Grandma's Famous Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

So here is Yammie's grandma's famous pumpkin bread. You know it's going to be good, because it's based on her grandma's famous banana bread muffins.  It's so delicious that Yammie had wanted to freeze "the rest" soon after she made it when we realized "the rest" was just an end piece with a few crumbs.  But apparently the bread does freeze well if you have too much, says Yammie.  Anyway, this isn't Yammie writing this post.  I suppose you could tell, because Yammie usually doesn't speak in the third person.  But if you do go back and imagine her writing, it is kind of funny. 

GF Oatmeal Apple Coffee Cake with Crunchy Cinnamon Streusel {Without Any Flour!}

Guys, I am so excited about this coffee cake. How is there no flour in this? Look at it, people. I really had no idea oats alone could do this. I am amazed that sometimes it really is that simple to make a recipe gluten free. In fact, I'm eating a piece for my breakfast right now as I type, and I just keep shaking my head disbelief and muttering things like, "unbelievable" to myself. Now, as I finish the last crunchy crumb, I gaze out the window in satisfied content, pondering the newfound wonder of simple oats.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and Sugared Pecans

Hello my gluten free friends! I hope you don't find it annoying of me that I've been posting nothing but gluten free versions of recipes from my other blog lately. Good news is, I've been working on some gluten free breads lately so you may be seeing those in the nearish future.

Gluten Free Zucchini Bars with Browned Butter Frosting

Do you remember the ultimate moistness of Grandma's famous banana bread muffins? How about the ultimate carrot cake muffins? Well, prepare yourself for a triple deja vu then, because the banana bread, the carrot cake, and this zucchini cake are all based on Grandma's ultimate recipe. Perfected over the years to become the moist and delicious work of art that it is today.  

Gluten Free Biscuits

If I know you (pretend like I do), the absence of biscuits in your life since you've been gluten free has provided you with what is perhaps the greatest sorrow you have ever known.

The Best Banana Bread Ever {Without Dirtying a Single Dish} GF

I don't know how to explain to you how amazingly perfect this banana bread is. It's moist. It's sweet. The texture is flawless. It's quick. It's easy. And guess what the best part of all is. 

IT DOESN'T DIRTY A SINGLE DISH.

Sorry for the caps. I just... really hate dishes.

Skinny Gluten Free Double Fudge Banana Muffins

This was inevitable. I mean, I've already made Secretly Healthy Banana Bread with chocolate chips. You would think that adding more chocolate would be a no-brainer.

Well, a brain I may not have, but tastebuds I do have in abundance, and eventually their pleading and crying led to to this inevitable creation.

I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa which is a blend of natural and dutched cocoa powder so it's extra chocolatey. I also used these Dark Chocolate Morsels. They're my favoritest favorites.

In an attempt at health, I used applesauce instead of oil or butter and cut down on the sugar. I also used this gluten free oat flour.

If my calculations are correct, muffins made in a regular tin should be about 100 calories each and muffins made in a jumbo tin should be about 200 calories each. Add about 37 calories for each regular sized muffin for every 1/3 cup of chocolate chips added to the batter. But seriously, who's counting?

Double Fudge Banana Muffins 

1 egg

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup applesauce (I used unsweetened)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

1 cup oat flour (or substitute your favorite gluten free all-purpose flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark, but regular cocoa powder would also work)

Chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease muffin tin (the recipe makes 10 regular sized muffins or 5 in a big muffin tin). Whisk together the egg, sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and bananas. Mix the dry ingredients and add to the wet. Mix just until combined. Add some chocolate chips if you want. Bake for about 20-25 minutes for regular muffins or 25-30 minutes for big muffins (I just cooked them until a toothpick came out just a little sticky because I wanted them to be "brownie-ish"). I also drizzled them with melted chocolate. 100 calories just wasn't enough for me.

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Super Moist Cornbread

Also known as "corn goldies" since they're pretty much like brownies... without the brown. In other words, if you're here for a light cakey cornbread, turn back now. These guys are moist and thick and never dry.

Once upon a time, I live a very sorry life in which I did not appreciate beauty of cornbread. Firstly because I only knew of crumbly dry muffins that come out of a box mix. Secondly because the only thing I knew how to do was dunk it in chili, which is all fine and good, but...


Why didn't anyone teach me about honey and jam on cornbread sooner??? I went for like 14 years of my life without.

I hold everyone I've ever met responsible.

By the way, don't ask what the colors on the honey dripper thing are. I'm thinking maybe somebody decide to color it with crayons or something? I guess the world will never really know for sure.

Okay, so here's the secret about this cornbread. A lot of people like to use creamed corn, but I'm not that into that. Creamed corn is pretty much just pieces of corn suspended in a freaky looking corn starch jelly. I prefer to add one extra step and blend up a can of corn.

I actually use an immersion blender most of the time so I don't have to get a humungo contraption like a blender or food processor out. And it's okay if their are still flecks of corn or even a few whole kernels, so don't sweat it.

One final thing. I haven't tried this exact recipe with regular flour, but I'm sure it would work too. Let me know in the comments if you tried it out and it worked!

I decided I like it better in a 9x13 inch pan as shown below. I don't know what I was thinking before.

Super Moist Cornbread

1 can whole kernel corn
1 cup milk (Or your favorite dairy free milk, I used coconut)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour (I use this mix)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease an 8x8 inch pan. Drain the can of corn and blend in a blender or with an immersion blender. Add a little milk at a time until it's smooth. Add the remaining milk, oil, eggs, and sugar and mix well. Add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until smooth (don't worry about over-mixing unless you're using wheat flour). Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with a few crumbs attatched).

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Secretly Healthy Banana Bread {With Chocolate Chips}

Seems too good to be true, I know. So does the fact that I'm actually posting. HA.

Seriously though, I do want to post more. It's just, I'm on vacation right now. And there is no stand mixer here. And no food processor. And the gluten free flour aisle is pathetic. And I really just want to sit on the beach and think about chocolate chips all day anyways.

Seriously, I found my new favorite chocolate chips. I even dug the package out of the trash can so I could remember to tell you what kind they were. I guess they're called Nestle Dark Chocolate Morsels. They're just... so big and beautiful. And they melt really well and are just overall delicious. I know, they probably have some dairy in them, but it won't hurt to have one or two, eh?

....or fifty. 

Okay, so let me tell you about this banana bread.

I love it because it's really moist and... sticky? Does that sound weird? Well, I like it. And it's healthy! You can keep it even healthier by skipping the chocolate chips and maybe adding some chopped nuts and dried fruit if you want.

Or just add nuts, fruit, and chocolate chips. That works too. 



Now, if it isn't your goal to make a healthy snack that you won't feel too guilty about when you down half a loaf for breakfast, you could always try my Nutella swirled banana bread. You could even try it with gluten-free flour! It's full of butter and sugar and all the goods, and since it is Fat Tuesday after all, I wouldn't blame you.

Seriously though, the one day I post something healthy-ish, it's Fat Tuesday. What is wrong with me.

Okay, so wanna hear the big secrets to this bread? Well, first of all there is no butter or oil. Instead there are bananas (um... duh) and unsweetened applesauce.

 Seriously, I don't know why they usually sweeten it. I can hardly tell the difference.

The other secret is adding honey instead of sugar. I mean, supposedly that supposed to be better for you. You could also use maple syrup or something. Orrr.... you could just use the sugar. You'll probably survive.

Obviously, the final secret is using gluten free flour. I used white rice, but what I really wanted was oat flour. Like I say, this grocery store down here has no selection and there's not even a food processor to grind my own oats. It's a tough life my friends.

Anywho. You should definitely make this. And if you use oat flour, please leave a note in the comments to let me know how it turned out!!

 

Secretly Healthy Banana Bread 
Makes 2 8-inch loaves or 1 10-inch loaf

2 large eggs
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup, sugar, or other sweetener)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup oat flour (or any other type of flour; gluten-free, all-purpose, or whole wheat. I actually used white rice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less as you prefer)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (the ones pictured are not quite ripe enough, I used four smallish brown speckled bananas, mashed well)

Optional mix-ins (chocolate chips, dried cherries or cranberries, pecans, walnuts, etc.)

Grease two 8 inch loaf pans or a 10 inch loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Mix together the eggs, honey, applesauce, and vanilla. Mix together the flour, salt, soda, powder, and cinnamon and add to the wet ingredients. Stir in the mashed bananas and mix well. Add in any mix-ins. Divide even in the pans and bake about 45 minutes for two loaves or an hour for one (until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attatched). I cut each 8 inch loaf into about 12 pieces.

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