Thursday, May 22, 2008

Joy of Baking Banana Bread-Gluten Free

So, right now I'm big on two different things: 1) brown rice flour and 2) thejoyofbaking.com.
And I've combined the two to make what I believe is an excellent banana bread. The flavor isn't as strong or maybe as sweet as I wanted when I ate it right out of the oven, but I always forget that banana bread always tastes better after sitting over night. I also think that using regular butter as opposed to the unsalted butter that the recipe called for would also fix that. But the texture of this bread is so heavenly. At least to me. So, I'm sharing it with you. I know that the usage of flours is a bit funky, but I was just experimenting, and I'm really happy with the result. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

1 cup Featherlight flour mix (made with brown rice flour)

½ cup GF flour mix (again, made with brown rice flour)

¼ cup Sorghum flour

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 ripe medium bananas, mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place oven rack to middle position. Spray a loaf pan (I used a slightly smaller pan, 8x4) with a non stick vegetable spray. Set aside.

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl combine the flours, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan and place the slices of banana on top of the batter for garnish. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. This bread can be frozen.

1 comment:

Melissa said...

So good to know- I love banana bread especially your kind. Thanks for all the little hints!!!