I bought a exorbitant amount of bananas last week because Roman had been enjoying them with his breakfasts, but then he decided that they weren't cool anymore. I had six bananas that were lookin' a bit spotty (like the the bottom one), so it was either bake or trash time. Seeing as I hate to throw food away, (even gross, spotty bananas), I decided to bake!
A few years ago, I bought a stoneware mini-loaf pan from a Pampered Chef party and I'm embarrassed to say that I only use it once and don't remember having very good results. I was intimidated! You know how that is, when you get bad results once, going back can require a bit of a push? Well, I pushed myself.
Normally I make chocolate banana bread, but I wanted to make a few loaves of "regular" banana bread, too. The beauty of a mini-loaf pan... variety!
G l u t e n - F r e e B a n a n a B r e a d
- 5 ripe bananas
- 3 eggs
- 6 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 2 1/2 c. gluten-free baking mix*
- 1/2 c. chocolate chips
- 3/4 chopped nuts*
- 1/4 c. cocoa powder
- turbinado sugar for tops
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take your mini-loaf pan and grease with a bit of olive oil. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, "cream" bananas until mostly smooth with a few lumps. Add eggs, olive oil, salt, vanilla and brown sugar. Mix well, then add gluten-free baking mix, a cup at a time, until a delicious batter forms! Toss in chocolate chips and chopped nuts and blend for a few seconds. If you are making chocolate banana bread, add cocoa powder (add 2 TBSP to half the batter for half a batch like I did). Pour into mini-loaf pan, top with a few sprinkles of turbinado sugar and and bake for 45 minutes. Loaves should rise and look slightly golden. Yum!
*N O T E S:
- I use (and swear by) Pamela's Baking Mix. It has baking powder and soda already in the mix. Score!
- I used whole pecans and chopped them right before adding to my batter. You can use any kind of nut your heart desires. Get crazy.
- The following ingredients I used were Organic: olive oil, eggs, my M.I.L.'s home-made vanilla, brown sugar, pecans and turbinado sugar. I try to bake (and cook!) with as many organic ingredients as possible as often as possible. It's important to me to feed my family organic food, but I don't beat myself up if some of it's not organic. Feel free to use whatever is best for you and your family!
- If you have Celiac and absolutely CANNOT have gluten in your food, please make sure to check ALL ingredients for possible contaminants. Check chocolate chips, vanilla, cocoa powder, etc. When in doubt, leave it out!
- I like (who am I kidding... I LOVE) topping hot banana bread with a smear of butter and a drizzle of honey. Dustin likes left-over slices toasted and topped with peanut butter.
