My oldest child has been requesting banana bread for weeks, and this past Saturday we finally had 5 bananas on hand that were ripe enough for baking. This of course led to a batch of banana bread muffins, an impromptu baking and math lesson for my 6 yr old, and a delicious brunch. I’m sorry there’s not a picture. The muffins were all gone before I even thought of grabbing the camera!
We’re in a relatively rural area right now and the only gluten free flour that I could find in the stores was Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix….so that’s what I used. Some of you will be mad, but I only measured this recipe by weight. If you’d like a banana bread recipe that uses volume measurements, here’s my original Gluten Free Banana Bread. If you’re interested in why I weigh my ingredients, here are a few articles on how weighing your ingredients can shorten your gluten free baking learning curve, and 5 Myths and Misconceptions About Weighing Gluten Free Flours.
If you don’t have a digital kitchen scale, you may be interested in the special deal that I’m currently running for my gluten free cooking classes. A free digital kitchen scale and a really awesome digital thermometer are included!
Instructions
Yield: 24 muffins
- 275 g Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix
- 150 g sugar
- 12 g baking powder
- 6 g salt
- 3 g xanthan gum
- 150 g eggs, beaten – 3 large
- 500 g ripe bananas, mashed
- 150 g butter, melted
- 10 g vanilla extract
Begin by melting the butter, peeling and mashing approximately 5 large, overripe bananas, and beating the eggs. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients and mix these together with a fork for 30 seconds. To this, add the beaten eggs and ripe bananas. Stir until the flour has all been incorporated into the batter. Add the vanilla and the melted butter, which should be warm rather than hot at this point, and stir them into the batter.
Line your muffin tin with paper cups and divide the batter equally among them. Bake in a oven (that has been preheated to 350 degrees) for 20 – 30 minutes, or until they centers are mostly firm to the touch.
Note: If this is your first time to make banana bread, you must use over-ripe bananas. The peels should at least be heavily spotted with brown.
Feel free to add nuts to this, if you’d like. I usually would, but didn’t have any on hand.
This post offers an opportunity to ask a question that’s been on my mind for awhile, so here goes. You said “We’re in a relatively rural area right now and the only gluten free flour that I could find in the stores was Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix….so that’s what I used.”
My question is “Can I use ANY gluten free flour mix in any recipe (putting aside the issue of whether or not they contain xanthan gum)?” Most recipes specify “Bob’s” or “Mary Frances'” or “my” or “rice” etc. and to my mind that means I HAVE to use that kind or the recipe will not turn out. I’d like to think that any kind I have on hand (or that I can mix myself) will do or that I can try a new recipe but substitute whatever kind of GF flour I prefer. For example, I’d like to use less starch and more whole grain, so I’ve been experimenting with millet, quinoa, teff and buckwheat flours.
I assume there will be differences between flours (like the difference between using whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour) but just how important is it in GF baking to stick to the recipe’s flour recommendation on this issue? I used to be a purist when using wheat recipes (if it said all-purpose, I used all-purpose) but when I started to try making healthier versions I simply used whole-wheat instead and they worked, but were heavier and needed more flavouring. Is this what I am looking at when using different GF flours, or is it (much) more difficult than that?
I am enjoying hearing about your RV adventures; what a great opportunity for your children to learn about their country! You said the other day it was “work, not a vacation” so I hope that allows me to be a little bit nosy and ask “what kind of work requires traveling in an RV?”
Connie » Hi Connie, If you change up the flours, or the amount of flours, then you often need to change the amount of liquids too, if you want to get the same result. If you don’t adjust the liquids, then the bread may not rise, may fall after it bakes; or cookies might run all over the place, or not spread at all. After many years of gluten free bread baking, I’m able to use a variety of GF flour mixes and adjust my recipe on the fly to compensate, but I’ve been informed many times that not everyone is comfortable doing that =) So, really it just depends on your temperament and your tolerance for recipe mishaps while you learn.
My work is Gluten Free Cooking School, and that doesn’t require RV travel. John has two other online business and he works on Gluten Free Cooking School too from time to time. When I said that life in an RV is not vacation, I merely meant that most days our life is focused around doing our work and homeschooling the children. If I get up early enough, then we finish everything around 3:00 and then will go hiking at a state park, or something like that. Many people think that full-time traveling is also full-time vacation. It’s not. If you’re working while you travel, a lot of your time does get spent on work.
I tried the popover recipe on the back of an all purpose baking mix..and it turned out horribly!!!..they looked perfect in the oven..but when the baking time was up..they fell..and they were hollow..and tasted bad also…any idea what happened??…thanks…Lisa