gluten-free tropical banana bread & cup4cup flour

Gluten-free. 
Words that frightened me when I thought about baking.

My fears for baking gluten-free are over now thanks to CUP4CUP's Gluten Free Flour. I stumbled upon it during my daily food blog stalkings on Joy the Baker . This miracle mixture was developed by Lena Kwak, Thomas Keller's Research & Development Chef at The French Laundry. Need I say more??? 

I was oh-so impressed by all the rave reviews this flour received that I rushed out and bought a bag. Or maybe two. And since this GF flour is a special ingredient in my pantry, I will be treating it like baking gold and experimenting with my favorite recipes with caution. 

I have a couple of go-to banana bread recipes, but my ingredients in my pantry were limited so I borrowed ingredients and made substitutions from a couple of recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Musings from a Housewife and concocted my version, a tropical banana bread.

Tropical Banana Bread

makes 1 loaf 

3 ripe bananas 

1/4 cup pineapple - fresh and finely chopped ***Not needed really, but I think it added flavor and moistness.***

1/3 cup coconut oil ***Don't have coconut oil??? Melt some butter.***

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar ***No coconut palm sugar either? Brown sugar would taste awesome!!!*** 

1 large egg, beaten slightly

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup dried unsweetened coconut plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling on top

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 

1 1/2 cup CUP 4 CUP Gluten Free Flour

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a loaf pan and dust with flour. Set aside.

With a potato masher or fork, mash up bananas and pineapple. With a spatula, mix in coconut oil to combine. Add coconut palm sugar, egg and vanilla extract then dried coconut. Mix until smooth.  Sprinkle the baking soda and kosher salt over the mixture and mix in. Add your GF flour last and fold in. Pour into your prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with the reserved 1 tablespoon of dried coconut.

Bake your loaf on the middle rack of your oven for 50-55 minutes or until a tester/skewer comes out clean. 

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes and gently remove it from the pan and cool completely.