I like dense bread and I cannot lie! At least when it’s a dessert bread. I do prefer my French bread nice and fluffy, but if I’m going to have a slice of banana bread (ahem, with butter), I want it to be nutrient dense with a dense texture.

I’ve done this in the past a couple of different ways. One, was to use almond flour as a 1-1 swap with regular flour, and the other was to use flour that I milled at home from the wheat grain. I like soft white winter wheat the best, but I’ve used all different kinds.

This time, I figured, why not use both? So I did, and I was not disappointed. I really enjoy using almond flour, but I also really like that wholesome whole wheat taste in my breads. It just feels like home.

Using freshly milled flour is easier than you think, and along with minimizing the gluten content, there’s a whole host of other benefits included. By grinding the wheat from the wheat berry, you are eating the WHOLE WHEAT to include 40/44 essential nutrients (from food) needed to sustain life, the wheat bran and wheat germ. It’s also much less oxidized which is what leads to the nutrient degradation… but I digress. I’ll do a post on the health benefits of fresh milled flour later, but suffice it to say, I am a big believer in its benefits.

The steps/recipe is a pretty traditional recipe. I used the one from Food 52 as my base and tweaked it from there.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
• 3 large, ripe bananas
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 cup fresh milled soft white wheat flour
• 1 scoop BB digestive support (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2-1 bar favorite dark chocolate (mine had coconut in it, thus the title) roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350° F, and butter a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan.
2. Peel the bananas and in a large mixing bowl, mash them well with a fork. Stir in the sugar and then the egg, mixing thoroughly. Stir in the butter.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients gently into the wet, mixing just until you no longer see any streaks of raw flour. (Do not overmix, or the banana bread will be tough!)
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean and the bread is just starting to come away from the sides of the pan.
5. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto the rack to cool completely before slicing and serving. The bread has a lovely, crisp crust when it’s fresh; if you wrap the leftovers tightly in foil and eat them the next day, you’ll lose that crisp crust, but the texture and flavor will still be great — if not even better.

Here’s the video if you prefer to watch 🤣 (like me)