G-Free Banana Bread

Gluten Free Banana Bread!

This summer my mom gave my sisters and me a wonderful cookbook by Elisabeth Hasselbeck: Deliciously G-Free. It took me awhile to gather her ingredients in the book, all the various flours and odd ingredients like xanthum gum and guar gum, but now that my pantry is ready, I have begun to try her various recipes. None of my family has celiac disease, but I don't think wheat is doing us any favors either. My family (the Alexanders) don't seem to do so well with our weight, and I believe wheat might be a large part of it. These recipes are not low in calories, but they do digest so much better. Last night I made the waffles, which turned out great. I froze up the leftovers to toast up for a quick breakfast. I also baked up this banana bread recipe as well. Both of these recipes make a wonderful breakfast rather than that sugary bowl of cereal. Like Elisabeth's promise, you would never know that these recipes do not have flour.

Banana Bread
5 tablespoons of butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar (I used evaporated cane juice)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 4)
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup millet flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 2-pound loaf pan with aluminum foil and then coat the foil with cooking spray. (I didn't do this, just sprayed the pan and it came out easily.)
2. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. With an electric mixer on high, beat until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium speed until combined.
3. Add the mashed banana and 1/3 cup of water, and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Sprinkle the brown rice flour, millet flour, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder over the bananas. If you are adding nuts, add them to the bowl and then using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture until just combined.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bak until the center of the bread springs back to the touch, 50-55 minutes. (If the bread starts to brown too quickly on the top, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.)
5. Transfer the loaf pan to a wire rack and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then lift the bread out of the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack before slicing. Wrapped tightly, the bread will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

This really was a light, flavorful recipe which when chilled, sliced and topped with cream cheese....yum! Whole Foods is a great place to get the ingredients for the recipes in this book or online at Red Mills.