Gluten Free Banana Bread

I can't leave this bread alone.

Finals ended last Friday, and as my tradition goes, I had to bake soon after. I have no idea why (1) every semester I get this crazy urge to bake during finals and (2) why I always seem to gravitate toward baking some sort of bread. I can't stop picking at this bread - it turned out AMAZINGLY well.

My absolute FAVORITE gluten free flour to bake with is cup 4 cup from Williams Sonoma. It is seriously the best - everything I've used it in tastes completely normal. I used it in this blueberry bread with excellent results and I've used it multiple times to make my favorite pizza dough. Cup 4 Cup advertises that you use it "cup for cup" in place of regular flour, but I've found that it usually tends to be a little less (not the case with this particular recipe).

Picture courtesy of Williams Sonoma

One warning about Cup 4 Cup: it's expensive. It's about $20 per bag from Williams Sonoma. Since Justin's gluten intolerance isn't going anywhere, we invested in a 25 pound bag (it was cheaper to purchase in bulk), but we use flour A LOT. If you're not a big baker, buy 1 bag to keep around for special occasions.

Anyway, this bread is amazing and gluten free thanks to Cup 4 Cup. I used coconut oil (anyone who has read about a "Paleo" diet knows about coconut oil), and it made the bread fluffy and moist (hate that word, but there is really no other way to describe it) - SO good. If you're not a coconut fan, leave out the flakes in the streusel and the coconut extract in the actual bread. Just know the coconut oil itself doesn't give it a coconut taste.

Here's what you need (adapted slightly from How Sweet Eats)...

4 VERY ripe bananas, mashed up
1 2/3 cup of flour (I used GF, but you can use regular - same amount!)
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup of coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup canned coconut milk (I used light)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract

Streusel:

2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the streusel, combine all the dry ingredients, then add the butter. Stir until everything is well incorporated. Set aside.

Here's what you do...

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. I know they always tell you put the dry ingredients in a bowl, then slowly add various wet, blah blah. Um...I just put everything in a bowl, then slowly added flour until I got my desired consistency. You do what you want! Just make sure it's all mixed up well.

3. Pour your mixture, however you got it, into a 9x5 loaf pan. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the loaf. Then, place the loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake for 75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Take the bread out of the oven, let cool and enjoy!

I am free for an entire week, so I plan to inundate you with recipes. Then, I will likely disappear for 2 weeks because I'm GETTING MARRIED NEXT WEEK (and starting my summer job, also fantastic)!!!!!!!!!!!

You know what I learned today? How streusel is spelled. Do you know why that's awesome? Because it has NOTHING to do with law school!