{Gluten Free} Banana Bread

It’s time for a spring recipe post, and I’m excited to be joining some amazing bloggers for another week of The Happy Housie’s Seasonal Simplicity Series! We’re all sharing some of our favorite spring recipes this week. Don’t forget to check out all of the delicious-ness everyone is sharing below!

Hey Guys! I have to say, we’ve been doing a lot of baking and recipe making the last few weeks, with everyone being home alllll of the time. The girls have been LOVING all of the extra time here, because it’s meant they have endless hours to do the things that they love most.

We raise chicks to add to our flock pretty much every year, and taking care of them is essentially the girls’ favorite thing in the spring. We first raised chicks when my oldest was a toddler, and every time my husband and I had another toddler running around the house (for those of you who are new here, we have 4 daughters), we felt like it wasn’t fair to not give them the chick raising experience too. And here we are, ten years later, still adding chickens to our flock!

We also bought the girls a few bunnies this year, and they are completely enamored with them. And I have to say, I am too! They are the sweetest, calmest, little creatures. I’m not going to lie- I go outside just to hold them whenever I can. They’re like adorable, floppy earred puppies that never grow up. I keep calling them my therapy animals, lol! #covid-19

But anyway, I digress. Baking!

We have been baking so much lately. I’ve made banana bread three times in the last two weeks, and I thought I’d share one of my favorite recipes with you guys. I’ve actually shared another banana bread recipe in the past- my ‘healthier’ version. This one isn’t healthy (can banana bread actually ever be, though?) but it is pretty much the moistest, most amazing banana bread recipe out there, in my opinion!

A couple of years ago, I accidentally over baked my banana bread. It wasn’t burned, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be really luscious and moist either. So, I decided to make a quick, banana simple syrup to pour over the top, to see if I could salvage it. Well, it ended up being the best banana bread I’d ever made, and I’ve been doing it ever since, minus the over baking part. It’s SO FREAKING GOOD.

One little caveat, though. This recipe is super delicious and moist without the simple syrup (so long as you don’t over bake it like me, lol), and if you’re going to eat the banana bread hot out of the oven, adding the syrup and eating it right away won’t work. It needs at least an hour to cool and absorb the liquid. So, if you don’t want to wait, don’t do the syrup. This bread is still amazing without it, BUT the simple syrup just brings it over the top, and I highly recommend! Let me know what you think if you try it!

Super Moist Gluten Free Banana Bread Recipe

Super Moist {Gluten Free} Banana Bread

Yield: 1 Loaf

Batter Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 2/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups King Arthur All-Purpose Gluten Free Baking Mix*

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Cooking spray

Banana Simple Syrup Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 banana, roughly chopped

How to Make It

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°.

Step 2: Combine sugar and butter in bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment until well blended. Add banana, milk, vanilla, sour cream, and eggs; beat until combined, and set aside.

Step 3: Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt; stir well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, beating until just blended.

Step 4: Spoon batter into 9 x 5 loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Step 5: Simmer sugar, water, and chopped banana in a sauce pan for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Strain through a mesh sieve into a measuring cup. Set aside.

Step 6: Once banana bread is baked, place on cooling rack on a cookie sheet (for easier clean up). Drizzle banana bread with simple syrup until top is saturated. Let cool 2 minutes, loosen edges with knife and turn out onto cooling rack. Sprinkle top with Demerara sugar for a little sparkle and crunch. Let cool completely on wire racks and enjoy!

Let me know what you think if you try this, and don’t forget to check out the amazing recipes my blogging friends are sharing below!

XO,

Laura

This week I’m joined by some of my talented blogging friends who are also sharing their spring recipes with you. Be sure to see what they are sharing by clinking the links below the images.