There’s just something about really good banana bread. Maybe it’s because you can tell yourself you’re eating fruit and justify having a second or third helping. Or it might be that you feel so resourceful and proud of yourself for not wasting those bananas that were a little – or a lot – past the point of eating in their natural state. Whatever the reason, this recipe is perfect for a snack, for breakfast, or even as a lightly sweetened dessert. Enjoy them as they are or sliced in half and buttered. As my Great-great-Aunt Julia used to say, “Good cake deserves butter and poor cake needs it.”
If you’ve dabbled with making gluten free breads and cakes in the past, you might have noticed that they usually turn out better when made in a smaller size. Sometimes GF batters baked in a large pan don’t seem to fully “set” in the middle, leaving you with dry edges and gummy centers. For this reason, whenever possible, I go with muffins. I have also successfully baked this recipe in 12 mini-bundt pans, allowing for a longer baking time.
Before you jump in and start mixing up ingredients, I want to let you know about some of the kitchen equipment I use to make these muffins. You will notice that instead of flour, I list two cups of ground gluten free oats. The two things you should be aware of here are that 1) not all oats are gluten free because of the equipment used in harvesting or processing. That said, check your oats to make sure they are indeed GF. And, 2) I usually use a food processor or a coffee grinder to grind my oats. Either works equally well. The big difference is that with the coffee grinder you must grind the oats in several small batches, while you can dump two cups in a standard sized food processor all at once. Also, for mashing the bananas, you will either need a potato masher or a blender if you don’t want banana chunks in the muffins. (Believe me, you DON’T want banana chunks in the muffins.)
This recipe makes 24 muffins. As always, I recommend lining your muffin tins with parchment paper muffin cups. Regular paper liners tend to stick to the muffin and just make a mess when you remove the paper. And now, on to the recipe!
Ingredients:
2 very ripe bananas
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cooking oil
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups ground oats
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup golden flax meal
Optional: 1/2 cup – 1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with 24 parchment paper liners.
Mashing the bananas and mixing in the liquid ingredients:
Method 1 – Place the two peeled bananas and the four eggs in a blender. Pulse until completely smooth and no chunks remain (this won’t take long). Then add the oil, milk, and vanilla to the blender. Pulse quickly to mix the liquids together. Pour the whole concoction into a mixing bowl.
Method 2 – Place the two peeled bananas in a mixing bowl. Use a potato masher to smash them up. When you’ve gotten them as mashed as you can, add one egg. Whisk the egg and banana together to further liquify the banana. Add the rest of the eggs, one at a time, beating with whisk after each addition. Next whisk in the oil, milk and vanilla.
Onto the dry ingredients:
Grind the oats up in either a coffee grinder or a food processor. These are going to end up being coarsely ground. So don’t burn the motor up in your kitchen appliance trying to get it to the consistency of flour. Coarse is fine. (No, coarse is coarse…. But I digress.) Add the remaining dry ingredients to the ground oats. Sift together with a fork, spoon, or whisk to make sure that you don’t have powdery lumps.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture together in a large mixing bowl. Stir well with a whisk or wooden spoon. I also like to use a spatula to make sure some of the oats aren’t hiding at the bottom and not getting incorporated into the batter. If you are adding chopped pecans, now is the time to mix them in.
Spoon the batter evenly into the 24 lined muffin cups. Place in the preheated oven and bake at 350 degrees for 24-27 minutes. If you are using 12 mini bundt pans, the baking time will be 33-35 minutes.
A note about baking time: Due to differences in oven temperatures and different sized bananas, start checking these muffins at the 20 minute mark. They could take up to 30 minutes. I test for doneness by quickly (and carefully!) pressing down on the center of a muffin. If it springs back up, the muffin is done. If the indention stays down, they need to bake longer. When I say “longer” that doesn’t mean to walk away for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, checking every three or four minutes until they are fully baked.
Cool for five to ten minutes before carefully removing from the muffin tins. I have noticed if you leave them in the pan much longer, the bottoms can start to become soggy.
Enjoy!