Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Don’t throw away those bananas that are turning brown and soft!  They’re perfect for banana bread!

Preheat Oven 350* Bake Time: Loaf 1hr; Round – 1 hr 15 minutes; Muffins – 28 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice then add milk for a total of 1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups Mama’s Coconut Blend (or other gluten-free flour)
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Directions:

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven.  Heat oven to 350*.  Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches (or 1 loaf pan, 9 x 5 x 3 inches, or 2 muffin tins, or round 1.5 Quart CorningWare Casserole, or combination of all three!) with shortening or non-stick spray.
2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl.  Stir in eggs until well blended.  Stir in bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.  Then stir in to the banana mixture just until moistened.  Stir in nuts.  Divide batter evenly between pans.
4. Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9 inch loaf or 1.5 quart round about 1 hour and 15 minutes, muffins about 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.
5. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack.  Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Blueberry-Banana Bread: Omit nuts. Stir 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries into batter.

Other add-ins: Chocolate chips! Muffins are great to take camping too!

Banana Pudding Cake: Bake the banana bread in a 1.5 quart round casserole dish, 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool completely, at least 2 hours. Mix up some Jello Instant Banana Pudding, slice up some fresh bananas and mix them in. Slice your round bread in half horizontally. Spread pudding mixture over middle and top layer of your bread round. It’s best if you eat this sooner than later, when you refrigerate it the bread does not stay as soft and moist as it should be.

Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook , altered to be gluten-free.