Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts

My Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts is a delicious treat you can enjoy as part of a healthy eating plan.

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Indigo Herbs, suppliers of organic and quality assured natural health products. All the opinions expressed are my own. 

Eating healthy foods and exercising regularly is important to me. About a year ago, I began a healthy eating and exercise programme that has brought me to new levels of strength and fitness, and resulted in a weight loss of over 2 stone (over 28 pounds). One of the things I learned was that including healthier treats in your diet makes it easier to stay on course. It’s all about balance, and balance isn’t about feeling deprived.

Indigo Herbs

My Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts is full of wholesome ingredients, many of them from Indigo Herbs. I have become a fan of Glastonbury-based Indigo Herbs’ natural health products and healthy ingredients over the last year or so, and I’m convinced that some of them helped me achieve my goals. One of my favourite products from their range is their Super Vital Powder. With Beetroot, Acai and Baobab, it is full of Vitamin C and anti-oxidants, it’s a great addition to a post-workout smoothie, your favourite soups, casseroles or baked goods.

But back to the cakes…

Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts

With chia seeds, honey, walnuts, dates, coconut oil and coconut sugar, my Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts is nutrient dense as well as full of flavour. Orange rind gives a lovely citrus hit and the warming spices – cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg – stimulate your metabolism as well as tasting good.

Although the batter for my Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts does fit in one loaf pan, my experience is that it cooks better and browns more evenly if you divide the batter between two pans. Do let the cakes cool completely before slicing – in fact if you can it’s a great idea to bake the cakes the day before you want to eat them. They taste even better when the flavours have had a chance to meld together. The cakes will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for four to five days.

Delicious served as a healthier snack or dessert, Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts is also a real treat for breakfast from time to time. It is after all, all about balance.

Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts – Printable Recipe

Created by: April J Harris

Banana and Chia Loaf Cake with Dates and Walnuts

Servings 2 loaf cakes

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Ingredients

  

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• 200 grams all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 heaped tablespoon Indigo Herbs Organic Chia Seeds
• 1 tablespoon Indigo Herbs Super Vital Powder
• 175 grams Indigo Herbs Organic Coconut Oil
• 100 grams Indigo Herbs Organic Coconut Sugar
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 3 tablespoons runny honey
• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 250 grams mashed banana)
• the grated rind of one organic orange optional
• 145 grams pitted chopped Organic Dates
• 60 grams Organic Walnuts roughly chopped

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (160°C for fan ovens, gas mark 3).
• Grease and flour two - 2 pound loaf pans (roughly 22.5 cm x 13 cm x 6 cm each).
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, chia seeds and Super Vital Powder. Set aside.
• Cream the coconut oil and coconut sugar using an electric mixer.
• Beat the eggs and honey into the coconut oil mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula regularly.
• When the mixture is light and fluffy, gradually add the flour mixture, a bit at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in the mashed bananas and orange rind.
• Remove the bowl from the electric mixer and stir in the chopped organic dates and walnuts with a wooden spoon.
• Divide the mixture between the loaf pans. Carefully level the tops a bit with the flat of a knife. The pans will only be about half full.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. It's a good idea to check the cakes after 25 if your oven is very fierce.
• Cool in the pans for at least 30 minutes before removing the cakes and leaving them on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Wait until the cakes are completely cool before slicing.
• Store in an airtight container.

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Thanks to Indigo Herbs for sponsoring this post. Full Disclosure Policy.