Gluten-free Banana Bread Perfected

I swear I live with monkeys. The sheer number of bananas we go through in a week is astonishing.  Ruby goes for a nap talking about the banana she’s going to have for snack and I think Pete could subsist on bananas and peanut butter alone.  So, our supply rarely ever gets to that glorious mushy brown phase ready for baking. That was until last week, when Pete was travelling, and I found myself with two perfectly over ripe bananas on hand and the goal of the perfect gluten-free, sugar-free banana bread in my sights.

There is nothing better than warm, soft banana bread smeared with a little coconut oil or butter.  Am I right?  It’s my kind of comfort food.  But you know me, I am not interested in birthday cake with a couple of bananas thrown in for good measure.  I am talking about nutrient-rich, refined sugar-free, real-food filled, gluten and dairy-free goodness.  Wow, that’s a mouthful!

For years I have been on the hunt for the perfect banana bread. I have baked, tasted and tested dozens until I finally figured I needed to take the best parts of all of them and create my own.  I remember when Ashley was an infant and I would strap her in the Bjorn and wander down to the little fruit markets in my neighborhood in Toronto and buy all the “seen better days” produce for a dime a dozen.  For some reason down here in Florida the stores don’t seem to have a market for the brown bananas.  Just putting it out there that I would happily be their best customer.

This recipe is not completely grain-free, it is comfort food after all, but it is gluten and dairy-free for all my G/F, D/F peeps.  This is now the only recipe we make around here and has been kid-tested and kid-approved by not only my own adventurous eaters but all their friends.

Have you been perfecting a recipe for years? I would love to hear about it.

print recipe

Gluten-free Banana Bread Perfected

by Katie Hammill February-1-2018

There is nothing better than warm, soft banana bread smeared with a little coconut oil or butter. This perfected banana brea is nutrient-rich, refined sugar-free, real-food filled, gluten and dairy-free.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oat flour (look for certified gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup organic rolled oats (look for certified gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 2-3 bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp pure vanilla (or the seeds from one vanilla bean)
• 2 tbsp melted unrefined coconut oil
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond (or coconut milk)

Instructions

Optional mix-ins: -Chopped walnuts -Pure dark chocolate chips -Raisins (add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the batter if using) -Flaked coconut -Sliced Bananas (press into the top of the loaf before baking)
 1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan with coconut oil and a sprinkle with a little oat flour. I love to use a silicone loaf pan (or muffin tin) and it slides right out.2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl3. Combine wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer and mix well*4. Fold dry ingredients into wet just until combined5. Add mix-ins of your choice, most of the time we go plain jane and just add a few banana slices to the top.6. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in pan before removing to prevent crumbling. I know you want to skip this step. That is why I like the silicone, no waiting 😉8. Enjoy with some grass-fed butter or straight from the pan.** 9. These can also be placed in muffin tins and baked for 25-30 minutesNotes: *If your ingredients are cold you might notice your coconut oil hardens when mixed, no worries it will melt into the batter as it cooks. ** It will no longer be dairy-free if you add the butter. But you already knew that.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 1 banana bread loaf