Baking banana bread should always be a top choice when you have some bananas getting a little too ripe a little too fast. This is seriously one of the easiest recipes and as I'm typing this I'm contemplating making another loaf today (which would be my third this week).
I've always had a potassium deficiency (which apparently is very common), but this means I always seem to buy way too many bananas. When I was living in Hawaii I would drink coconut water every day (which has twice as much potassium as a banana!) but alas, coconut water is not cheap on the mainland and I've had to go back to the good ole banana. And as I've mentioned before, I have no idea how to buy a sufficient amount.
As of this week, I had some getting way too ripe and instead of cutting them up and putting them in the freezer for smoothies (also a great way to save those bananas! you can make a dairy free ice cream with them, recipe to come later) I decided to make banana bread! The first one I threw in some blueberries (I didn't have any walnuts!! Such a sin) which was surprisingly awesome! Turned out to be great for a breakfast addition! Second loaf I made I put in some chocolate chips (I still didn't have any walnuts!!) and it was even MORE amazing. I mean it was banana and chocolate you can't really go wrong. And now looking over at my kitchen I see 3 more bananas that I'm not sure what to do with and I have some extra chocolate so I think I've made up my mind what to make today.
Ingredients:
2 cups All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour or regular wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (leave out if using regular wheat flour)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) or
1 cup chocolate chips (optional) or
1 cup fresh blueberries (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9 X 5-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
3. Cream the butter in a stand mixer until white. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy approx. 5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the mashed bananas. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until blended. Fold in nuts, chocolate, or blueberries if using.
5. Spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for 1 hour. Enjoy!
Let me know if you made this and how it turned out!