Gluten free delight – gluten and sugar free banana, date and seed bread.

The no added sugar banana bread I made a few weeks ago proved to be quite popular.  This time around I attempted a gluten free version so my sister could enjoy it too. She was diagnosed a celiac a few years back,  so I try out new recipes with wheat ingredients and then adapt them to make them gluten free.

Gluten free baking is daunting at first, but once you’ve done the research and bought the proper ingredient it can be very rewardng and delicious. A lot of recipes ask for several different flours but I’ve been using Orgran Gluten Free Flour and find the only thing I really need to add is Xanthum gum (which I think some supermarkets stock but I just fill a container from my sisters stock).

I had tried other brands while I was working at a bakery, but Orgran seemed to work the best.

So here’s the Gf, Sf banana bread…..

In a bowl mix together:

250g gluten free plain flour

2g bicarb

5g baking powder

3g table salt

5g Xanthum gum

Set aside.

Cream 120g butter  with 120g chopped dates and 40g glucose syrup (make sure it’s made from corn and gluten free) until the dates have broken down and blended really well with the butter. Add 1 egg (free range)  and beat well.  Add 280g peeled and roughly chopped banana and mix in.

Next throw in the flour mix and 150g milk (I used soy) at the last minute I also added 60g of seed mix (this is a mix I make up which consists of chia seeds, flaxseeds, pepita seeds and sunflower seeds. It’s great sprinkled on cereal  or  on the top of homemade bread before baking).  Mix well.

Spread mix into a baking paper lined loaf tin and bake at 180c for about 70 – 80 minutes.

It’s actually surprisingly sweet for something that has no sugar added.

Enjoy…

 

“No Added Sugar” Banana Bread

Sugar….

Just about everybody loves it. Unfortunately though, too much is a bad thing. Sad but true.

My challenge was to come up with a sweet treat that wasn’t sugar sweetened.

Fruit would be the way to go. In particular Banana’s.

“Banana’s contain sugar” I hear you say. True, but they also contain potassium, are a great source of antioxidant,  taste so darn good and the less ripe the fruit the lower the G.I.  Perfect.

I decided to work with the previously posted Banana and Coffee Bread recipe.

After a few ingredient adjustments and a couple of  trial bakes, the final recipe  resulted in a very moist, ‘ no sugar added’  sweet Banana Bread.

Try it. It’s terribly simple to make and absolutely delicious.

You’ll need:

120g butter cut into cubes (I use salted)

120g chopped dates

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

60g milk (I used soy)

150g plain wholemeal flour

100g plain flour

5g baking powder

2g bicarb soda

5g ground cinnamon

250g banana – not too ripe

80g  chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, beat the butter and dates together until the dates are all broken up and mixed really well with the butter.  Add the egg, vanilla and roughly chopped banana and beat until it’s all mashed up.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon and throw it all into the bowl with the banana. Pour in the milk and mix until combined. Stir in the walnuts.

Spread into a lined loaf tin and bake at 180c for 55 – 60 minutes or until brown.

My next challenge will be to make it  gluten and sugar free. My sister’s a coeliac and  a tough critic.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Enjoy…

Banana and Coffee Bread

In the mood for some banana bread…

I’ve made this many times and each time I tend to add something different or change the recipe a little, but it always seems to turn out really nice. It takes like 10 minutes to prepare. Lots of banana keep it  very moist.

In an electric mixer cream together 110g butter and 160g castor sugar. Beat in 1 egg. Add 250g plain flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate Of soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp fine salt, 75ml milk (I use soy), 225g  smashed up banana and mix altogether to form a batter. Throw in 60g chopped walnuts (optional) and this time I added 1 1/2 tbs instant coffee granules for something different.

Pour batter into a baking paper lined loaf tin and bake at 180c for about 1 hour.

Having just tasted a piece I can tell you, the coffee works. Could have even added a little more.

Yum!

Enjoy…