Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Here on the farm we have a room called the banana room. This is where we keep tons of bananas that are harvested from a grove of banana trees! Due to all of these ripe bananas that were just sitting there when we got here, one of the first things I made was banana bread!
One day, early on, we had a big storm, which caused us to lose power on the farm. The power returned, allowing us to use the oven, but the wifi did not. We were all out of sweet treats in the work stayer kitchen, which meant it was time for me to bake something.
With no wifi, I couldn’t look up a recipe. Due to this, this banana bread recipe is the first baking recipe I crafted all by myself, with no help from the internet. It has had some tweaks from that first recipe, but it’s still something I’m really proud of, and excited to be sharing here.
While my camper has an oven now, so I can bake at a (somewhat) regulated heat, I’m aware that not everyone has that option. Before moving into the camper I always wanted a sweet treat when I was camping. For me that meant baking breads and cakes over the fire in a cast iron dutch oven. This is a great alternative when an oven isn’t present.
To bake in the cast iron dutch oven just preheat the dutch oven, and take it in and out of the fire, or on and off of the burner, trying to keep the bottom from burning completely. It’s not an exact science, but I’m convinced the work it takes makes the pastries taste just that much better.
With no further ado, here’s the recipe:
4 overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup coconut oil (soft)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk (I use whole but whatever you have)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mash all of the bananas in a mixing bowl
Add coconut oil, the egg, vanilla, and milk. Mix until well combined.
Add sugar. Mix until well combined.
Add remaining ingredients. Mix until everything is combined and a batter is formed.
Bake for 28-21 minutes or until a fork comes out clean.
You can bake this in muffin form, which makes 12 muffins, or in bread form! When baking in bread form I use my 10” cast iron skillet. Anything that is oven safe will work, or any dutch oven if cooking over a fire or burner! I hope everyone enjoys these muffins as much as the other work stayers and I do!
