Healthy Pecan Carrot Cake Banana Bread

In theme of this week’s Great British Bake Off, I thought I’d treat you all to two of my favourite cake flavours. Carrot and banana. Mmmm, mmmm. Imagine your favourite carrot cake flavours and then combine it with your favourite banana bread (soft, sweet and cakey) and that’s exactly what you have right here. The perfect ratio of sweet, soft and moist.

I won’t lie. I have not been able to keep my grubby mitts of this carrot cake banana bread since I made it last week. I always think banana bread doesn’t look like much, but once I have a slice, there’s pretty much no stopping me. If it involves nuts, cinnamon (my favourite spice), bananas (my favourite fruit) and oats, then you can betcha that I’m all over it.

I’m definitely one of those people who can enjoy carrot cake anytime of the year. Easter, Christmas, birthday’s, whenever. I’m also one of those people who’s a sucker for a slice of banana bread (when it’s baked perfectly). Personally, I believe the perfect banana bread should be sweet with a slightly cakey texture. Not too dry, but also not too moist. Perfecto. 

This recipe is pretty perfect because you can make so many alterations to make it suit your lifestyle. Vegan? I got you covered. Dairy free? Me too! Gluten free? Use gluten free oats!

I was pretty happy with how the carrot cake banana bread came out the oven but, seeing as I served this up for everyone else to enjoy, I decided to create a quick honey yoghurt glazed topping for display. Simply mix your favourite yoghurt (I used greek yoghurt) with a tablespoon of honey and you’ve got an easy, healthy and just as delicious sweet topping for your bread. Minus the slightly sloppy mess but if it tastes good, who cares?

For the base of the bread I used oat flour (simply blitz your favourite oats in a food processor) and from previous experience of banana bread making, I much prefer using oats than wholemeal flour. It’s certainly less gooey, less crumbly and more cakey.

I’m already thinking about making this again on the weekend. A toasted slice, slathered with peanut butter, really does make for the perfect afternoon snack. Pair it your favourite cuppa (gotta be green tea for me) and you’re in for a treat. I promise. 

Healthy Pecan Carrot Cake Banana Bread

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Serves: 8 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 60 minutes 60 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

Ingredients

• DRY
• 110g oats blitzed into oat flour (you can switch this for gluten free oats if needed)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• WET
• 2 ripe medium bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg (1 tbsp chia seeds + 2.5 tbsp water for vegan)
• 65g shredded carrots
• 85g + 1 tbsp raw honey (no added sugar etc)
• 40g coconut oil
• OTHER
• 70g raisins
• 60g pecans
• YOGHURT ICING
• 4 pecans
• 1 tbsp grated carrot
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• 4 tbsp greek yoghurt

Instructions

Begin by pre-heating your oven to gas mark 4 and line a bread tin with parchment paper.

In a bowl mix together your dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk your egg and then add the rest of the wet ingredients together and mix again using a spoon.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients bowl and slowly stir until everything is combined. Add your other ingredients, stir once more and pour your mixture into the bread tin. Pop in the middle of the oven to bake for 57-60 minutes. Use the knife test to ensure your bread has fully cooked otherwise you'll end up with a gooey loaf!

Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. Allowing to cool with ensure that your slices are less crumbly. Once cooled, layer the top of your banana bread with your honey glazed yoghurt (just mix the honey and yoghurt together) and top with extra carrot shredding and pecans.

Once your carrot cake banana bread is ready to tuck into, cut a slice and enjoy! I love my slices slightly toasted with a dollop of nut butter. Yum!

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