Banana Bread

Pumpkin bread has always been my favorite of the quick bread varieties and I'm sure you can guess why. I can remember my mom making several mini loaves at a time with the intention to freeze some, but few would actually make it that far. I've said it here, and I'll say it again, I LOVE pumpkin. Period. But, enough about pumpkin because I want to show some love to bananas. I have found that people either love bananas or don't particularly care for them. I've met many banana haters and banana lovers. I've met people that couldn't even stand the smell of bananas and those that preferred waiting until they were black and shriveled before they ate them (I might have made some of you gag right there, sorry!).  It's quite the dichotomous world we live in when it comes to this fruit.

I don't get to bake banana bread as often as I want to because it requires the forethought of buying bananas and letting them basically shrivel up, all the while having my apartment smell like ripening bananas. Sure, I could roast the bananas beforehand to help them soften and release their sugars, but that requires an extra step and more time with my hot oven on. I decided this past weekend it was time to bake some banana bread. I realized I have not been baking much for myself or anything other than the farmers market the past several months (mostly because it's summer and turning my oven on is a pain) so I designated Sunday as a baking day. Dare I say it was actually sort of fall-ish weather as it was cloudy all morning and only in the 70s. Perfect banana bread baking weather, or at least as perfect as it will get in Texas at the beginning of September.

I'm going to give you the basic recipe for banana bread below and leave the add-ins up to you. This go-around I did a combination of pecans and chai spices but I encourage you to go with whatever suits your fancy. This isn't a very sweet bread so please taste the batter and adjust it to your liking. Do be mindful though if you add too much more liquid to the batter that you might have to adjust with a bit more flour. I chose to bake 3 mini loaves, but you can also bake the bread in a regular loaf pan as long as you adjust the baking time.  I'd say about 45 to 50 minutes would do the trick.  Also, in case you haven't realized by now, I bake in weights as it's more accurate with gluten free baking so please don't try to convert it into volume.  You might have a banana catastrophe. 

Gluten Free/Vegan Banana Bread

notes: For my version, I added 2 handfuls chopped pecans, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cardamom, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg along with the dry ingredients

90g gluten free oat flour

75g arrowroot flour

50g brown rice flour

50g buckwheat flour

1 tsp psyllium husk 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

90g melted coconut oil

4 small/medium very ripe bananas (this was about 350g once mashed)

125g grade B maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

any add-ins you like (i.e. pecans, walnuts, spices, chocolate chips, candied ginger, etc.)

Gently grease 3 mini loaf pans (or 1 regular loaf pan) and set them aside.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all of the flours until well blended, then add the baking soda, baking powder, psyllium husk, and sea salt. At this point you can add any dry mix-ins that you want to use (i.e. nuts, spices, etc.)

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mash the bananas very well then stir in the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.  Mix until smooth. With the mixer on, or by hand, start adding the dry ingredients to the wet. Once all of the dry ingredients have been added, mix well. The batter should be thick.

Divide the mixture between the three mini loaf pans (filling them about halfway) or one regular loaf pan. Tap the pans on the counter then place them in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes for mini loaves or 45 to 50 minutes for regular loaves until the edges are lightly browned and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes, then move it to a rack to cool completely. Leftovers can be stored covered in plastic wrap for a few days at room temperature, or longer in the fridge/freezer. Makes 3 mini loaves or 1 regular loaf.