Grain-Free Streusel Banana Bread

Fact:  As a child, I loathed bananas.  Fact:  As an adult, I LOVE bananas.  Funny how our tastes change so much, isn’t it?  (At least, mine did, anyway!) This didn’t happen overnight, though.  I think my change of heart for bananas had a lot to do with me going gluten-free and then mostly Paleo.  With that switch in my eating, I said goodbye to a TON of sugary, carb-loaded desserts and sweets and stopped using refined sugar in my baking.

Fruits became essential in my diet if I wanted something sweet.  Especially bananas.  While I loved eating them in smoothies or with nut butter, I found it was difficult to use them all up each week.  Hmmm…what to do with leftover ripe bananas?  There are about a zillion uses for them in Paleo baking, but the first thing that comes to my mind is banana bread!  But, I didn’t have a go-to recipe for banana bread…until now.  Introducing, Grain-Free Streusel Banana Bread!  This is a gluten-free, dairy-free sweet loaf with Paleo and nut-free options, full of delicious banana flavor with the added spice of a cinnamon pecan streusel topping.  Start saving your ripe bananas so you can try this!

If you don’t happen to have bananas that are super ripe, you can actually ripen them yourself in the oven on low heat (250 degrees) for about 20 minutes.  Thanks to Epicurious for the tip!  My bananas just happened to be ripe enough, so I didn’t need to use this method, but it’s so good to remember this if you’re in a pinch!

I used Otto’s Cassava Flour in this banana bread, so it’s technically nut-free if you leave out the pecans in the topping.  I love the flavor of cassava flour in bread and it worked so well in this one.  I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an allergy-friendly alternative flour that is similar to wheat flour.  I whisked that and the other dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

I made another batch of my coconut cream buttermilk in this banana bread, like I did for my Irish Soda Bread.  Just mix the coconut cream with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Then put your buttermilk, bananas, eggs, and the rest of the wet ingredients in a food processor.  (You could also use a blender.)  Puree all the wet ingredients until smooth, then combine with the dry ingredients.

Give everything a good stir until it’s incorporated and you have a thick batter.

Pour it into a loaf pan greased with coconut oil and then make your pecan cinnamon streusel.  I used coconut sugar for the streusel, but if you don’t have any, you can sub brown sugar or raw cane sugar.  Leave out the nuts if you’d like a totally nut-free loaf!

Once you have your streusel ready, sprinkle it generously over the top of your banana bread batter.

Time to bake it!  Loaf breads take awhile to bake, so I recommend listening to a podcast, coloring, or tidying up your kitchen as you patiently wait on this yummy sweet bread.  Check your bread at around one hour, since ovens vary.  Mine took an hour and 20 minutes.  Even though it may seem like a long time to wait, it’s SO worth it!  Plus, your house will smell heavenly as it bakes!

The result is a warm, moist, dense loaf of banana and cinnamon streusel goodness.  I let mine cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack.  If you have the willpower, let the loaf cool off for a good half hour before diving in.  Since my willpower is pretty weak when it comes to treats, I MIGHT have cut mine immediately.  🙂

Now, I invite you to join me in savoring a slice (or two) of this Grain-Free Streusel Banana Bread.  Let’s make it a great week!

Grain-Free Streusel Banana Bread

 

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Created by: Joanna Smith

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 can coconut milk, cream only
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ cups Otto's cassava flour
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 3 tablespoons arrowroot starch
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (or Paleo baking powder)
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Streusel:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans (omit for nut-free option)
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan with coconut oil.
2. Make your coconut cream buttermilk by scooping out only the cream from your can of coconut milk. Combine that in a small bowl with the apple cider vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Add bananas, eggs, coconut cream buttermilk, and the rest of the wet ingredients to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry and stir until just combined. (Batter will be thick.) Pour batter into a loaf pan.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the streusel. Sprinkle streusel on banana bread batter.
6. Bake for an hour and 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

~My bread took one hour and 20 minutes to bake, but since ovens vary, check your loaf after an hour with a toothpick. It's a dense loaf, so be sure you don't take it out too soon.
~This bread keeps just fine sitting at room temperature if you wrap it up in plastic wrap or foil after it cools off completely.

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