Gluten Free Banana Bread

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I have been eating on/off gluten-free for 7 years. I started because I was having some pretty serious intestinal problems and it seemed to help. More specifically, wheat is what seems to bother me most. You may remember this post from last year. My biggest struggle sticking to this over the years, has been baking. I love to bake but it is definitely more complicated without gluten. And though a gluten-free diet has become more popular in the last couple of years and there are a lot more ready-to-eat options, I still prefer homemade baking.

I decided to make some banana bread today and surprisingly it turned out pretty well (surprisingly fluffy) though I recommend using the correct sized pan. I tried to improvise and it made a bit of a mess...

INGREDIENTS

1 cup or 2-3 ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup unflavored yogurt
1 tsp gluten-free baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1/3 cup of oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I prefer Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum

(Optional)
3/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup dark brown sugar (to sprinkle on top)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.

Combine bananas, yogurt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Reserve.

Whisk egg, brown sugar, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl.

Stir together flour, baking powder, walnuts (optional), and xanthan gum in a separate large bowl. Add reserved banana mixture and egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir together until it is all incorporated into a thick batter.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Place pan on baking sheet. Sprinkle top with sugar if desired.

Bake in a preheated oven for 70-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on wire cooling rack.