The Very Best Banana Bread

Growing up there were always bananas in the house for breakfast and snacks. I learned early that I was not a huge fan of bananas. It took longer to figure out why I did not like bananas growing up. I discovered there is a very small window as to the ripeness of a banana that I will eat. It needs to be just shy of hard and green, with some green on the skin. I know this is weird, but if it gets even a bit too ripe I will not eat them. For the longest time I would not buy bananas as I knew that they would be too ripe before I could eat them all. So now if I buy bananas there is a good chance there will be extra bananas that are too ripe for me that end up in the freezer.

Today when I was checking the freezer trying to find something for dinner there were several frozen bananas that I needed to move to find the meat and so I decided to make banana bread. I have been experimenting for the longest time to find a really great gluten free banana bread recipe. I think I have finally found it. Originally the recipe came from Everyday Gluten Free Cookbook, by Robert M Landophi. I have played with the quantities and flours to make it a bit healthier and reduced the sugar. This recipe makes a very light and tender banana bread. It is not a heavy, dense bread like some gluten free recipes that I have tried. Very nice on it's own, without having to be toasted.

The Best Banana Bread

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter, at room temp

3/4 cup white sugar

2 lg eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 med bananas)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x5" loaf pan with parchment or waxed paper.

In a bowl combine flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk to combine.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating until thoroughly incorporated and then mix in the mashed banana. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until a smooth batter forms.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack. Unmold and cool completely.

This recipe can also be made into 12 muffins, filling muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter and baking for 25-30 minutes.

The Perfect Gluten Free Pastry

A friend once gave me a recipe for a really good gluten free pie crust that I have used over and over again. Over time the recipe has been tweaked in different ways to play with the texture and make a nice soft flaky pastry. I have also made changes to the method and I think I have perfected the recipe for a perfect pie crust.

Ingredients for a double crust pie

2 1/4 cups rice flour (I use a combination of brown and white)
3 tsp honey
1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup softened butter (room temp)
ice cold water

1. Stir together dry ingredients.
2. Cut butter and honey into dry ingredients with a fork so you have small pieces or "flakes" of butter through the dry ingredients. Place butter and flour mix into the freezer until butter is frozen.

3. Once butter is frozen add water 1Tbsp at a time until the mixture comes together into a smooth dough. It is better to have a slightly wet dough than a dry one. A dry dough will crumble and not come together smoothly and crack when you try and roll it out.

4. Wrap the dough as 2 separate disks in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 - 60 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the water.

5. Using parchment paper roll out one disk at a time leaving the remaining in the fridge until needed. Roll a 1"4 inch thick circle. To make a very flaky crust fold the circle onto itself in thirds like a pamphlet (ie fold the top third down to the middle and the bottom edge up over the top). Then fold the dough in half like a book.

Roll dough out.

Fold top third down.

Fold bottom third up.

Fold in half like a book.

6. Roll the dough out again into a circle 1/4"-1/2" thick, slightly larger than the pan you will be cooking your pie in. Carefully transfer the crust to the pie pan and press into place. Trim edges of crust to fit into pan. If you have any tears or thin spots use any scraps of dough and press pieces into crust and smooth into place. 

  

7. To avoid crust from shrinking once baked place unbaked crust in freezer for 10 - 15 minutes. Dock the crust to avoid bubbles from forming.  

 8. Bake crust according to recipe. For some pies like lemon meringue or banana cream you will want to blind bake the crust first. To do this you will line the pie shell with parchment and fill the parchment with either pie weights or dry beans, this prevents bubbles from forming in the crust while you are baking without a filling in it. For other pies like fruit pies you can skip the blind bake and bake with the filling inside.

I have tried this recipe with all different temperatures of butter and found that since you do not develop the gluten's, because there aren't any, it is easier to work the butter in warm and then freeze the butter. Using a fork pressed through the butter to create "flakes" makes a tender crust and the folding method adds the flaky layers.