Gluten Free Banana Bread…Whole Grain, NO saturated fat!

Whole Grain Banana Bread

Gluten Free Whole Grain, Saturate Fat-Free Banana Bread
Photo by Kate Chan

The other day at the market I picked up some bananas.  (Thrilling tidbit, I know.)  The deal was too good to resist:  39 cents/pound for ORGANIC bananas.  Say what?  I took a double-look to make sure I had read that right.  And yes, yes I had.  The “regular” (non-organic) bananas were selling for 88 cents/pound.  Now does that make sense to you?   Yeah.  It didn’t to me either, BUT it sure did get me to buy some tasty, perfect organic bananas.  And maybe more than I should have as I found myself with 3 overly-ripened bananas the other day.

And they were calling my name.

Big time.

Banana bread is something that doesn’t really beckon me, to be honest.  There’s something about adding a ton of butter to bread (I know.. I do it with the crescent rolls and croissants naturally are butter, butter and more butter) that just turns me off sometimes.  I am trying hard to LOSE weight – not put more butter in things.  So things are changing around here in the Gluten Free Gobsmacked household.  (And I’m not sure my meat-loving, protein-inhaling Love-bug is on the band wagon yet.  So change is slowly infused and when he can’t detect it.)

Making things saturated-fat-free is a good step.  That meant that my mom’s banana bread recipe was definitely OUT.  (Auf Wiedersehen, for you Heidi Klum/Project Runway fans.)  This doesn’t mean that flavor is out.  No way.  And if the flavors were lessened, I wouldn’t be able to sneak these new low-fat versions past my Love.  He’s way to food-smart for me to be able to do that.

So I started puttering around in the kitchen with my ripe bananas and DANG if I didn’t make the best freakin’ banana bread I’ve EVER had.  (And let me tell ya, growing up in Minnesota = eating banana bread.  It just does.)  I brought over some banana bread to share with my gluten-eating family (nephews) and some might-as-well-be-family friends last night.  I was a little worried, to be honest.  Our visiting family/friends don’t eat gluten-free and I wasn’t sure if the bread would go over well.

I worried for nothing.

The bread was DEVOURED by all.  My nephew even stopped playing guitar hero TWICE to go get more banana bread from the kitchen.  (Now THERE’S an endorsement you can take to the bank.)  And our visiting family/friends who don’t eat gluten-free?  They were all over it.

Hooray!  Success!

And the no-saturated-fat?   Did it pass my Love’s scrutiny?  Heck yea!  I’m sure he will first discover this news while reading this post.  (Bwahahahah)

This recipe has 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.  The walnuts add great Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils, but no saturated fats.  However, omitting the walnuts will lower the calories for each slice (I got a little more than 15 slices from my loaf) from 180 to 148 and the Total fat from 5g to 2g.  (You will also lose a gram of fiber if you omit the walnuts – just an FYI.)

I will be making these as mini-muffins this weekend for my school lunches or breakfasts.  Seriously.  I’m off to the store in search of the perfect bananas as soon as I get this post up and running.  These are good.  And dang are they gonna be great as mini-muffins too!

I hope you get a chance to try this too.

Gluten Free, Saturated Fat Free, Whole Grain Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf (standard bread loaf pan)
Servings: 1 slice/15 slices per loaf
Ingredients:
3 super ripe bananas, peeled (about 1/2 pound or 250 grams)
2/3 cup non-fat, plain Greek Yogurt (or strained/drain plain, nonfat yogurt)
1 egg white
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup millet flour
3/4 cup GF rolled oats + 2 Tablespoons of GF rolled oats for topping
1/2 cup tapioca starch flour
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
OPTIONAL:  1/2-2/3 cup blueberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In the bowl of your mixer, drop the peel bananas, broken in half.  Mix/mash until evenly mashed.
  3. Add the yogurt. egg white, and brown sugar.  Mix well.
  4. In a separate bowl, stir together millet flour, GF rolled oats. tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  5. Add dry ingredients to wet in the mixer and mix well.
  6. Add chopped walnuts and mix again until evenly distributed.  If using blueberries, stir them in gently by hand at this point.)
  7. Line a standard bread loaf pan with parchment paper OR spritz the inside with olive oil (if you use the oil, it will add a trivial amount of saturated fat).
  8. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth into the corners and across the top evenly.  Sprinkle the top of the bread with the reserved two tablespoons of rolled oats (if desired).
  9. Bake at 350F for 60 minutes or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 205F-210F.  Allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting for at least 10 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL DATA PER SLICE WITH NUTS (no blueberries): Calories 180, Calories from fat 44, Total Fat 5g (O Sat, 0 Trans), Cholesterol 0, Sodium 91mg, Total Carbs 31g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 12g, Protein 5g.

NUTRITIONAL DATA PER SLICE WITHOUT NUTS (no blueberries):  Calories 148, Calories from fat 17, Total fat 2g (0 Sat, 0 Trans), Cholesterol 0, Sodium 91mg, Total Carbs 30g, Dietary fiber 3g, Sugars 12g, Protein 4g.

(Nutritional Data obtained through recipe analysis at NutrionData.com)

Happy Banana Bread Baking!
I know I’m loving it!
-Kate

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