When the temps outside warm up, my beloved fruit, the banana, doesn’t last as long in our house. They go bad quickly, and I hate mushy bananas for regular eating. But, this time of year also lends itself to freezing those babies and saving them for a time you are ready to make banana breads, muffins, cookies, or smoothies!!!! Peel the skins off, wrap in foil and place in a freezer bag. You’ll have bananas ready to go for just about any recipe. They make a great sweetener replacement, as well as a binder in recipes without eggs.
Do you know people with a variety of food allergies? No problem. Everyone can eat this delicious bread and no one will have a clue that anything is missing. This recipe is free of dairy, eggs, and gluten! Plus, it has no added fats. When you buy muffins from a restaurant, they pack in the fat and sugars. A Dunkin’ Donut’s low-fat blueberry muffin has 410 calories, 40 g of sugar, 55 mg of cholesterol (18%), 10 g of fat, and 75 g of carbs! That’s a lot of unhealthy calories. This recipe has only 128 calories, 0 mg of cholesterol, 1.5 g of fat, and 27 g of carbs. So, make you own. Extras are great to throw into the freezer for days when you want a grab and go treat.
I made these in muffin form for quick grab and go breakfasts. The kiddos also love them as a snack, no slicing required! Making muffins instead of bread helps with portion control. It’s easy to say, “I’ll just cut a little bit more off that bread”, and then, before you know it, all that’s left of that bread is a few crumbs (we’ve all done it!). When you make muffins, you know exactly how much you’re eating.
Cooking with your kids helps to teach them good eating habits, and how to support themselves with good food when they leave you. Our son loves to help in the kitchen, especially if he gets to smash things. Here he is smashing the bananas used in this recipe:
*Psyllium is used in this recipe. Psyllium husk is sold in natural food stores, or grocery stores under the name-“stool softener”. It’s the main component in Metamucil, and is sold commercially for this purpose. Don’t be alarmed to use it! It won’t make you run to the bathroom, I promise! It’s components are fiber and protein. Gluten free flours are missing the protein, gluten, found in traditional flours. Gluten provides the binding property when using traditional flours. Often additions like xantham gum are used for this same purpose. Many people who have gluten issues, can also have an issue with these gums. Adding in psyllium or flaxseed, helps to boost the fiber and protein content of the recipe (without use of gums), thereby binding the baked good together properly. This helps you to avoid a crumbly, dry baked good. The brand we use is called Yerba Prima, whole psyllium husks.
Ingredients:
- 140 g of oat flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 130 g of sorghum flour (about 1 cup)-could omit and use all oat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 mashed bananas, equaling 1 cup
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3/4 cup plant-based milk (we used almond)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tbsp psyllium or ground flaxseed
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease either 1 muffin pan or 1 8×4 inch loaf pan (we use an organic vegetable spray)
- Sift together the dry ingredients, keeping the psyllium husk to be added with the wet ingredients at the end.
- Add psyllium/flaxseed to milk. Beat until mixed, possibly a little frothy. Pour in the wet ingredients, bananas, adding milk/psyllium mixture last.
- Using a 1/4 measuring cup, fill the muffin tins evenly. If you have remaining batter, you can either fill cups higher, or make more muffins. If using a loaf pan, pour batter in.
- Bake muffins 15-20 minutes, until knife inserted comes out clean. If making a loaf, bake for 50-60 minutes. I always know when things are done when I start to smell them. This is always a good time to check on them, even if they aren’t done. Overdone breads are dry.
- Remove and let cool for 15 minutes before removing from tin.
- Eat right away or store in the fridge. These, and all baked goods, can be frozen for later use.
- 140 g of oat flour (about 1½ cups)
- 130 g of sorghum flour (about 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 mashed bananas, equaling 1 cup
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¾ cup plant-based milk (we used almond)
- ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tbsp psyllium or ground flaxseed
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease either 1 muffin pan or 1 8x4 inch loaf pan (we use an organic vegetable spray)
- Sift together the dry ingredients, keeping the psyllium husk to be added with the wet ingredients at the end.
- Add psyllium/flaxseed to milk. Beat until mixed, possibly a little frothy. Pour in the wet ingredients, bananas, adding milk/psyllium mixture last.
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, fill the muffin tins evenly. If you have remaining batter, you can either fill cups higher, or make more muffins. If using a loaf pan, pour batter in.
- Bake muffins 15-20 minutes, until knife inserted comes out clean. If making a loaf, bake for 50-60 minutes. I always know when things are done when I start to smell them. This is always a good time to check on them, even if they aren't done. Overdone breads are dry.
- Remove and let cool for 15 minutes before removing from tin.
- Eat right away or store in the fridge. These, and all baked goods, can be frozen for later use.
