Banana Bread – yummy, easy, allergy-friendly

One of the most special birthday presents I got this year was a steaming loaf of banana bread. It was extra special because it was dairy and egg free (so I could share it with my little Sam), and because it was made by my sister, who at the time had a two-month-old, and a sick toddler. Wow, she must really love me! 🙂

Julie has the “Midas touch” of cooking. Anything she makes tastes like it was made by Paula Deen. I was doubtful I could re-create her bread, but dare I say, I almost did! I adapted it slightly and made it into muffins.

This recipe is much simpler than any other banana loaf I’ve made, but tastes equally delicious. I’d recommend it to anyone. What a great gift this would be to a new mom eating dairy-free! (Or a new mom! Or a mom!)

My sister based her recipe on this one.

Ingredients:

Like how I put the flour in the sifter so you wouldn’t forget that step? And ps, those bananas are the perfect amount of ripe for banana bread!

• 1/3 cup shortening, butter, or, my choice, coconut oil
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, minus 2 T
• 1 3/4 cup sifted flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 mashed, ripe bananas
• 1/4 applesauce (can be omitted – I used because my bananas were small, for additional moisture)

Topping:

• 2 T white sugar
• 1 T cinnamon

Directions

Lightly grease and flour 8x4x3 loaf pan or one muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash the bananas well with a fork.

Cream together coconut oil and sugar. In separate bowl, combine the sifted flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir into coconut oil mixture, alternating with mashed bananas and applesauce. Mix until smooth. Pour into pan.

Sprinkle batter with cinnamon and sugar mixture. My mom says to let it sit and let the sugar melt into the batter for 10 minutes or so and then bake. Trust me on this one – she’s right. My husband says the sugar topping is the best part. Go figure.

I cleaned out an old spice container and put in my cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle easily. Glad I took a picture of the craftiest DIY thing I’ve done all year.

For bread, bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. For muffins, bake 18-20 minutes.

Adaptions: Add 1/2 c chocolate chips to mixed batter, or 1/2 c fresh blueberries. Yum!