Last night we went out with our friends Debbie and Mike. They are quite the non-profit duo. Debbie founded the timely and super innovative Wellness Initiative, while Mike runs Progress Now. Two cutting edge organizations out to make the world a better place. What could be cooler?
Here’s what. Their son Lee will celebrate his first birthday next week. And they have another little one due any day now! We talked about children and of course, my favorite topic delicious, healthy food. They asked if I had any ideas for their son’s birthday cake and told me that little Lee loves bananas.
Here’s what I came up with. Bake it in a loaf pan and it’s a delicious, healthy gluten free banana bread; bake it in a and it’s a delicious, healthy gluten free banana cake. Either way, enjoy!
Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup agave nectar or honey
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 3 large eggs, whisked
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 bananas (about one cup) mashed
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda
- In a small bowl, combine agave, grapeseed oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Place batter in either a 9 inch springform pan or two small 7.5 x 3.5 inch magic line loaf pans
- Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
Enjoy this delicious gluten free, dairy free banana cake plain or indulge with some cream cheese frosting for a super rich dessert. Either way, happy birthday!
Aileah says
We made these as muffins today for the second time and are definitely our favorite muffins I have tried since going GFCF earlier this year. Both my 3-year-old and my husband love them, which is saying a lot around here! I omitted the agave nectar and added an extra banana and they turn out delicious. They have better moisture this way without packing the almond flour down at all. Thank you for helping us on this new dietary path!!
elana says
Lynn -So glad your daughter enjoyed and thanks for sharing the addition of flax –great!
katiebear -You are so welcome. I love the idea of using coconut oil in the banana bread.
katiebear says
Here is another rave review for this wonderful bread. I've made it twice. The first time I followed the recipe with no changes. I underbaked it a bit but it was still very good. Today I made it for the second time. I used coconut oil instead of grapseed oil and added about 11/2 cups of toasted walnut pieces. It's a winner.
Thank you so much for this site.
katiebear
Lynn says
A new favorite recipe for us for sure! My daughter is just finishing up her second mini-muffin for her afternoon snack. The 24 mini-muffins came out beautifully! (I don’t remember how long I cooked them for – I just checked them every few min – that’s kind of how I bake). Also added flax meal to a bit of the batter that didn’t fit in the mini-muffin pan and made 4 larger muffins – also delicious. Thank you!!!!!
elana says
jml -Amazing! Yum :-)
jml says
i just made this banana bread today.
it tastes amazing, i am in love.
i substituted the grapeseed with coconut oil,
and the agave with raw honey.
when the loaf is ready…
i heated some raw honey, butter and a dash of salt
to use a a spread.
it is to die for, thank you so much !
elana says
Laney,
Glad you liked it!
Elana
Laney says
This is so delicious! One of my new favorites! And so easy to make:)
elana says
Laney,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Simple Bread is very so-so, not one of my favorite recipes. I will have better bread recipes in my cookbook (coming out next fall). I do have a pie crust recipe, though I’m not a big fan of apple pie with this crust (the apples make the crust soggy), I think the apple crisp is much better. What about making apple sauce? It’s so easy to prepare and very easy to eat too.
Hope this helps.
Elana
Laney says
Hi Elana,
I have tried a few of your wonderful recipes, my favorite is the Pumpkin Pie Muffins (which I made twice!), recently I made your Simple Bread and added some apples, walnuts, and cinnamon- it didn’t turn out that great, but it’s okay! I am trying to find another gf/sf recipe for all these apples I have- I did make your apple crisp and it was great, but I wanted to try something more pie/galette-like. Do you have a recipe for pie crust? I am also going to make the Banana Cake this weekend! Thank you so much for sharing all of your creations! It definitely makes avoiding sugar and gluten a lot easier!!!
Sincerely,
Laney (Portland, OR)