Gluten-Free and Vegan Banana Cranberry Bread

This recipe came out of two things – one, I had 6 small bananas that went from green to overripe overnight and I had a case of Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour that was staring at me.

I had scored a deal on it via Amazon a few weeks back, a 4-pack for $5.79 Prime! So er, maybe it was time I started thinking of things to do with it. The only warning I would give is that this mix has garbanzo/fava bean flour, so if your tummy doesn’t like that, choose another blend. While the bread was delicious, and the texture was right on…Kirk didn’t like the belly-of-air it led to. When he asks me to not use a an ingredient, I listen. So with 3 bags left, I decided to post on the Facebook page for the area I live in and see if anyone wanted it. Happily one of the women said she’d love it, as she and her children are GF. After Alistaire woke up from his afternoon nap, I got them in their jogger stroller and we went for walk, and delivered it to her house. I love living in our “community” in that if one has things to share, one can move it on out. Anytime we have furniture or kid stuff no longer needed, out by the road it goes and it always gets picked up quickly. Something to be said for a private (and large) community with relaxed HOA rules 😉 Oh yeah, and the best part was Walker fell asleep! He rarely takes naps so I was happy. Kept walking and put in a few miles…sunny and windy 🙂

Anyhow, try this vegan and gluten-free banana bread out – just use your favorite gluten-free flour mix! It was moist and quite tasty. Even if it did lead to belly-full-of-air syndrome…lol.

Gluten-Free and Vegan Banana Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup neutral vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar
• 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 Tbsp cool water
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1¾ cups Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1½ cups mashed ripe bananas
• ½ cup finely chopped raw walnuts
• ½ cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly oil a 9×5″ glass bread pan.

Stir dry ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, set aside.

Whisk flaxseed and water together, let hydrate for 10 to 15 minutes, whisk till glossy.

Whisk together oil, sugar, flax mixture and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to wet, alternating with the bananas. Stir until smooth.

Stir in the walnuts and cranberries.

Scrape into prepared pan, bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes, until golden on top and a butter knife comes out clean in the center.

Let cool, then turn out.

Makes 1 loaf, store wrapped, eat within 2 days.

~Sarah