GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD

Did anyone else grab bananas by the armful on their last half-calm, half-frantic cruise through the grocery, that last time you went solo, the kids still in school. Maybe you kept your gloves on the whole time—the Coronavirus was already getting real, but not quite in your own backyard yet. Maybe you still bought strawberries and kale, but just in case everyone was right, you still stocked up on rice and beans and pasta and all the 28-oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes your shelves could fit. And bananas, obscene amounts of bananas.

It’s been a week now since our first local case was reported, and our districts closed our schools. A week of home-school/no-school/mom-shool while juggling all the regular care-taking, deadlines, conference calls, and the new sudden hysteria that’s making everyone, even the normally kind folks at the village post office, act a little batty.

Of the 10 bunches of bananas we bought that day—half to be donated to locally feeding program for kids who depend on school lunch (along with boxed cereal, organic milk, heaps of clementines and enough Annie’s Mac-n-Cheese to sustain a grade or two for a week)—the other half for home. We’ve eaten a lot of them, made smoothies, sliced them into peanut butter sandwiches. The rest though, had this destination in mind all along.

This lovely bread—as inviting as a breakfast bread as it is an afternoon snack—is a reinvention of the bread my own mom made nearly weekly back home. We don’t eat a lot of gluten around here, so I’ve subbed in more substantive flours (almond and oats) plus some all -purpose Gluten-free flour for the white flour, and applesauce and maple syrup for the white sugar, but it’s every bit as sweet and tender as hers. It’s chock full of pantry goods (if you’ve already run out of butter, you can still make this), and feels exactly like the treat we all need right now. Make it with nuts or chocolate or both—either way, we’ll be making this weekly and I wanted to share it with you, our sustaining and sane-inducing ritual in case you too are going bananas. Best of all, it makes two loaves, one for now, one to freeze for later, on those days you decide to throw on the TV and put your feet up a bit, and soak in your people. xo

NOT YOUR MAMA’S BANANA BREAD

1 cup (220g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (225 g) applesauce

¼ cup (60 ml )  pure maple syrup

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

 2 cups (312 g) gluten free flour or (280 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (120 g) almond flour

1 cup (100g) quick cooking or rolled oats

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp fine sea salt

2 cup mashed banana (four ripe bananas)

1 cup (about 120 g) chopped walnuts, pecans or 70% dark chocolate 

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/gas 4, with the racks in the middle third. Grease two standard baking loaves with coconut oil and coat lightly with flour. Tap to release any excess coating and discard.  

Beat together the coconut oil or butter until smooth and even (if you’re using butter, it will be creamy and light. The coconut oil will not be). Add the applesauce and maple syrup and beat until mostly uniform. (if any of your ingredients are cold, the mixture will seem to curdle and separate, beat until uniform and smooth).

Add the eggs, one at a time, along with the vanilla.  

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the bananas. Fold in the nuts or chocolate.  

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until it springs back lightly when touched, about 1 hour.  Serve warm, or cool completely, wrap tight and keep up to two days in an airtight container. 

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 25 MINUTES

SERVES 8 TO 12 (MAKES 2 LOAVES)

GET AHEAD

This is a great bake-ahead, since quick breads are almost always better when they sit overnight, uncut, totally cool and well-wrapped (bakers call it ripening their bread). Bake this a day or up to two days before serving. Because homemade breads have no preservatives, wrap well and freeze if you plan to keep it more than two days. 

GOOD TO KNOW

If you, like me, often freeze overly ripe bananas and come back to them later, you know that they lose moisture content and seep out a fragrant, banana liquor as they defrost. This can yield a tiny banana with tons of liquor--and you could pack almost four of these droopy bananas into 1 cup. Don’t be tempted to use eight bananas for this recipe; Instead, use the four bananas suggested, and all the banana liquor to equal two whole cups. This should yield just the right amount of flavor and liquid to make the texture a dream.

images belong to Sarah Copeland, and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **

• Photos // GENTL + HYERS

• Food + Prop Styling // SARAH COPELAND