This is my new addiction!
I love bananas and I love chocolate! But, I’m gluten free. No problem.
What do you do when life hands you a bunch of bananas?
Puree the heck out of them and make banana bread! (Don’t forget to add chocolate. It makes EVERYTHING better.)
I have always had a sweet tooth (well several, actually).
The first time I made this banana bread recipe I added too many chocolate chips (as if that is even possible, right?!). I added three handfuls. It was mostly chocolate with a little banana. It tasted more like chocolate molten banana cake. But I corrected my mistake second time and it was absolutely delicious!
Now that I am committed to living a healthier lifestyle, I am so excited when I find recipes for desserts that are sugar free. And because I have been eating sugar free for a few years now, all other desserts taste way too sweet for me. This recipe has none of that tomfoolery! The sweetness comes from the natural sweetness of the bananas and the minimal sweetness of the bittersweet chocolate chips. Even when I eat chocolate, I make sure it is at least 85% cocoa. That’s because dark chocolate has antioxidants that milk chocolate doesn’t have because it’s so highly processed.
My other favorite part of this recipe is that it takes no time to whip together. You can mix all the ingredients and have them ready to go in the oven in less than 10 minutes. That’s pretty quick!
I’ll be honest, this banana bread disappeared as quickly as it came together. Between my sister, my nephew, my son, and myself, I don’t think it lasted more than 2 days!
So, I made it again. This time, I added blueberries and pumpkin seeds (no chocolate).
Here’s my recipe. Enjoy.
Gluten Free Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 4 tsp flaxseed ground
- 10-12 Tbsp water
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 4 ripe bananas mashed
- ½ cup apple butter or apple sauce
- ¼ – ½ cup avocado oil or coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup chocolate chips optional
- ½ cup blueberries optional
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds optional
- ¼ cup raisins optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare loaf pan by greasing the inside of it with oil or oil spray.
- In a medium-size bowl whisk together ground flaxseeds and water, let sit for 10 minutes.
- In another medium-size bowl, sift together gluten free flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas, then add apple butter or apple sauce, oil, and vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches. You can split it into2 or 3 additions. Mix well after each addition.
- After all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, fold in any optional ingredients you want to add.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and place in preheated oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes then test with a toothpick. I have found that it may take slightly more time to bake. The toothpick comes out clean, but the bread is still too moist inside. If the top is nicely browned, cover loaf with foil and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes. This should help cook the bread without burning the top.
- Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before flipping it over onto a platter.
