Banana Walnut & Chocolate Squares
Banana, Walnut & Chocolate Squares – gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free and totally delicious.
Do you ever feel the need for some chocolate? I do. And isn’t it nice when you can satisfy that need with some healthy home-made chocolate treats. I love the chocolate goodness cake. But I was curious to see if I could create a dairy-free and refined-sugar-free chocolate cake that I loved just as much. It took a few goes but I finally hit the right combination.
There are some eggs in this recipe. If you are looking for something egg-free, you might find one of these egg substitutes useful.
The bananas and walnuts are what turned these from a normal tasting chocolate cake into something much more moreish. These squares are absolutely gorgeous with a cup of black tea or coffee.
Ingredients
- ~250g pitted dried dates
- 250ml hot water
- 3 eggs
- 1½ tbsp coconut oil, plus extra for greasing
- ½ tbsp regular olive oil
- 3 tbsp gluten-free white flour
- 2 tbsp buckwheat flour
- 1½ tbsp cocoa powder
- good pinch of salt
- 3 - 4 bananas
- ~30g walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Turn on the oven to 160° C, and grease an oven dish with a little coconut oil.
- Chop the dates and place in a small container with 250ml of hot water and one and a half tablespoons of coconut oil. Cover and leave to soak for at least 15 minutes. It should have cooled to lukewarm by then. Once cooled sufficiently, pour into a food mixer with a good pinch of salt.
- Crack 3 eggs into the food mixer and mix everything until it’s fairly smooth and a golden caramel colour.
- Sift the gluten-free plain flour, the buckwheat flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Tip the contents of the bowl into the food mixer and mix around until well blended and smooth. By hand stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Peel and chop 2 of the bananas lengthwise and arrange in the bottom of the greased baking dish. Scrape the contents of the food mixer into the baking dish. Peel the remaining banana(s) and chop lengthwise and then halve these. Arrange on top of the chocolate batter, press the slices down gently and then turn over and press down a little again. The idea is to cover them in batter but have them at the top of the cake.
- Bake in the centre of the oven 160° C for 30 minutes. Then bake for a futher 15 minutes at 180° C. Test that the cake is fully cooked by sticking a fork in its centre. If it comes out clean it’s done. Take out and leave to cool completely for 30 minutes.
