This was my first real foray into an alternative flour blend. I have used coconut flour with good success, but wanted something with a different texture. So while out shopping this weekend, I picked up 2 things. One was xantham gum and one was some Bob’s Red Mill GF flour. I decided to make the banana bread on the package of the flour with some modifications.
Ingredients:
- 1.75 cups of gluten free flour (not bread mix, but plain GF flour)
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of xantham gum
- 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 medium bananas, mashed (approximately 1.25 to 1.5 cups)
- 2 oz of chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with a parchment paper sling (or use nonstick cooking spray). Mash bananas and chop pecans and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, blend together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and applesauce. Beat well.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, xantham gum, salt, and cinnamon.
With the beater on slow, alternate adding the flour mixture with the mashed banana until incorporated.
Then stir in the nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Proceed to lick the spatula when finished.
Bake for about 55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
It was hard to wait for this to cool. I took my walk and then came back in and made up a slice for the game. Banana bread and football. Just like apple pie and baseball, right?
It was also good the next morning with a little neufchatel cream cheese!
Stats for the whole loaf: 2070 calories, 59 grams of fat, 426 grams of carbs, 33 grams of fiber, 41 grams of protein.
My loaf weighed 1 pound 12 ounces (or 28 ounces). That means dividing the loaf into ten 2.8 ounce slices would mean 207 calories, 6 grams of fat, 42.5 grams of carbs, 3.3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein for a slice. Most people cut a loaf into 12 slices, but not me. I like a big piece of bread. (The slices in the photo above are about 1.5 ounces each).
The xantham gum is supposed to make the bread moist and bind it together, so I don’t know what would happen if you leave it out. I happened to find a smaller bag at my store that was not so expensive, so I bought it. The Red Mill GF flour is a mix of bean flours and tapioca starch. There is a lot to learn about how the different flours interact with each other, so I wanted to start out with a premixed blend. I think I had a good start here and I shall be experimenting more. I might have to try a yeast bread!
The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of oil, which I substituted with applesauce. It also called for walnuts instead of pecans and 1/2 cup of raisins. But raisins are always optional. 
Holy yummarita, that looks good! I knew there was a reason we’re friends: you make banana bread the correct way (that is, pecans instead of walnuts and NO raisins! 😉
Happy football watching! My hubby is a Detroit Lions fan, so football is sort of a love/hate thing in this household…we are much more fortunate in our hockey love!
I hope that the Lions do as well as they did in the preseason! I do root for the underdogs (underlions??) a lot of times.
Looks tasty! I’ve got some bananas that will probably be made into banana muffins tomorrow or the day after.
I have to object to your and Pubsgal’s assertion that pecans are the correct nut to use. Everybody KNOWS that the classic way to make banana nut bread is with walnuts. But you’re both right about the NO RAISINS. That’s just wrong.
Anyway, all kidding aside, this sounds great. I am VERY interested in that flour. I thought it had some rice flour in it? I have it on my shopping list–want to try using it in my scone recipe!
The flour has tapioca starch, potato starch and a couple bean flours. The texture is fluffy, but seems more moist than white flour. Not grain free, but that would be its own challenge!
I have always felt the pecan was a more refined nut than the walnut. I will eat raw pecans, but I never eat raw walnuts. Actually, I would never buy walnuts, but John does on occasion.
Umm…I think you all mean chocolate chips. 😉
This does look good!!! Thanks for sharing!
OMG – chocolate chips in the bread would be awesome!!!
LOL’ing at the ‘refined nut’ comment. I guess its genetic, handed down from my grandmother to my father to me. Walnuts will always be king. Raw? Is there any other way to eat them?
Have to agree with Kimberly. Walnuts and chocolate chips would be awesome!
Looking gooooooooooood! Jum!
may I come over for breakfast?
Is there any left? I will be right over! 🙂 Looks delish Lori! Oops, did not see Carla’s comment – she asked first! 😉
Looks delicious! Thanks for posting. Question: Were do the 59 grams of fat come from — I know nuts and eggs have fat of course, but what else? Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I love banana bread and this looks amazing. I think the nutritional stats are pretty good too!
Banana bread is one of my favorites. Great recipe.
Lori, I’ve seen this recipe on Bob’s packaging for a very long time and meant to make it “sometime” – now I have to! BTW, don’t go w/o the zanthum, lol. Everything falls apart. There’s another one that you can use – guar gum, I think, but it’s harder to find. Our bulk stores sell zanthum gum – so you can get small amounts. I buy a whole container – expensive but it lasts a long time.
I have a ton of overripe bananas – maybe I’ll make some today!
Dawn
I made pumpkin zucchini bread with sweetened cream cheese frosting for breakfast on Sunday! And I think ALL nuts are optional in recipes! My husband loves nuts, but not in baked goods. So, I do it to please him and it makes everything CHEAPER!!