Organic Gluten Free Banana Bread

Grease Pans. Bake at 350° for 35-40 min, or until knife inserted comes out clean.

 2 C. Organic Rice or Quinoa Flour

1 ½ t. Aluminum Free Baking Powder
½ t. Aluminum Free Baking Soda
1 t. Ground Organic Cinnamon
½ t. Ground Organic Nutmeg
2 Free Range Eggs, Beaten
2 C. Mashed Organic Bananas
1 C. Organic Sucanat
½ C. Organic Applesauce
¼ C. Chopped Raw Organic Walnuts (optional)

(Frosting optional, see below)

Combine dry ingredients except the sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Mix eggs well. Add applesauce, bananas and sugar and mix well.

Pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Mix just enough so flour is moistened. Pour into greased pans*.

 *I like to use a few small pans of different shapes and sizes instead of one large bread sized pan. It’s more fun and you can freeze some for later. I used 4-5 small tins and baking dishes of different shapes. It averaged out to be 5 dishes. Banana bread thaws out nicely, but just be sure to wrap it good so there isn’t freezer burn. And don't forget to label it!

Frosting:

Blend 8 oz. softened Organic Cream Cheese with 1 t. Organic Vanilla and 1 C. Organic Powdered Sugar**. Spread on top of loaves after they have cooled completely. This is my husband’s absolute favorite cake: “Banana nut bread with cream cheese frosting”.

** I made my own powdered sugar by blending 2 C. Organic Evaporated Cane Juice ‘til powdered and then adding ½ C. Tapioca Flour and blending a little more. It turned out pretty good. A lot less expensive than buying it outright.  

Organic Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies With Quinoa

 I really love quinoa. It is actually a seed and is gluten free. It is also a great source of protein. Besides making quinoa as a side dish like I would as with rice, I grind it into flour to use in baking. If I use it in breads, my husband thinks it tastes bitter. I've heard that about quinoa, but I never taste the bitter flavor. But, when I use it in cookies, I get no complaints! Just substitute regular white flour in your cookies with quinoa flour. It has a nice consistency and kind of a nutty flavor, something maybe a little like a granola bar.

·       Blend together: 1 C. Softened Organic Butter, 1 C. Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (white sugar) and 1/2 C. Organic Brown Sugar (I use *sucanat).

 

·       Add: 2 Free Range Eggs and 2 t. Organic Vanilla. 

·       Mix and add: 3 C. Organic Quinoa Flour, 1 t. Sea Salt, 1 t. Aluminum Free Baking Soda. 

·       After dough is blended, stir in: 1/2 C. Raw Chopped Nuts (optional), 1-1/2 C. Organic Rolled Oats, 6 oz. Chocolate Chips (I use **Enjoy Life® brand). 

I actually prefer raisins instead of chocolate chips so I'll half the batter adding chips to one half and raisins to the other. They make for a richer, sweet salty flavor in the cookies.  

·       Drop by spoonfuls on a baking stone and bake at 350° for about ten minutes. 

*I like using sucanat because it hasn’t been processed as much as brown sugar. And, you can substitute it for white or brown sugar. I do blend it though first before using or it doesn’t mix in or dissolve as quickly. I’ll buy a bag and blend the whole thing and then store it in the cupboard.

**I use Enjoy Life® baking chips or chunks. These are the only chocolate chips I have found, or any chocolate for that matter except raw cacao powder, that does not contain soy/soy lecithin. (They are also gluten and dairy free.) Soy is in so many foods we purchase, especially anything containing chocolate, and most baked goods. Soy in our diets can make us estrogen dominant which can lead to breast issues for women (maybe for men also, I’ve never looked into that). Soy is safe in a fermented state. Ancient cultures only used fermented soy.

I love baking stones. I'd love to have my pantry full of stone baking dishes. I have ones from Pampered Chef, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

I adapted this recipe from BH&G’s Zucchini Bread Recipe using gluten free flours and different amounts on the spices. The top two pictures below were created using rice flour, and the bottom two were created using quinoa. The color and texture seems moister with the quinoa flour. My family preferred the rice because the taste wasn’t much different than wheat flour, but I feel it leaves a slightly grainy texture afterward. The quinoa is definitely a stronger flavor, but I prefer it due to its moisture content and no grainy after taste. I would use quinoa in many more recipes if it were more cost effective. I personally prefer it to rice.

Organic Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

1 ½ C. Organic Rice Flour or Organic Quinoa Flour (I mill my own for both of these)

1 ½ t. Organic Cinnamon

½ t. Aluminum Free Baking Soda

½ t. Sea Salt

¼ t. Aluminum Free Baking Powder

½ t. Organic Nutmeg

1 Range Free Egg, Beaten

1 C. Organic Sucanat (Sucanat can be used in place of white sugar or brown sugar in recipes. I blend it then use the “powder”. It mixes/dissolves much easier that way. It has more of a molasses flavor.)

1 C. Finely Shredded Organic Zucchini

¼ C. Organic Olive Oil

½ C. Raw Walnuts

Grease an 8x4x2 baking dish and set aside. In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients except the sugar. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. In another medium bowl combine remaining ingredients, minus the nuts. Add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened, fold in nuts and pour into pan. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean.

The bread cuts better if you let it sit a few hours and cools completely first. But it is so yummy hot out of the oven smothered with butter. Happy Baking!