Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Gluten-Free Adventures: Banana Bread

Of all the gluten-free baking I've done within the past few months, I'd say the lemon blueberry loaf I posted about here is still my greatest success. That is, until now! This banana bread gives that one a run for the money. It's moist, dense, flavorful, holds together nicely and has a lovely brown color. It's delicious! And what's even better, this one calls for no xanthan gum at all. There may or may not be anything wrong with xanthan gum, which is a bacterially-derived polysaccaride whose purpose in gluten-free baking is to act as a binder, making the dough stickier and adding stretchiness and elasticity. Its allergenic potential is unknown (and some GF people are sensitive to it), but without it, some baked goods turn out crumbly and short. There are other ways to achieve the "glutenous" quality, but sometimes you can just simply omit it, with no problematic effects. This recipe is a great example. Maybe it's due to the naturally moist bananas, but this bread turned out just like regular banana bread. I used the recipe in the book "Gluten-Free Made Simple" by Dahlstrom, Burnley and Dahlstrom, and highly recommend it.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread
(from "Gluten-Free Made Simple" by Dahlstrom, Burnley and Dahlstrom)

3 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 T buttermilk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups GF flour (since I know what flours I prefer, I used a mix of brown rice, white rice, sorghum and millet)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Mash bananas.
In a large bowl mix sugar and butter until creamy. Add eggs and bananas.
In a small bowl mix buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add to butter mixture and mix well.
Add GF flours to the butter mixture and mix well.
Pour into pan.
Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

15 comments:

  1. Looks so moist!! Yay for the bananas ^_^!!! Some vegan recipes substitute eggs for bananas, so I guess they are super good to bind everything up!!
    This banana bread is calling my name... i can hear "eat me , eat me" eheheheh
    Gorgeous baking, what´s next? ;)

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    1. Bananas are awesomely naturally GF -- woo!
      Thanks Lily!

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  2. Oh my that looks even better than non-GF banana bread!!

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  3. Ooh, this really does look moist! I bet that it's super-yummy with just the right amount of crumb, too! ^^ You're doing a great job at baking!

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  4. this looks so good! I think I'll try this recipe - I bet my son would love it!

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    1. My kids loved it and I hope yours does too. Thanks Kristie!

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  5. do I add the GF "flours" to the buttermilk mixture?

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    1. Oops!
      This is why I'm not a copy editor. Sorry!
      After adding the buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture and mixing well, I should have added:

      Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well.

      Then, pour into pan as stated.

      Thank you for pointing out my omission. Bake away!

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  6. Mama mia, i always LOVED banana breads and cake, and this one looks so yummyyyyyyyyyyy !!!!!!!!! I wish i could eat it right noooooow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. This one is really good, and if you like banana breads, you will love it. It's very easy; you should try! Thanks Kelyrin!

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  7. I made this the other night and it was a hit! I changed the recipe just a bit but it still turned out amazing!!! Thank you for posting so many wonderful things on your blog. I read it all the time!

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    1. So glad you liked it!! And thank you for the compliment!! I'm sooo happy to hear from people like you who can benefit from my trials and errors! XO

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  8. Do I have to use the buttermilk? Can I just use 2% milk? Trying to avoid going to the store. Thanks!

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