Gluten-Free Banana Nut Snacking Cake

This recipe for banana pecan cake stemmed from a well-loved recipe on the New York Times.

Following recipes has never been my style—I’m guess many of you are the same way. I like to have an outline, but then I go from there: Frosting? Hmm, too much sugar for an afternoon snack for me. Will this work with a gluten-free flour blend? Let’s give it a shot. Ingredient by ingredient I swap in and swap out. This is how I like to navigate a kitchen, and I find, when I follow my gut, I like the output more.

Everyone has unique tastes and preferences. It’s for that reason that I hope everyone will do some tweaking and twisting while they prep their dinners. It’s for their own good! There have been countless times when I followed a recipe to a “T” and later regretted it, wishing I had swerved in a different direction.

Gluten-Free Banana Nut Snacking Cake

Published April 16, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 9   |    Active Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter melted

1/3 cup light brown sugar or coconut sugar

1 cup mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas) 

2 large eggs 

1/4 cup greek yogurt 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups measure for measure gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (affiliatel ink))

3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Optional- 1/4 cup pecan pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and fit a 9 inch square baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla extract using an electric mixer.
3. Add flour, salt, and baking soda and blend until a uniform batter forms.
4. Spread batter in an even layer in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with pecan pieces.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick, inserted into the middle, comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then lift from baking dish and slice into squares. Serve.

Grain-Free Banana Nut Waffles

I'm sharing another recipe from Foraged Breakfast today! Wonder what the heck I'm talking about? Go read about my first eCookbook, and then come back for this grain-free banana nut waffle recipe. 

When you descend the ski hill at Crested Butte in Colorado, the smell of vanilla, butter and maple syrup wafts in your face. It gets stronger the closer you get to the bottom. As the hill tappers off and your skis slow, you find yourself standing in front of a small shack serving Belgian Waffles. They are steaming even as they get plated, causing swirls of butter and maple syrup to take over your mind. Talk about a solid business plan! Serving hot waffles to hungry traveling skiers who just want something warm--now that's a jackpot. 

One whiff of those ski hut waffles has the ability to set me off on a waffle-craving craze for weeks. These banana nut waffles have a similar effect, filling the house with the sweet smell of maple syrup, butter, and vanilla. Toasted pecans only add to this experience. The difference is, they are made with 100% wholesome ingredients (because you know that's how I like it!). 

Grain-Free Banana Nut Waffles

Published September 28, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For batter:
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 banana
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional, to serve:
• Sliced banana
• Toasted pecan pieces
• Butter
• Maple syrup

Directions:

1. Pre-heat a non-stick waffle iron.
2. Add batter ingredients to a blender, and puree until batter is smooth and no clumps remain.
3. Pour ¼ of the batter into waffle iron, and close iron. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until waffle is fluffy and golden. Transfer waffle to a plate.
4. Repeat step 3 until all of the batter is used, cleaning waffle iron as necessary between rounds to prevent and burning or sticking.
5. Serve with pats of butter, toasted pecans, sliced banana, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

This recipe is a sample from my eCookbook, Foraged Breakfast. Want to see the whole book? Click below! 

Paleo Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

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Using almond flour in place of regular flour in banana bread makes for a soft, nutty, and moist loaf. One that’s satisfying, grain-free, and gluten-free, too!

A lot of bakers will tell you that in order to make bread, you need to pull out the scale. You need to measure twice, and be precise. I am not that baker. In fact, this recipe is a “base recipe” from which I’ve made many variations, including turning the slices into french toast, swapping out the cacao nibs for chocolate chips, and topping the whole thing with walnut streusel. My mom has reported replacing half of the almond flour with regular wheat flour. My point: be brave, experiment, and create.

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My advice: Don't be afraid to try test things out. Sometimes, a little experiment can lead to wonderful things. Even if it doesn't work, you'll learn more about your ingredients by giving it a shot.

Alternative flours are different, and bake differently than traditional flour — some experimentation and learning comes with baking with almond flour for the first time, too!

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Paleo Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

Published April 17, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Yields: 1 loaf   |    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour 
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch  
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened or melted, plus more for greasing your pan
• 4 eggs 
• 4 very ripe bananas (if you are using bananas that are solid yellow (i.e., they do not yet have brown spots), you may wish to add 1-2 tablespoons of honey to this bread to increase it’s sweetness)
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9-inch loaf pan with coconut oil (alternatively, you can line the pan with parchment paper). 
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, until no clumps remain.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the bananas, coconut oil, and vanilla. Once they are fully combined, stir in the eggs until incorporated. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring it in with a spatula or electric mixer until a consistent batter forms. It may have a few small clumps but should be mostly smooth. Fold in the cacao nibs.  
5. Spread the batter into an even layer in the loaf pan. Optionally, sprinkle the top of the load with cacao nibs. Then, place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes until golden on top, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing.