This Gluten Free Maple Cinnamon Banana Bread is bursting with your favorite morning flavors: warm cinnamon, pure maple syrup, and a sweet vanilla glaze. You’ll never be happier to have ripe bananas laying around!
Hi. It’s me, your super duper obnoxious poster of all the sugar free foods I’m eating over on my Instagram stories. Have you seen them??? Yeah, neither has the rest of the world. Maybe one day my annoying Instagram stories will reach more than a mere 150 people that pretend to care. Haha, hey I don’t blame you. Not the most exciting of news.
Anyhow, this sugar free January thing isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Basically I’ve omitted sweets and treats, which I only ate once a day anyway. I love me some sugar sometime after dinner. I guess it’s just something to look forward to at the end of the day when the kids are in bed.
But this is what I’ve realized, my need for sweets is completely emotional for that very reason. I associate eating a treat with the calmness and tranquility of finally being able to sit down and rest for a moment after a busy day. These last two weeks have taught me that really all I need is the relaxing part, not necessarily the sugar indulgence.
I’ve also been making a conscious effort to switch up my breakfast routine. I’m all about never repeating a dinner, except on dire occasions when my brain can’t think of anything new. But breakfast? Breakfast is ALWAYS THE SAME. Yep, I’m a cold cereal with bananas and a dollop of peanut butter kind of gal. Every. Single. Day.
Not only do I eat the same breakfast everyday, but I’m freakishly particular about each element of the dish. The cereal has to be a combination of at least three different cereals, one of which must include plain shredded wheat. The other options vary from Wheat Chex to Grapenuts to Granola to Cheerios. After experiencing “the combo”, I can never go back to just one.
And the milk! Oh, the milk. The milk has to be ICE COLD! It bugs the bajeebers out of me if Ben or my kids leave the milk out on the counter for even a minute or two. It’s just not as cold. And don’t even get me started on subbing the milk. I will not do it! No almond milk, no coconut milk, no soy milk, no rice milk. Get outa my face! I WANT REAL MILK! And ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.
Now the peanut butter…I started that addition a few months ago when I was training for my marathon. I needed more protein, fat and calories in my diet, and a scoop of morning peanut butter was an easy way to do it. But it tastes just too darn good that I haven’t skipped a day ever since. Oh, and it has to be the all natural stir kind so it’s a little more runny and doesn’t glob all in one place.
And for the bananas. They have to be the perfect ripeness. Not too green or they’re too starchy and hard. Not spotted or they’re too mushy and sweet. Perfectly yellow.
Did you realize a bowl of cereal could be such an ordeal? Well, welcome to my life where about everything is a big ordeal.
HERE COMES THE RECIPE…
But back to those bananas. I have split feelings towards overly ripened bananas. They are gross as is. I mean, I won’t even touch them raw if they have but a single spot. Just not my taste. Sometimes, if I’m really desperate and they’re all I have left, I’ll throw them in the fridge until chilled and then slice them in my cereal. But that is a rare occasion. HOWEVER, at the very same time I long for overly ripe bananas because…HELLO…BANANA BREAD!!!
If you haven’t already realized by now, I am quite the banana bread fanatic. I have a slew of recipes on my blog. I’m always trying to think up new and tasty twists on the basic banana bread recipe, and I’m pretty sure this Gluten Free Maple Cinnamon Banana Bread is one of the best.
It’s no wonder this gluten free banana bread tastes so delicious. Three flavors make up the perfect combo for this loaf: maple, cinnamon, and pecans. It doesn’t get much better.
Just think of a sweet, moist loaf of golden banana bread infused with flavors of cinnamon and maple, and then drizzled with a cinnamon maple glaze and topped with chopped pecans. Drooling yet??? Well you should be!
I know most people think of banana bread as a breakfast food or even a snack, but let’s be honest…this can be a 100% stand in for dessert and ain’t nobody gonna complain about it. Topped with some vanilla ice cream, and this “cake” would be a show stopper indeed. Actually, I almost always eat my banana bread for dessert topped with a mini scoop of ice cream. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back. Never.
Now you can imagine the pain I’m feeling right now posting about this sensationally sweet banana bread when I’m not eating any sweets. Ugh! As great as it’s been (as in I haven’t totally felt deprived), there’s no denying the fact that a slice of this banana bread would be heavenly right now. Do me a favor and eat a piece for me. We’ll both be grateful.
So here’s a recipe for all you that haven’t made New Year’s health resolutions (aka, the smart ones)! I haven’t forgotten about you guys too! Happy banana breadin’!
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Basic Banana Bread: Three Ways
- Gluten Free Honey Orange Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Toasted Coconut Toffee Banana Bread
- For the banana bread:
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups high quality gluten free all purpose flour* (or my preferred blend of ½ cup white rice flour, ½ cup brown rice flour, ⅓ cup coconut flour, ⅓ cup tapioca starch, ¼ cup cornstarch)
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (if your flour blend doesn't already contain a gum)
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt or regular sour cream
- 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas, mashed until soupy
- For the glaze:
- 1 cup powder sugar
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- dash of salt
- splash of vanilla
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray with cooking spray 4 nonstick mini loaf pans. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup, molasses, and eggs until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- In a smaller mixing bowl sift together gluten free flour (or my blend of white rice flour, brown rice flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, and cornstarch), xanthan gum (if needed), baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add half of dry mixture to wet and mix until incorporated. Add Greek yogurt or sour cream and mix until smooth. Add other half of dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Mash bananas until soupy. Add to batter and mix until smooth. Mix on low for an additional minute, scraping down sides as needed.
- Divide batter evenly between loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 332-35 minutes or until tops of bread bounce back at the touch of a finger and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with few moist crumbs.
- Remove pans from oven and set on a cooling rack. Run a sharp knife along the edges of loaves to loosen. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- While bread is cooling, make glaze. Combine all ingredients except pecans and whisk until smooth.
- Run knife along edges of pans to loosen again. Gently flip loaves out of pan and set right side up on cooling rack. Allow to cool for 10 more minutes. Stir glaze and drizzle on top of loaves. Sprinkle pecans over top of glaze. Allow to finish cooling.
- Store leftover banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in fridge for up to a week, or in freezer for up to 3 months.
