly frothy, at this point add 1 tbsp of maple syrup and whisk again.
10. Put this mix to the fridge to use later.
11. Once the bread is ready, remove from the baking tin and allow to cool fully before topping with the coconut icing (otherwise it melts) this roughly takes 60-90 minutes.
12. Now remove the icing from the fridge and simply layer it onto the loaf and finally top with more pistachios.

Top Tip: You can always try this with different nuts or without any if you have a nut allergy!

Per 100g Calories: 419, Carbohydrates: 41.0g, Sugars: 9.0g, Fat: 18.0g, Saturates: 2.3g, Protein: 20.0g, Salt: 1.1g

Recipe from: Healthy Living James www.healthylivingjames.co.uk Instagram and Facebook @healthylivingjames

January 2018 (Issue 34) Vegan Life Magazine