One of the worst culinary crimes is letting fresh produce spoil, and sadly, I have to admit that despite our best efforts this happens in our house. One fruit in particular that we can never seem to eat fast enough are bananas. My favorite solution to using aged bananas has always been baking a banana bread. Growing up, my mom made banana bread often and I still remember how delicious it was, making the perfect breakfast or lunch for any of us in the family. In recent years, I’ve been hard pressed to find a quality gluten free banana bread recipe and adapting a non-gluten free recipe has posed its challenges. I’m proud to announce though that I’ve finally found a recipe from the Taste of Home magazine that produces a moist and light banana bread that will make gluten free and non-gluten free eaters very happy! Myself and my non-gluten free little girl and husband loved this banana bread and it will be sure to fill many tummies in our household for years to come!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4-5 medium)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetend applesauce (Musselman’s applesauce marks gluten free on label)
- 1/3 cup canola oil (I use Smart Balance oil which is marked gluten free)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (McCormick indicates gluten free on packaging)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- For ingredients such as salt, baking soda, sugar, and walnuts I tend to use whatever is on sale or is the cheapest, most of the time this being the store brand in our case. These ingredients are inherently gluten free as is and their labels are short and sweet, only listing one ingredient. Although there is no source of gluten in these products, it is good practice to always call the number listed on the labeling to check gluten content. In fact, even for the products that I listed that I use, be sure to always check the labels each time before purchasing, as companies have been known to make changes to their ingredient labels without any indication on their packaging, better to be safe than sorry for sure.
Directions:
- Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl including flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl, mash bananas with a fork.
- Add eggs, sugar, applesauce, oil, and vanilla to mashed bananas.
- Combine together flour mixture and wet ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
- Transfer to two 8 in. x 4 in. loaf pans coated with cooking spray (I use Smart Balance). Sprinkle top with walnuts. You can use one pan as I did (I only had one loaf pan and limited time) but just adjust the cook time accordingly, i.e. start with the 55 minutes and increase by 10 minute increments if necessary until toothpick comes out clean.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. If toothpick comes out clean from center than the bread is baked through. Cool for about 10 minutes and turn pan to remove and cool completely.
I personally enjoy my banana bread a little toasted or heated with butter! A tip to add a little something extra special to this bread…heat and top with Land O’Lakes Cinnamon Sugar Butter (gluten free according to their website here, but always check the label before purchasing)! And as an added bonus, my house was filled with a wonderful banana aroma the entire afternoon!
Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Lindsay