Sunday, April 17, 2011

Banana Bread (GAPS-legal, grain- and gluten-free)

Everyone loves banana bread! This banana bread recipe cooks up moist and delicious.  It also makes a great bread for a nut butter sandwich.

Banana Bread
1/2 cup butter or unrefined coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
3/4 tsp celtic sea salt 
6 eggs, preferably pasture-raised
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 large or 2 small ripe bananas, mashed

  1. Melt butter or coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the eggs, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a large bowl.  If using an immersion blender, pulse a few times to combine. Otherwise, mix to combine with a whisk or mixer.
  3. Add the honey to the butter (or coconut oil) and stir slightly.  Pour this mixture into the wet ingredients and blend well with immersion blender or mixer.
  4. Measure out the coconut flour.  Since coconut flour clumps, it will need to be sifted if you are not using an immersion blender
  5. Pour the coconut flour into the bowl with the wet ingredients.  Use an immersion blender or mixer to thoroughly combine all ingredients, making sure there are no lumps.  (Since coconut flour does not contain gluten, there is no worry of over-mixing the batter).
  6. Add mashed banana and mix to combine.
  7. Using butter or coconut oil, generously grease one large (9X5) loaf pan or two small (7.5X3.75) loaf pans. 
  8. Pour the batter into the loaf pan(s).
  9. Bake in 325 degree oven for until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. This will take about 50-60 minutes for two loaves.
  10. Remove from oven and cool. 
Delicious with a pat of butter and a big glass of raw milk or milk kefir!

*Time-saving tip: If you use an immersion blender to combine the ingredients, you can skip the step of sifting the coconut flour.  This also gives you less dirty dishes!

This post is part of Grain-Free Carnival, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet, Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop!

24 comments:

The Voogts said...

Mmmm. I love banana bread! May have to try this. Although my tummy doesn't usually like bananas. Maybe in bread I'll do ok.

Bonny said...

Thanks for this great recipe! I went out and got some almond extract yesterday and made it last night. We all really liked it. My oldest son won't eat eggs plain, so I especially loved how many eggs were in this recipe because he LOVED the bread and ate several slices for breakfast. Thanks again!

Sarah Smith said...

Wonderful, Bonny! I'm glad you all liked it so much. And I too love how many eggs are used with coconut flour!

Danielle said...

This looks so delicious - I am eager to try it! I don't regularly buy coconut flour, but since we're not actually on the GAPs diet, do you think sprouted wheat flour would give similar results in the recipe?
Thank you so much for this recipe! I found you through Real Food Wednesday, by the way.
http://mindofthemother.blogspot.com

Laura said...

Banana Bread is one of my favorites. This looks so good... the munchkin will love it too :)

Sarah Smith said...

Hi Danielle,
You definitely can NOT substitute wheat flour for coconut flour in recipes. The reason is that coconut flour is VERY dense and requires lots and lots of eggs. If you sub wheat flour, you'll end up with a gloopy mess. You might want to try looking on some other sites (like The Nourishing Gourmet or Nourished Kitchen) to see if they have any good wheat flour recipes.

Sarah

hellaD said...

Wow these loaves of banana bread look so fluffy! It must be the coconut flour. I will have to try to get ahold of some and see how we do with it now. I just made a much denser version of banana bread recently. Love the stuff, no matter how fluffy or how dense it is! The Burmese make a really delicious version that is more like banana pudding actually, I will have to try making a GAPS-friendly version of that type sometime.

Liz Kirchner said...

This is the first recipe I have made using coconut flour and it is delicious! Thank you :)

Sarah Smith said...

Great, Liz! I'm glad it worked well for you!

ruby706 said...

Just tried this, yum!

Anonymous said...

If using 5.75 x 3 in pans you will use three of them.

gluten free banana bread said...

Big love from Scotland to you.

Sarah Smith said...

Thanks gluten-free in Scotland!!

Natalia said...

I made this today and I don't think it came out the way it is supposed to. It was the first time that I used coconut flour so I am not sure how it should taste, but it definitely doesn't look like on the picture. Mine came out very dense, not fluffy at all. Any ideas on what might be wrong? I followed the instructions word to word.

Sarah Smith said...

Hi Natalia,
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm wondering if my using an immersion blender maybe makes a difference since it really whips things up. I know a few others who have made this without problems, so I'm not quite sure. You could definitely try adding some baking soda if you want to make it fluffier. I'd start at 1/4 tsp and maybe go up to 1/2 tsp.

Natalia said...

Thanks for the advice. I was using a whisker to mix things up, next time I'll try a blender and some soda. My mother-in-law liked it the way it came out, though :)

truth in weakness said...

thanks for this, sarah -- looks DELISH!

have you ever tried it w/ any fruit other than bananas? (asking b/c my son has pancreatic troubles, so i've been avoiding fruit, but esp bananas since they're the highest in sugar.)

passed this on to my gaps sister as well!

thanks,
tanya

Sarah Smith said...

I haven't tried this recipe with other fruits. But I do have many muffin variations with other fruits as well as a pumpkin spice bread recipe. Here are some links:
http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2011/10/apple-cinnamon-muffins-grain-free-nut.html
http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2012/01/cranberry-orange-muffins-gaps-legal.html
http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2011/09/ginger-pear-muffins-gaps-legal-grain.html
http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2012/04/lemon-coconut-muffins-grain-free-gaps.html

http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkin-spice-bread-gaps-legal-grain.html

truth in weakness said...

oh WONDERFUL -- thank you!! i'll def. check them out -- b/c i'd be looking for more of a muffin/cupcake format, anyway. THANKS!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Natalia,
I had the same experience as you. I followed the recipe exactly, but the bread turned out thick, dense and heavy - like a brick - not fluffy at all. The texture was mealy and chalky. I used an electric mixer. I'm new to a wheat-free diet, and I guess coconut flour is an acquired taste. :-/

Amada said...

I have all the ingredients except for almond extract. Can I just add alittle bit more of the vanilla or just leave it out entirely? TIA

Sarah Smith said...

Go ahead and leave it out entirely.

Anonymous said...

I made this yesterday without the almond extraction. Family Reaction? :D and :( as in :( it's all gone already! Next time I need to double it because it was such a hit. Thank you for posting this!

Susannah said...

Hi, can you recommend a substitute for the almond flour? My son is allergic to almonds but would love to make this.