Coconut and almond flour banana bread (GF)

You may have noticed that I’m not posting here as much as before and I miss posting more often but I am doing my best really and it will have to do for now. It’s just a period where I had to slow down a little bit due to moving, settling in my new place, organizing my new little studio, working on other projects and I’ll admit that this heat we’ve been having here in Zagreb for the last month also slowed me down. It’s difficult to be creative and productive when you are melting from the heat and humidity so I’ve been doing something slightly unusual for me and that is getting up really (and I mean really!) early in the mornings so I can do most of the shooting and work before the heat reaches its peak in afternoon hours. I’ll just say that this Saturday I was already baking a cake at 6 am and shooting it afterwards, haha you may think I’m a little bit crazy but I really wanted to bake something and couldn’t stand the thought of switching on the oven when the temperatures are already around 34 C so I did it early on! And I have to say that it has been one of the most productive mornings I had in a long time! 😀

Talking about being too hot, there is a reason why in countries like Spain, Italy or Croatia (coastal part) there is a concept and tradition of ‘siesta’. It’s called differently in different languages but the meaning is always the same, a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the lunch. In many countries that practice the ‘siesta’ and we definitely do in the coastal part of Croatia (I come from Dubrovnik that is by the sea in Dalmatia region), the heat can be unbearable in the early afternoon so making a midday break to get some rest and take it easy is the way to survive those hot afternoons. Of course on days when we can do that little luxury! So this Summer I’m planning to put that tradition to good use and wake up very early, work in the mornings (and evenings when necessary) and rest in the afternoons! 😀 What do you think about my plan? Sounds good, right!?

Besides my travel & food story about Croatian blueberry farm, the last few recipes I posted here on the blog were all fruit based recipes like this Chocolate granola, yogurt & blueberries dessert  or this refreshing  Strawberry banana smoothie bowl. It’s because I always keep my blog posts seasonal and I’ve been enjoying all the beautiful Summer fruit we have now in this part of the world and also because even if I LOVE chocolate, when it gets too hot I tend to crave more fruity desserts and treats. But being a chocolate lover as I am after all those refreshing smoothies, banana ice creams and beautiful berries, I start craving something chocolaty no matter how how it is! Are you the same? 😀

You know how I like to make my desserts a bit healthier and better for our bodies so I wanted to bake something using naturally GF flours, this time I decided for coconut and almond flour as I haven’t really baked yet in that combination before. I have to note here that in this recipe real almond flour is used and not just ground almonds and it does make a difference as I try to bake with both. I know almond flour is expensive and that’s why I use it occasionally only and if you have a food processor that is strong enough (I use Magimix), you can actually process almonds until you get them very finally ground so basically that’s almond flour. This banana bread can also be made without chocolate but why would you do that haha!? Of course I added some dark chocolate chunks but you can also put chopped walnuts, dried fruit or anything you prefer. I prefer chocolate! 🙂

If you are banana bread lover, you can also check out two other recipes I have here on the blog: this Chocolate chip banana bread (vegan)  or this Banana bread filled with homemade ‘nutella’! 

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