If you read My Story, you know I have a bake stand at The Virginia Renaissance Faire. Once I introduced gluten-free baked goods, people asked me about vegan baked goods. And then came the request for both gluten-free and vegan. I have been amazed over and over again at the number and types of food allergies that some people have. One person told me, “I am allergic to corn.” That eliminated anything with baking powder or powdered sugar frosting. But yes, I had some baked goods that used only yeast, butter or baking soda. I hate telling anyone, “No, I don’t have anything that you can eat.”
So how do you make baked goods when the binders and most of the leaveners have been eliminated? You experiment with substitutes. And if you are sufficiently creative, hard-working and lucky, you end up with my Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread that has a delicately crisp crust, a melt-in-your-mouth crumb and an amazing banana flavor can fool almost anyone into believing they are eating the best wheat and egg based banana bread ever.
See also: Banana Bread, Gluten Free Banana Bread, Vegan Banana Bread, Diabetic Friendly Banana Muffins, and Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread.
The Inside Scoop
When both volumetric and weight measures are provided, the volumetric measures should be considered approximations. The standard measure for a cup of sugar is 192 grams. By volume, this measure will be less than 1 cup.
When adding chopped nuts, spread them on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes until aroma rises and nuts are lightly brown. Let cool before adding to the batter. Pre-baking nuts helps to keep the nuts crisp and enhances the flavor
Line the bottom and ends of the baking pans with parchment paper. Let the parchment paper extend over the short ends of the pan to create “handles.” This makes it easier to remove the bread from the pan.
When making large loaves (rather than mini loaves or muffins); double the pans; this reduces the likelihood of the edges or bottom of the loaves becoming too dark.
A stand mixer is one of a gluten free baker’s best friends.
Kelp is almost pure protein and can be found at specialty stores and on-line. Although not essential, it produces a small but noticeable difference in the rise and stability of gluten free vegan baked goods.
Use coconut milk that contains only 3 ingredients: coconut, water and guar gum. Open the can of coconut milk and empty the entire can into a bowl; whisk together until the coconut milk is completely mixed and creamy. Measure out what is needed, add the vinegar and let it sit for 15 minutes to sour. Pour the rest of the coconut milk into a clean resealable bowl or jar. Label. Avoid “What is this thing in the back of the frig and why is it fuzzy?”
Combine my gluten free flour mix, coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, kelp, xanthan gum, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl; mix until leaveners are evenly distributed throughout the gluten free flour; this helps to ensure an even rise. Note: This recipe was developed using my combination of gluten free flours and may not work with other gluten free flour mixtures due to the different characteristics of various gluten free flours.
Since gluten free flours do not contain gluten, extended mixing times are important to help the flours absorb moisture. Refrigeration time is essential to allow flours to absorb moisture and eliminate the gritty “gluten free” texture and taste. Although the “grittiness” can be mostly eliminated after 15 minutes of refrigeration, I find longer refrigeration times continue to improve the texture, taste and rise of the gluten-free vegan baked goods. As one can see in the pictures, I get an amazing rise.
Bananas vary in size; 3 medium bananas may be the right amount, or they might not be enough and then your bread lacks flavor or they may be too much and then your bread is heavy and dense. Weigh your bananas to ensure you have the right amount.
Do not mash your bananas. Rather, add sliced bananas to the batter; your mixer will mash most of the banana but leave you with some small bits of banana for extra banana flavor.
Distribute batter evenly in the pan to reduce excessive doming in the middle. This helps to ensure a more even bake.
The “toothpick” test to check for doneness typically does not work with gluten free vegan baked goods. Metal cake testers are better, but are still not comletely accurate. An instant read thermometer is an essential part of gluten free vegan baking. Gluten free vegan baked goods should typically be baked to 210 – 215 degrees.
It is important to remove your baked bread from the pan after cooling for 10-15 minutes so that the bread does not “stick” to the pan and the bottom of the bread does not become wet from condensation as the bread cools. Run a knife along the long edge of the loaf, then lift out using the parchment paper handles and place onto a cooling rack. Do not touch the loaf with your hands until it cools; your fingers will leave “dents” in the freshly baked loaf.
This recipe has been reworked over 2 dozen times and I can finally say, It is perfect! (until I decide to change something next month). Because it has been altered and improved so many times, it does not fit perfectly into a loaf pan. This recipe is wonderful as muffins; but for a loaf, there is too much for a 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ loaf and not enough for 2 smaller loaves. The solution: Put 32 ounces/ 908 grams of batter in the loaf pan and make either 2 regular sized or 1 jumbo sized 5 ounce muffin. The muffin- consider that the baker’s “taste sample!” Enjoy!
A Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread that has a delicately crisp crust, a melt-in-your-mouth crumb and an amazing banana flavor that can fool almost anyone into believing they are eating the best wheat and egg based banana bread ever! If adding nuts to your the banana bread, line a baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy clean-up). Spread nuts in a single layer and bake for 5 minutes until aroma rises and nuts are VERY slightly browned. Remove from oven; cool. Add the vinegar to the coconut milk (see The Inside Scoop for more information about coconut milk). Let sit for 15 minutes. In a medium bowl, add my gluten free flour mix, coconut flour, kelp powder (opt.), xanthan gum, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the sugar and shortening. Add all remaining ingredients, except nuts. Mix well. Cover the mixing bowl, label and place in the refrigerator. Let set in the refrigerator for 2 - 12 hours so flour can absorb moisture. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 4 ½ " x 8 ½ " baking pan with parchment paper, leaving handles. If muffins are desired, spray 16 regular or 7 jumbo muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Remove batter from the refrigerator and place in the bowl of a stand mixer; batter will be too thick for a hand mixer. Mix on medium speed to incorporate air, approximately 3 minutes; add nuts and mix an additional minute on a low speed to distribute nuts evenly throughout batter. Measure batter into prepared loaf pan or muffin cups. Pour 32 ounces/ 908 grams of batter into the loaf pan, 5 ounces of batter into jumbo muffin cup(s) and 2 ounces of batter into regular sized muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes for jumbo muffins, 60-70 minutes for the loaf pan, and the internal temperature reads 210-215 degrees using an instant read thermometer. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool 10-15 minutes, then run a knife along the long sides of the pan and use the parchment paper handles to lift the bread out of the loaf pan and place on the cooling rack to cool completely. If making muffins, let cool in the muffin tin for 20 minutes, then gently lift muffins out of the muffin tin and place on the cooling rack. Cool completely. Enjoy!Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
Instructions
70 g./ 7 T. White Rice Flour
35 g./ 3 1/2 T. Brown Rice Flour
24 g./ 2 T. Potato Starch
15 g./ 2 T. Millet
11 g./ 1 1/2 T. Tapioca Flour
This equals 155 g. per 1 cup.
To make a large batch at once, I multiplied the above amounts by 8:
560 g./ 56 T. White Rice Flour
280 g./ 28 T. Brown Rice Flour
192 g./ 16 T. Potato Starch
120 g./ 16 T. Millet Flour
88 g./ 12 T. Tapioca
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