Gluten-Free Carrot Walnut Breakfast Loaf

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9 x 5–inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Create a sling by lining bottom of pan crosswise with parchment paper, allowing extra parchment to hang over on either end.

2. In a small saucepan, warm almond milk and coconut oil on low, until oil is melted. Turn off heat and mix in dates. Let stand for 15 minutes to let dates soften.

3. Meanwhile, add oats to a blender, blend into a flour and transfer to a large bowl. Add banana flour, chia seeds, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. Mix well.

4. Pour soaked dates and warm milk into blender and purée until smooth. Pour mixture into dry ingredients using a spatula to scrape out all the purée. Mix to form a thick dough. Fold in carrots, walnuts and coconut. Transfer dough to prepared pan. Press dough lightly into pan and use your fingers to form into a loaf shape with a smooth top. Bake on center rack of oven for 1 hour, 5 minutes to 1 hour, 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Let stand for 5 minutes at room temperature, then lift parchment sling to transfer loaf from pan onto a baking rack to fully cool before cutting. Wrapped tightly, loaf will keep for up to 4 days.

More Uses: For easy pancakes, whisk together 1 cup banana flour, 3 tablespoons coconut sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon sea salt; beat in 2 eggs and ½ cup almond milk. Or try no-bake bites: In a food processor, combine green banana flour with chopped walnuts, hemp seeds, chia seeds, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and honey; pulse until mixture forms a thick dough, then roll into balls and dredge in additional cocoa powder.

Health Tip: Traditionally used in Jamaican and African cuisine as a replacement for wheat flour, green banana flour is a wonderful gluten-free baking alternative. It’s very high in resistant starch, a special type of starch that passes through the digestive tract unchanged (“resisting” digestion). Once it enters the large intestine, it’s fermented by bacteria, resulting in short-chain fatty acids that have many benefits, including reducing blood sugar levels after meals. Research shows that resistant starch can also improve insulin sensitivity; one study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed up to a 33% improvement.