I love the smell of cinnamon at Christmas. In fact Christmas spices always remind me of my friends Madeleine and Jo in France. She's Swedish and they bake the most delicious breads and cookies over the festive season. Their home permanently smells like cinnamon - it's divine!

This is such a simple bread recipe. Based on the banana bread in my book Skin Healing Expert, I've added spices and dried fruits to give it an extra christmassy taste. 

Oranges can be problematic for eczema, but if you're ok with them you might like to add a little grated orange peel and squeeze of fresh orange juice too. 

The best thing about baking this bread is that your entire house will smell of christmas for a good 24 hours! 

INGREDIENTS

3 very ripe bananas

50g coconut sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

75ml coconut oil (melted)

300g self raising flour (I used gluten free) 

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp mixed spices

2 tsp cinnamon 

75g chopped pecans

50g raisins

50g dried cranberries

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C

In a mixing bowl mash the bananas with the back of a fork

Add the coconut sugar, melted coconut oil and vanilla and stir

Add the flour, baking powder, spices, pecans and dried fruit, fold in until everything is combined

Spoon into a silicone loaf tin and bake for 40 - 50 minutes at 180C

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve toasted with vegan butter or coconut oil