Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe. Regular Variation

Gluten-Free Banana Bread

My newborn: looks like I just hit a home run!

It is perfect for breakfast, as it is minimally and naturally sweetened. Like a mini meal. It relies mostly on the natural sweetness of the bananas. I have just developed the recipe a few hours ago; I couldn’t wait to share (the recipe, not the bread, that is, as I have just about sold it out). I’m rushing to write it down, not just because I am so excited about it, but  because I don’t want to forget what I did.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread has Superfood Ingredients!

I looked around me in my daughter’s kitchen, after the children asked me to make a banana treat. I was intent on making a very high fiber bread that would promote… regularity (a perennial quest, for many of us). But it still had to taste fantastic, as this is not negotiable. All my children have a super healthy pantry, just as I do: so finding what I need in their kitchens to make the healthiest treats is no trouble whatsoever.

This bread is the answer to your lower carb prayers!

Low carb and high fiber! I just threw all my ingredients in a bowl, mixed, poured, baked and prayed. It’s the best! It is so nutritious that you can very easily make it a significant part of your meal: a nice slice of my gluten-free banana bread, eaten as is, or with a smear of butter, cream cheese or nut butter makes a terrific breakfast. And with a big salad or soup, it will make the perfect meal.

Both the oats and the flax give the bread its hearty flavor and texture. Oat is the dream grain, in every respect. Golden flax is a nutritional powerhouse, with a mild and unobtrusive flavor, and very inexpensive.

Play with the ingredients!

I am sure you can tweak the ingredients to suit your preferences. But for now, since this is my latest born, I will leave it just as is. Later I can tinker with possible variations, including a no-carb one.

Freeze Very Ripe Bananas

That’s right. Very ripe means VERY. RIPE. Now stick them in the freezer. They’re sweet like sugar and loaded with awesome flavor. Run the frozen bananas under warm running water, and the skin will come right off.

Gluten Free Banana Bread Freezes Beautifully!

Make it in smaller loaves, mini loaves or muffin molds, and freeze the uneaten portions. They make the perfect and most nutritious breakfast or snack. I would even serve it for dessert: it’s THAT good!

Regular Banana Bread

What if you wanted to make a regular high fiber banana bread, and gluten-free was not a factor for you? I am including the regular flour version too! Just scroll down.

Ingredients

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup ground golden flax seeds (I find them milder than dark flax seeds) or 2/3 cup oat fiber 
• 2 cups almond meal, not blanched 

(Regular flour banana bread: ignore above ingredients. Use 1 cup oats, 21/2 cups all purpose, whole wheat or spelt flour, and 1/2 cup oat fiber, and proceed with the recipe as instructed below)

• 1/2 cup Sucanat or dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or extra light olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 4-5 very ripe bananas (frozen and thawed is great), diced
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (can’t have nuts? Use pumpkin seeds)

• Optional add ins: 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, 1/2 cup golden raisins or unsweetened cranberries, 1 finely diced apple

Instructions