Banana bread for the masses

I used to make banana bread on a pretty regular basis.  I don’t anymore for two reasons.  One is that there are banana monsters in my house, which means I rarely have any overripe bananas around.  Two is because I haven’t done much baking at all since we went gluten-free (not to mention egg- and dairy-free).

Last weekend I was motivated to try, though, so I Googled “gluten-free” banana bread and came up with a winner on my first click.  The recipe came from Pattycake.ca, and I am copying it here, noting the slight changes I made.

Easy Gluten-free Banana Bread from Pattycake.ca

Ingredients / Directions:

Combine:

• 1 c brown rice flour
• 1 c corn flour (not cornmeal) or brown rice flour
• 2 Tbsp starch (tapioca starch or corn starch)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder

Combine separately:

• 3 med-lg very ripe bananas – mashed
• 2 eggs (If making this vegan, soak 5 tsp flaxmeal in 6 tbsp hot water for five minutes and add to wet ingredients.  also increase baking powder to 1-1/2 tsp and add another half a banana.)
• 1/3 c honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar (or 1/2 c sucanat or brown sugar)
• 1/2 c milk or milk substitute
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 – 1 tsp freshly grated lemon or orange zest (optional — but not really)
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts, pecans, chocolate chips, chopped dates, apricots, or other dried fruit (optional)
• a few dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg

Mix wet and dry until just incorporated. If adding nuts/chocolate/fruit, fold it into batter. Pour into a generously greased and dusted loaf pan (I use a glass pan). Bake at 350 for about 55min – a toothpick inserted in center should come out clean.

If using all honey or agave nectar, your loaf may brown too quickly. If you notice this, lower the oven to 325 and/or loosely cover the top of the loaf with some foil.

Quite a few of my non-gluten-free friends tried this loaf, and everyone agreed that it was yummy!  I tried it last week with all rice flour (half brown, half white) and today I tried it with half corn flour, which I preferred, but I’d take it either way.  Mmmm, pass the vegan margarine, please.  (Or butter for me!)

Tags: baking, banana, bread, breakfast, gluten-free, vegan