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.

recipe testing #3 - whole wheat banana bread

There are quite a few banana bread recipes out there and I do have my personal favorites. Today's recipe, whole wheat banana bread, is so good that I'll just have to add this one to my faves.


I've been on a "natural" sugar high these days and I am just stoked when I bake a recipe and it actually tastes good. Not saw-dusty at all!!! It's a huge adjustment for your palette to go from eating things made with processed white sugar vs. whole and natural sweeteners. Although when you eat something whole and natural, it just seems right. 


I guess I'll just have to save cupcakes with butter cream frosting, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and everything else that I adore for just special occasions......


Whole Wheat Banana Bread
found on allrecipes.com 


1/3 cup vegetable oil ***I substituted coconut oil here***
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 325F.


2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla extract. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Fold in chopped nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.


3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

recipe testing #2 - animal cracker cookies

It's a rainy Sunday and recipe #2 from my "just say NO" to processed sugar campaign. This saying "no" to the white stuff is going pretty well.....I'm not really missing it because there are so many natural sweetener options out there.


First let me say that these peanut butter cookies I made the other day are pretty darn good. I know, I did say that they weren't mind blowing, but these are tasty. Especially if you drizzle chocolate on them. :) And another tip, keep them refrigerated. Their texture is very similar to shortbread but with a distinct peanutty flavor. I'm in love now. 


So I've been following this blog, 101 Cookbooks, for a while but I have never really made anything from it - until my recent revelation with the "white stuff". This blogger, Heidi Swanson, is one smart and talented cookie. She focuses on whole foods and ingredients - vegetarian recipes that are good for you!!! So all you carnivores, fugetaboutit.....


Heidi's writing and photography make whole foods sound and look even more amazing for you!!! These animal cookie crackers are just that....amazingly good! They'll bring out the healthy kid inside of you!!!


Animal Cracker Cookies
snagged from 101 Cookbooks 


Some notes from the author from the original blog post:
The kind of coconut oil you purchase is key. You want it to actually smell like coconut. You want pure, unrefined coconut oil - it will likely have the words virgin or extra-virgin and (hopefully) organic on the jar. If you see the word "refined" on the jar, find a different brand. I've just finished off a jar of Nutiva, and really enjoyed cooking with it - but there are other great brands out there as well. You can make your own walnut (or almond) meal by pulsing the nuts in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with some kind of nut butter. For added depth feel free to use toasted shredded coconut.


INGREDIENTS



1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup walnut or almond meal ***I used almond meal****
1/2 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut, very finely minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin coconut oil, softened ***The coconut oil I used really was like "oil". I didn't need to soften it***
1/3 cup fine-grain natural cane sugar ***I used my whole organic cane sugar***
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten


a few tablespoons big-grain turbinado sugar


Whisk flour, walnut/almond meal and shredded coconut together in a small bowl. ***I didn't do this. Instead, after pulsing my almonds in the food processor to make almond meal, I simply dumped the flour and shredded coconut into the bowl and gave it a few pulses to combine*** In a separate medium bowl, beat the coconut oil with the sugar and salt until it's smooth and looks like a brown sugar frosting. ***Mine did not look like brown sugar frosting. The sugar granules didn't start to dissolve until I added the egg*** Beat in the egg until everything is uniform in appearance, Add the flour mixture and stir just until incorporated. Turn the dough out onto the counter-top, knead it once or twice and gather it into a ball. Cut the dough in half, flatten each piece, wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.


When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Place the racks in the middle and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. On a floured work surface roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick. If the dough cracks, let it sit and warm up for a couple more minutes. Stamp out shapes with floured cookie cutters and place the cookies an inch apart on the baking sheets, sprinkle with a bit of the turbinado sugar, Bake until the cookies are just beginning to color at the edges 7 - 8 minutes. remove from the oven and cool the cookies on racks.


Makes about 2 dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.  

These little bundles of animal cracker cookies would make a GREAT party favor for a kid's birthday or baby shower!!! They're made entirely of whole organic goodness and even packaged in a eco-friendly bags. 

recipe testing #1 - peanut butter cookies

So it seems as if my summer hiatus from my oven has been put on hold due to the glorious weather Mother Nature has decided to put upon NYC today! Plus I have been jonesing for some sugary treats which makes it the perfect excuse to bake something.


Yesterday I listed a few recipes that I was planning to test with all of my new organic, whole and natural ingredients. I was planning on making these peanut butter cookies, but then I came across this recipe.


I'm not gonna lie.....These cookies aren't mind blowing. But they are good. Good if you're a parent and you don't want to introduce or continue with white sugar in your kid's diet or just trying to eat less or omitting processed white sugar altogether.  


I didn't follow the recipe entirely and made my own substitutions with the ingredients that I had. Again, a good cookie but don't expect over-the-top or OMG when you take your first bite.....These peanut butter cookies are more "hippie" in flavor and texture.


Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from the beautifully photographed blog...101 Cookbooks


Notes from the original recipe ***Spelt flour bakes into a slightly darker cookie, whole wheat pastry flour is slightly blonder - more traditional in appearance in the end. Finish the cookies with chopped nuts or a sprinkling of flaky salt. I'd also recommend seeking out peanut butter that is well combined, and not super-oily (extra slick) looking - to avoid problems with the cookie batter.*** 


INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour or unbleached all-purpose flour ***I used whole wheat pastry flour***
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup organic, chunky peanut butter ***Creamy peanut butter is totally fine***
1 cup maple syrup ***I wanted to test out my organic whole cane sugar here. I used 1/2 cup here plus 1/4 cup maple syrup***
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil ***I substituted organic coconut oil and added an additional 2 tablespoons***
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350F. Place racks in the top third of oven.


In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate and larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup (other sweeteners if using), olive oil (or other oil) and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined - still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. ***Since I didn't use the whole cup of maple syrup, my dough was a little dry - that's why I added the additional coconut oil*** Now drop heaping tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet. ***Again, my dough was SUPER DRY! I had to gather up the crumbly dough and pressed them into balls*** Press down gently with back of fork. It's a loose dough (mine was NOT!), so if you're set on doing a criss-cross pattern, go ahead and chill the dough for an hour or so before this step. ***Again, I didn't have this problem*** Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes - but don't over bake or they will be dry. ***I baked mine for 10 minutes. My cookies are a bit dry but I don't think it was because I over baked them*** Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.
Makes 2 - 3 dozen

OK, these peanut butter cookies aren't going to knock your socks off that's for sure!!! So that is why I took them there and melted my bar of GREEN & BLACK'S 70% Dark chocolate bar and drizzled it on top.