There is something about baking from scratch that is so fulfilling for me … even more so now that I am a mom. If I can find a window of time in my day to bake something delicious & somewhat nutritious for my girls, I feel I have accomplished something. Dealing with the dishes afterwards, well that’s a different story.
Baking is a science as much as an art and for me, part of the baking satisfaction comes with finding a recipe and tweaking it (usually by halving the sugar and subbing whole wheat for white flour etc.) ‘til we love it and it becomes a staple in our home.
This summer my girls and I took a trip to see my parents and spend some quality time with them by the sea. When we arrived, I saw my mom had put aside some ingredients looking much like this.
“Banana bread?? I said to my mom. “But you and I don’t like banana bread … didn’t you used to say you were “allergic to bananas” as a kid because you disliked them so much?
“Yes, but this one is different!” And, it was! I was amazed at how easy this recipe was to prepare and how delicious it is! I didn’t for a second miss the gluten and the banana flavor is really mild.
So, without further ado:
The Best Banana Bread Recipe, that happens to be Gluten-free{from the Gluten-free Almond Flour Cookbook}
Ingredients:
3 cups blanched almond flour (we used almond meal from Trader Joe’s once and a combo of this with Bob Mill’s Almond Meal/Flour the second time – this was less “gritty”)
1 t. baking soda
1⁄2 t. salt
3 eggs
1⁄4 cup grapeseed oil
1⁄4 cup agave nectar
1 T. vanilla extract {I also added 1⁄4 t. almond extract because I like to tinker!}
3 Ripe Smashed Bananas
1 cup dark chocolate, broken into chunks {73% recommended but any dark chocolate bar will do - or Ghirardelli bittersweet 60% cacao chips}
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease a 9 inch cake pan {or 2 bread pans} with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour
- Whisk together grapeseed oil, agave nectar, eggs and vanilla extract.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in the chocolate and bananas and scoop batter into the prepared pan(s).
- Bake for 35-45 mins (less if using 2 pans) and do the toothpick test.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour, then devour in delight!