I’m sure that most everyone who buys fresh bananas has ended up with a few that turned black before they could be eaten. And many of those people know that is the perfect time to do some baking with them. For many of us, myself included, the most obvious way to use up some old bananas is by making some banana bread. Occasionally we might switch it up a bit and make some pancakes, or maybe a loaf cake with some chocolate chips and possibly walnuts. Chele, though, switched up that routine several years ago and hasn’t looked back. Now her go-to is this banana blondie recipe.
Chele first started making banana blondies several years prior to her diagnosis with celiac disease. Leading up to that point, it seemed like the blondies were a perpetual presence in her kitchen (I’m pretty sure she stopped buying bananas to eat, and was just buying them so she could bake these with them). Needless to say, having to stop making them due to to cutting wheat out of her diet was a pretty big blow… until she got the hang of gluten-free baking, that is.
There are a whole host of gluten-free flour options available, so one might be forgiven if they think that adapting a baked-goods recipe for someone who needs to eat gluten-free should be a simple matter. The truth is, however, that variety can make it a very complicated affair. Each different type of flour – be it oat, rice, coconut, cassava, chickpea, etc, etc, etc – has its own flavor, texture, and properties for baking. Some are will quickly get dense and sticky. Some need an additional binder added to the mix in order to get anything to hold together. Some may be great for savory breads, but too heavy or strongly flavored to work for sweets. And that’s not even touching on the differences between the commercial blends available on the market. It’s a bit like needing to substitute milk in a recipe – depending on what you are making, you might not be able to just dump any old liquid in there. You need to know the properties of what your possible substitutes are, and be able to predict how they will behave.
Even once you’ve narrowed down what flour is your best bet, the challenge doesn’t end. Not every recipe will work with a simple one-to-one swap (even if you are using a commercial blend that claims as much, like the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour that Chele settled on for this recipe). Often times, there is still quite a bit of adjustment needed to other ingredients or baking time. But with persistence – and a lot of trial and error – most recipes CAN be brought on par with their wheat-based originals.
Fortunately for you, Chele has done all that guesswork already, so now all you have to do is follow this recipe and enjoy some perfectly moist and chewy gluten-free banana blondies!
Gluten-Free Banana Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter melted
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 cups gluten-free baking flour We recommend Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour for this recipe
- 4 ripe bananas mashed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- In a stand mixer, cream together the melted butter and sugar.
- Add in eggs and vanilla; mix well until thoroughly incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
- Add the mashed banana to the butter and sugar mixture. Start the stand mixer on low speed, and add in a little of the flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Continue adding the flour a little at a time, waiting for it to fully mix before adding the next bit. Continue mixing until all of the flour is incorporated and the the batter is smooth.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.
Notes
- We have found that Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour gives the best results for this recipe. This can be made using other flours, but the flavor and texture may be different.
- This recipe can also be served and a frosted cake. Simply spread on the frosting of your choice after the blondies have cooled.
