It was a shock and a wake-up call to my husband when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and had to change his eating habits overnight. And what a change! Gone were pasties, sausages and cheese sandwiches – in their place, lean meat, vegetables and low fat sauces. We pored over the new eating guidelines together, and I noticed he was allowed cake two or three times a week if it was made with the right ingredients. He likes bananas. So began my quest for a healthy, low fat and natural diabetic banana cake recipe without sugar or artificial sweetener. After several experiments I came up with this recipe – it’s extremely easy to make, and is more of a banana bread than a banana cake. The texture is good and it’s sweet but not too sweet.
Banana bread Ingredients
- 3 large bananas or 6 small ones, ripe or overripe
- 0.1 lb low fat spread
- 4 tablespoons of honey
- 2 eggs
- I teaspoon vanilla flavouring
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 0.2 lb self raising wholemeal flour
- 0.2 lb self raising white flour
How to make the banana bread
- Pre-heat the oven to 175 F
- Grease and line a medium loaf tin
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl
- Add the fat and beat with a wooden spoon
- Add the honey, eggs and vanilla, then beat again
- Add the bicarbonate of soda and salt, beat again
- Add the flour, beat again
- Empty the mixture into the loaf tin. Bake for approximately one hour. Put foil on top to prevent over-browning. Take out, turn onto cooling rack and allow to cool.
Are they all natural ingredients?
Some would argue than the inclusion of low fat spread in the recipe means that the recipe is not all natural. It certainly could be tried without the low fat spread (there is very little of it, anyway). I have always thought it would benefit from the addition of raisins or sultanas, which would also sweeten it further; I haven’t tried this as my husband doesn’t like dried fruit. One thing I’m quite proud of, it is sweetened with honey and not sugar or artificial sweetener.
Why not use artificial sweetener?
The reason I used honey instead of aspartame or Splenda, or one of the other artificial sweeteners that advertise as good sugar substitutes in baking was because it gave the bread an aftertaste, in my opinion, and in a strange way made it too sweet. There is a lot of material on the internet claiming that artificial sweeteners can have side effects; I wasn’t bothered about this so much as that the bread actually tastes better without it.
Is this banana bread recipe suitable for all diabetics?
The recipe corresponds to the guidelines my husband was given by his doctor, but every diabetic person is different, and I would advise consulting your own practitioner if you have any concerns as to whether any of the ingredients are okay for you. In his case, 3 eggs a week and honey two or three times a week is allowed, as well as a very little low fat spread.
