Baking with Chocolate and Banana

 

School is officially in full swing, and that means that my time in the kitchen is rather limited. But I have resolved that I will bake every week. I made some chocolate muffins on Monday, one of the few days I have actually not stayed late after classes. There is so much to do on campus that I hardly want to leave and go home.



 

 

I also made banana bread from a recipe in Carol Fenster's Wheat Free recipes and Menus. I don't like her recipes as much, but I thought the banana bread looked good, so I decided to try it.

 

I started out mixing the sugar, brown sugar and oil in a bowl.

 

Then I added the wet ingredients.

 

For the flour, I used the all- purpose blend from Bob's Red Mill. Then I mixed in the other dry ingredients.

 

I like to use bananas that are at the peak of their ripeness because they are the sweetest at this point. The recipe I used called for two bananas. I like to mash them with a fork on a small plate or saucer.

 

Then it was time to mix it all up. The key is to add a little bit of the dry ingredients, combine, and then add a bit of banana. Eventually everything will be added and the batter is ready to go in the oven.

 

Just like regular banana bread; although the bean flour may seem overpowering at first if you're not used to it. I think the bean flour makes a loaf that is far less crumbly than typical gluten- free bread, so I like to use it despite the acquired taste of goods baked with it.

 

And what is banana bread without tea? I made a cup of my favorite chai tea from Teavana and then cut the first slice of banana bread. I put the rest in the freezer, and when I want a slice, I thaw it in the fridge the night before and return the loaf to the freezer after I cut a slice.

And in case you're wondering what I did with the gluten-free bread, here is a picture of a lunch I recently brought to work. I slathered on some roasted red pepper hummus, added some bell peppers, and that was my sandwich. A few grapes made the perfect complement.

Me versus Bread

On Monday I decided to take on the ultimate gluten- free challenge: bread. If you have ever tried to bake anything gluten- free, you know that gluten- free flours are anything but wheat flour. You have to use a mix of flours, and the dough is sticky rather than firm. Needless to say, that can make bread making a challenge.

So armed with The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, I set out to make one of Bette Hagman's recipes. I chose the egg- free bean bread. According to Bette Hagman, the bean breads rival those of wheat, and after baking, I agree with her. I used the Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour in place of her bean mix and added the dry ingredients. In conventional breads, you usually make a well in the flour and then insert the yeast, but Bette says to add the yeast in the dry ingredients. I also had to add some unflavored gelatin (so unfortunately this recipe is not vegan) and some almond meal for protein.

Since this bread is egg- free, I had to add some Ener- G egg replacer and mix it with water to replace the eggs. Otherwise this recipe was pretty simila

You can use a Kichen Aid mixer or something similar to "knead" the bread, but I prefer using a bread machine. My mom bought one a few years back that was recommended by the American Celiac Society. The key with using a bread machine is making sure that it is programmable because you don't need the rise 2 and there needs to be a crust control since gluten free bread behaves differently than wheat bread.

 



 My machine has me put in the liquids and then the dry ingredients. Then I closed the machine, set the timer, and let the machine do the work. During the kneading phase, I had to add water so that the dough had the consistency of cake batter. Otherwise, the machine took care of the rising and baking, and all I had to do was take the bread out when it was finished.

I thought the bread came out very well for my first time. I let it cool on a rack before giving it a taste.

 

 

The bread tasted really good. Bean flour is definitely an acquired taste, but once you get used to the taste, it tastes amazing. It was even better than the gluten- free bread I had when my mom and I went on a cruise for my senior Spring Break.

 

 

So far the score is Me 1, Bread 0.