Gluten-Free School-Is-In Banana Bread
This is not low in lectins or grain-free per say, because I adapted it from Joanna Gaines’s cook book Magnolia Table which uses gluten-flour. I substituted it for a GF grain flour, specifically for my kids, as they do not follow my stricter guidelines. I still do like making them tasty baked goods they can enjoy. My kids have varied diets and although my 5-year-old who suffers from eczema is gluten-free, my older kids don’t seem to have any issues with gluten, it is still the way I mostly bake for all of them, for convenience sake and I don’t sacrifice any flavor. If it’s tasty the 15 and 10 year-olds will eat it, gluten free or not. It does mean however, that I need to stay away from it as bananas are pretty high in sugar and I stay away from most grains most of the time, including GF. I will be honest, this bread is so tasty I sneak a little piece once in a while. This recipe omits the sugar in Joanna’s recipe and replaces it with the monk fruit I mostly use (I prefer the Lakanto brand, a wonderful low-glycemic sugar substitute. Monk fruit can have a cooling effect in the mouth, so I cut it with coconut sugar , 50/50. This version calls for vegan butter and I used Melt as well as eggs but I provided an egg substitution if that is what you prefer. At the moment my child with eczema is not eating eggs, so the last couple times we made it, I used the flax meal and water substitution, he couldn’t tell the difference. The Magnolia Table cook book is a lovely book and although it asks for gluten flour, sugar and cow dairy in many of the recipes, it is such an approachable book for family friendly recipes, I have found myself making the adjustments I need for me and my family and the recipes still come out solid. The recipe in the book is called After-School Banana Bread but I have playfully coined this recipe as the School-Is-In Banana Bread, since we as parents are all dealing with our children distance learning and home schooling. This banana bread makes a delicious snack break from the barrage of constant Zoom learning. By the way, I have tried it with almond and cassava flour and also with a Paleo flour on the market and it worked well too, try cutting out a banana or two and add a half cup chopped walnuts at the end before you put it in the oven.
Makes 8-10 servings / Prep time 20 minutes / Bake time 40-45 minutes / Total time 60-65 minutes
Gather
Non-stick baking spray (coconut or avocado oil)
8 tablespoons/ about 113 grams (1 stick) Melt organic vegan butter of other vegan butter substitute, room temperature
1/2 cup/ 100 grams plus 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1/2 cup/100 grams Monk fruit sweetener (I like the Lakanto brand)
2 large eggs beaten or substitute with 2 tablespoons ground flax meal stirred into 8 tablespoons cold water and allowed to rest for 5 minutes.
1 1/2 teaspoon / 7.4 ml vanilla extract
3-4 ripe bananas mashed well
1 1/2 cups/ 188 grams 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend
1 1/2 teaspoons / 8.53 g ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon / 5.69 g baking soda
1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g salt
*optional 1/2/100 grams cup dairy free and sugar free chocolate chip or
*optional 1/2 cup/100 grams chopped walnuts
Make
Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a square 8 x 8 inch/ 3 L pan, spraying it with the non-stick spray and then lining it with parchment. If you don’t have parchment, you can just use the spray.
In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat together the vegan butter, the coconut sugar and monk fruit sweetener, the eggs or flax substitute, and the vanilla until well blended. And the mashed bananas until well combined.
*Note: This can also be done in a stand mixer (Kitchenaid) with the paddle attachment.
In a medium bowl sift together the GF flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda, and the salt and stir with a whisk until well combined.
Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, beating until combined. Do not over mix.
At this point stir in the optional chocolate chips or walnuts with a wooden spoon until evenly incorporated. Again, do not over mix the batter. You don’t want it to get gluey.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan, give it a little shake to make sure it is in there evenly. In a small bowl add the remaining teaspoon coconut sugar and the ground cinnamon and mix and then dust over the batter.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Before taking it out of the oven insert a tester or pairing knife into the bread making sure it comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool for a few minutes while you wave small children away who are clamoring to get to the bread.
Serve with vegan butter.
Once completely cooled, cut up and place reming pieces into a sealed container.
I like to toast it up warm every time. I actually ate a piece as I was typing out this recipe.
Adapted by Katherine Howell and Anna Getty for Amalgam Kitchen.
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