Gluten-Free Banana Bread

I had taken a standard banana bread recipe and converted it to gluten free and added my own twist. It turned out fabulous! Here's the recipe:

2 cups of Carol Kicinski's flour recipe***
1 cup of gluten-free rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
3-4 medium-sized ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 cup of unsweetened applesauce (be brave: try the chunky kind!)
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix together the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and mix until blended. Do not over mix.

Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray. Mix a tablespoon of sugar and a scant teaspoon of cinnamon together. Sprinkle on the prepared pans. Divide mixture between two loaf pans, or if you want a large loaf, you can use one--but you'll need to increase the time to bake. (You may need to cover the bread with foil if you need to increase the time so as not to burn the loaf.)

Bake at 350º for 45-55 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of the loaves. If it comes out clean it is done. Cool at least 10 minutes. Slowly remove the loaves and transfer to wire rack to cool. 

Tastes excellent toasted!

***Carol Kicinski's flour recipe
4 1/2 cups white rice flour
1 1/2 cups sweet glutinous rice flour (can find in the Asian section of grocery stores)
2 cups potato starch (not potato flour)
1 cup tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour)
4 teaspoons xanthan gum

Homemade Gluten-Free Bread!

For four weeks, I struggled trying to make gluten-free bread. Instead of having dense, but holey loaves, these could have easily broken windows. Last week and this week, I finally got it right! I am posting a recipe that is a combination of recipes. Some recipes claimed to do one thing, but I found another. So this is a hodge-podge of recipes that I guess I'll call my own!  If you have any questions, please post. I'll do the best I can to answer them, as I'm new to this as well. Enjoy!

Flour Mix

1 cup brown rice or sorghum flour

½ cup teff flour

½ cup garbanzo bean flour

2/3 cup tapioca starch

1/3 cup potato starch or corn starch

2 tsp xanthum gum

Scant T sugar

¾ tsp baking soda

Other Ingredients

2 oz. sour dough starter (substitute flour with gluten free flour)

2 XL eggs or 3 small

10.5 oz lukewarm tap water

1.9 oz. vegetable oil

¾ scant tsp. apple cider vinegar

Scant 1/8 tsp dry instant yeast

1 ½ tsp salt (last ingredient to be added)

Putting it all together

•  Using a standing mixer with whisk attachment, at a medium/low setting beat the starter with water, eggs, oil, vinegar, and yeast.
• Add flour mixture and beat for 2 min. Add salt beat 1 more min.
• Remove whisk, and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Move to warm place for 1 ½ hours.
• After it has risen, beat it again for 3 minutes.
• Transfer to 9x5 prepared loaf pan (greased) and place pan in plastic container that is large enough to   hold pan and cover it.
• Allow to rise for another 1 ½ hours.
• Set oven to 375º and place bottom of broiler pan in lowest rack in oven. Heat for 30 minutes.
• Dust dough with rice flour and, using a greased bread knife, cut three diagonal slits across the top of loaf.
•  Just before baking, add a handful of ice cubes or a cup of cold water to the tray and place the loaf immediately into the steaming oven. After 30 minutes, rotate 180º and bake for another 20-30 minutes. If you notice the loaf getting browner than you like, cover the loaf with aluminum foil for the duration of the baking.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Carefully, using a butter knife, loosen the bread from the pan. It’s best if you turn the pan on the side and let the steam escape for a few minutes before taking out of the pan. Careful! Steam is REALLY hot.
•  Place bread on cooling wrack.
• Once cooled, use a bread knife to cut loaf. Store in freezer. Your bread will last longer this way, and it really tastes best warm or toasted.

If you use a bread machine, stop by this link for helpful tips!

One Month Gluten Free!

Today is one month gluten free for me! Wow! I am really getting the hang of this. My biggest "wow" is how awake I am. I thought because of my chronic pain I would always be tired--trying to escape, I guess. I stay awake so late now that it's really messing with my days! Once I start teaching again in the fall, I will really have to remedy this situation.

I have also found how to bake bread with gluten-free flour as opposed to using wheat flour. Here's what I've found:

• You do NOT kneed the dough...if you do, which I found out, you get bricks instead of bread. Yuck.
• You use a whisk attachment (I use my standing mixer for this) to mix the dough. It does not have the consistency of regular bread dough, but rather the consistency of banana bread batter.
• After it rises 1 1/2 hours in a warm place, you beat it again and put it in a loaf pan to rise for another 1 1/2 hours. 
• But here's the most interesting piece of information I've found: Put a broiler pan in the oven while preheating 1/2 hour before baking bread. Immediately before putting your bread in the oven, take a cup of cold water and pour in the hot broiler pan. It immediately steams, and you place your bread in the oven and bake. What a glorious loaf I had when I finished! Dense, but holey. YUM!

Although my pain is better, I still use my Tips for Managing Chronic Pain when I need them. But I feel more alert and receptive. I am glad that I trudged through the gluten withdrawal. I do hope that my pain lessens with time.

Enjoy your day, all! Namaste.