Forgiving is banana bread’s middle name. I can recommend no better recipe for playing around with new flour mixes or alternative sweeteners. Follow the basics below, and you’re going to get a delicious loaf. Now, go get some bananas and let them get freckly!
Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips
- Gluten-free Flour Mix (this is my Cup 4 Cup knock off) or my original one with coconut flour.
- If you use flours that are not gluten-free, omit the xanthan gum. (I like a blend of half barley flour, half oat or wheat.)
- When you have bananas that are getting freckly, either make banana bread or peel them and pop them into a freezer bag to use later. Frozen bananas make great additions to smoothies, or you can thaw them and use them in this bread.
- Add 2 tablespoons ground, organic flax meal if you have it. If you do this, you can even omit the sunflower oil.
- This recipe takes nicely to alternative sweeteners. If you are going to use a liquid sweetener, like barley malt or brown rice syrup, it’s best to combine it with some granulated sweetener like unrefined cane sugar, coconut sugar, or granulated maple sugar. I recommend half and half, e.g. 1/4 cup brown rice syrup + 1/4 cup unrefined cane sugar in place of the 1/2 cup unrefined sugar in the recipe.
- Stevia works great too. Use 1 Tablespoon Stevia Fiber in place of the 1/2 cup sugar. There’s less bulk so your loaf won’t rise quite like in the photo, but it will be tasty.
- Try this bread toasted with a little butter and fleur de sel sprinkled on top. Yummy!
Best Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup unrefined organic cane sugar (sucanat)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil)
- 2 cups flour mix (see link in Amy's Kitchen Coach Tips)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray or a light coating of butter or solid vegetable shortening.
- Peel the bananas and mix them on low speed of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment. Add sugar and mix until fairly smooth. Add the eggs and mix to incorporate.
- Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine then add to the banana mixture. Mix until combined then add the walnuts.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until cracks on top of loaf no longer appear wet. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out on a cooling rack.
Ripe Food & Wine | http://www.ripefoodandwine.com | Amy Andrews amy@ripefoodandwine.com
