Crazy for Bananas

We love bananas in our house.  We go through a least two bunches a week! And I, for one, am happy to encourage this.  Bananas are a great fruit, especially for celiacs.  Did you know that bananas contain vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, magnesium and folate, all of which we can be lacking in our gluten free diet.  

How do we eat them?  We eat them plain, we use them in smoothies, when they are beginning to turn we make banana bread, banana pancakes and then we freeze the bananas and make dairy free banana ice cream.  Here are a couple of the banana recipes that we love (these are also dairy free because that's how we are eating right now).

Banana Pancakes

This is the easiest pancake recipe ever, no messing with flour or even much measuring when you are still half asleep!  These are requested more often than my normal pancakes this summer.

Peanut Butter and Banana Pancakes (from the Simply Gluten Free magazine)

2 ripe bananas, peeled

1/2 cup peanut, almond or cashew butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl.  Add the nut butter, eggs and baking powder.  Mix well.

Heat a skillet or griddle to medium-low heat.  Brush the pan with oil.  Ladle 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto pan for each pancake. Cook until bottoms are golden brown and edges appear dry, about 5 minutes.  Gently flip and cook for another minute or until bottoms are browned and pancakes feel firm to touch.  Serve warm, delicious!

Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups gluten free flour mix with xanthan gum

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 c sugar

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup canola or sunflower oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease 4 x 8 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  In a small bowl mix together the eggs, sugar, bananas, vanilla extract and oil.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.  Transfer batter into loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until knife inserted in cake comes out clean.  Let cool completely in pan before turning out.

Banana Icecream (can be doubled) adapted from Daily Bites Recipe

2 medium ripe bananas, sliced and frozen

3/4 cup canned coconut milk (full fat)

2 Tablespoons Dutch Cocoa powder

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Turn into plastic container and freeze until solid (about 5 hours).  This is delicious as is but if you like your ice cream a little smoother, freeze your mix for about 2 hours, then remove from freezer and blend again until smooth, then put back in freeze and freeze for another two to three hours.  You can also make these into healthy popsicles by dividing mix into Popsicle molds.

Enjoy!!