Banana Bread

Is it sweet or is it savoury? Who cares! I don’t, not when it tastes this good anyway. I’ve been thinking longingly about banana bread for quite some time now, but having those perfectly ripe, slightly gooey bananas just hanging around never seems to happen in my life. Until yesterday that is, when I came across a pile of them in my local shop, just begging to be baked into a scrumptious golden loaf. And so, I set about creating a recipe. It is fairly low in sugar and fat so is leaning on the more savoury rather than sweet side of things. However, if you want your banana bread to be oozing and sticky-sweet then adding double the sugar and margarine would be fine too…

Ingredients

3 medium very ripe Bananas
2 cups Gluten-free Plain Flour
1/4 cup Vegan Margarine
1/2 cup Muscavado Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Xanthum Gum
pinch Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Soya Milk (or water)

(N.B.: If the flour mix that you are using DOES NOT contain tapioca flour, I suggest adding 1/2 cup tapioca flour and scaling down the other flour appropriately.)

Preheat oven to 175ºc

How To Make

Put the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and xanthum gum into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas till they become sloppy. Next, add the sugar and vanilla extract and stir till all the sugar has dissolved into the banana and there are no lumps left. Pour in the soya milk along with the cider vinegar and mix again.

Heat the margarine in a pan over the stove, then when completely melted, pour over the banana mixture and stir through quickly.

Now add the banana mix to the flour mix and stir until well combined. At this stage, if you feel the batter/dough is too sloppy, add a little extra flour. Alternatively, if you find it to be too dry add a little more soya milk or water till you get the right consistency.

What you are aiming for is somewhere between a very thick cake batter and a fairly gloopy bread dough; not runny but not firm and dry either.

Lightly oil a bread tin and dollop the mixture into it, make sure it’s evenly spread about. Break up the pecans and sprinkle them on the surface then stick the tin in the middle of the oven for about 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to completely cool before slicing. This helps retain the moisture in the bread so it will stay fresher for longer.

Delicious!

Irish Soda Bread

Baking bread makes me happy. Eating a slice of delicious, crumbly bread however, is a rare and special treat. There are many trials and tribulations to be crossed when attempting to bake a perfect gluten-free and vegan loaf. Seeing yet another rock hard, un-risen disaster appear from the oven can be heart breaking.

But fear not, there is salvation in the form of my Irish soda bread recipe. It’s very simple, tastes amazing (raspberry jam for breakfast, hummus and avocado sandwiches for lunch mmmm.) and has a lovely texture. It got big thumbs up from the wheat eating community too, which isn’t necessarily a bonus as I want it all to myself!

This bread will keep well for a day or so at room temperature.

Ingredients
2 cups Gluten-free Brown Bread Flour
1/2 cup  Gluten-free Plain Flour
1/4 cup Millet Flakes
pinch Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 1/2 tsps Xanthum Gum
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
1 cup Soya Yoghurt
1/2 cup Water
extra Flour for baking

(N.B.: If the flour mixes that you are using DO NOT contain tapioca flour, I suggest adding 1/2 cup tapioca flour and scaling down the other flours appropriately.)

Preheat oven to 200°C

How to make

Measure flours and millet flakes into a mixing bowl. Add salt, baking soda and
xanthum gum and mix well.

Add in the cider vinegar and stir.

Pour the yoghurt into the flour mixture and stir until a dry crumbly dough forms.
At this point you will need to start adding water, a little at a time until you have a
firm and not too sticky dough. Half a Cup of water should be enough.

Once the dough is ready, form into a ball and place on a  floured baking tray.
Press the dough with your hand to make a flattish round.

Using a large knife score deep into the dough to form a cross section. Sprinkle
some extra flour over the dough and place in the middle of the oven. Bake for
about 30 minutes until it makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Finally, cover with a clean tea towel and leave on a rack until cool. I know it’s hell
not to eat it hot from the oven but cutting the bread straight away will remove
the moisture leaving the rest of it hard and tough.