Tropical Banana Bread
I've written about a variation on my mom's banana bread recipe before, but I have a new one to share. I'm not sure I've ever made my mom's recipe as bread until now, actually; I think I'm much more of an impatient muffin baker most of the time. This recipe is worth the extended baking time that a loaf requires, however.
I've been gluten free for a couple years now, so pretty much all my recipes, including our now-weekly Sunday morning pancakes, are just my old recipe with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour and a bit of xanthan gum in place of the regular flour. If you're not gluten free, just leave out the xanthan gum and use regular flour.
2 ripe bananas
1 cup, give or take, pineapple puree (you can use canned crushed, which will be a bit chunkier, or whiz semi-thawed frozen pineapple tidbits in a food processor or blender)
3/4 c. sugar (1 c. if the bananas don't have brown spots)
1 egg
1 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour
1/2-3/4 t. xanthan gum (I just don't level off my 1/2 t.)
1/4 c. coconut butter, melted (aka coconut oil at 75 degrees or so)
1 t. baking soda
dash salt
Preheat oven to 325°. Mash banana with a fork or potato masher, then stir in remaining ingredients in order listed. If using gf flour and xanthan gum, the batter will seem a bit thick and gloppy, but this is OK. Grease a loaf pan with some coconut butter and pour batter into pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes; tester in center should come out clean. (It is very likely that the ends will be done before the middle, and thus will be firmer. Don't worry; even if the middle is a bit gooey, it ends up tasting like an extra-yummy bread pudding. No harm, no foul.)
I usually cool for an hour or so on the stovetop, then slice into about 1/2" thick slices. I'll put half in the fridge, and half in the freezer for later. If you can't wait for the entire loaf to cool, cut one slice and eat it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious!