Minature Banana Bread Loaf

I've tried quite a few gluten-free, dairy-free banana bread recipes in my day and none could compare to my dear Mom's banana bread. It was so good that when she sent a loaf back with me to school in college, and I had to hand it off to my friend to bring it back to my dorm because I had to go to tennis practice, there was only half left when I got back to the dorm. And I really couldn't blame her; my Mom's banana bread is good.

Fast forward to a few years later, and I'm trying to replicate that moist, sweet, loaf. I've had a few failures, including a loaf that crumbled to the touch, but alas! I have found a winner, and it's basically my Mom's recipe -- modified gluten free.

I should also mention my slight obsession with "little" cooking tools. The notebook above is the size of a checkbook, so yes, the whisk is really the size of a fork, and the mini-loaf pan (I have four of them) makes a loaf slightly larger than a regular-sized muffin. This banana bread worked perfectly in my mini-loaf pan, but it also turned out well in a regular sized loaf pan -- just adjust your cooking time.

That's Henry -- eyeballing my loaf. Bad Henry.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Banana Bread

2 teaspoons vanilla (make sure it's gluten-free; I use Nielsen-Massey Vanillas)
3/4 cup sugar (I had vanilla sugar on hand, so I used that)
4 very ripe, mashed bananas (I freeze over-ripe bananas and pop them in the microwave to defrost them when I want to use them)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups of your favorite gluten-free flour (I use a mix of superfine brown rice flour, tapioca starch and potato flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mix the vanilla, sugar, bananas, oil and eggs. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients.

Grease either your mini-loaf, or regular-sized loaf pans and fill just before you reach the top of the pan.

Bake until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf. It took about seventeen minutes for my mini-loaf pans, and about thirty-five for my regular-sized loaf.