Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Banana Bread

This is the recipe my mom always used when I was growing up and I still use it today (not sure of the original source), with my gluten-free tweaks of course.  I decided to make some the other night using a few other alternative ingredients just to see how it would turn out, and boy am I glad I did!  I think it is actually better than the original recipe, even in gluten-form!

I have been reading a great series of posts on sweeteners, both natural and artificial, on a fabulous blog called A Life of Sugar and Spice.  Jen has Crohn’s Disease and is chronicling her journey of healing herself through diet, including the elimination of gluten.  Jen also avoids dairy and keeps sugar to a minimum.  I like Jen’s blog because of her spunk.  She says everything I want to say but thus far have been too chicken! 😉  Jen does a lot of research and writes great articles on topics that I am just recently becoming very interested in (after watching Food, Inc.).

Check out Jen’s thoughts on the film Food, Inc. and another great post on the difference between grass-fed and corn-fed beef.

Anyway, the sweetener series is called “Know the Facts,” and so far, Jen has posted on Agave Nectar (WOW!) and Honey.  I went with the honey for my banana bread.  I also bought some Soy-Free Earth Balance the other day to see if it worked just as well as Smart Balance (dairy) and Earth Balance (dairy-free) in baking.  I’m happy to say, so far, so good!  I used the Soy-Free Earth Balance in this recipe as well.

I kept the eggs this time around because I do not like to change too many ingredients at once.  I am going to try this recipe again today using flax gel to replace the eggs, I’ll keep you posted on the results!  The original recipe is in pink and my tweaks are in teal.

Banana Bread (with my tweaks, this banana bread is gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free)

printable recipe

3/4 cup Sugar (I used 3/4 cup Honey. I referred to this article when figuring out how to replace sugar with honey)

1/3 cup Margarine (I used Soy-Free Earth Balance, which is also dairy-free, and gluten-free)

2 Eggs

1 cup Mashed Ripe Bananas

1/3 cup Water

1 2/3 Cup Flour (I used Better Batter Gluten-Free AP Flour. You can read the ingredients of Better Batter GF Flour here and more on their product info page here.  If you don’t have Better Batter, just use your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend)

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Baking Powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a bowl, combine: margarine, sugar (in my case, honey), and eggs (or egg substitute).  Mix well.
Add mashed bananas and water to the margarine, sugar and egg mixture.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl combine: flour (**Better Batter has the Xanthan Gum already added so if you are not using a gluten-free all-purpose flour with Xanthan Gum, be sure to add the appropriate amount of Xanthan or Guar Gum to your flour blend), baking soda, salt and baking powder.  Whisk to combine the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until all ingredients are moist.

Pour banana bread batter into prepared bread pan and bake 55 – 60 minutes at 350° F.  I use the prick test to make sure the bread is done.

I’ve been looking for more breakfast ideas that include protein, so I tried spreading some peanut butter on the banana bread and it totally ROCKED!  Think banana bread with an “Elvis” twist! 😉

Take 2 – 3 RIPE bananas and smash with a fork until it is almost a liquid consistency  (more like a pudding).

I only had 2 bananas and it came to just under a cup, which didn’t affect the final outcome.

Local Honey

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free and GMO-Free! 😀

Honey, Water, Eggs and Soy-Free Earth Balance

Combine dry ingredients and whisk/sift before adding to the liquid mixture.

You do not need a mixer, I was being lazy!

Pour batter into prepared pan, then pop in the oven!