Our friend Pete has provided us with his favorite variation on our Banana Bread Mix. He has prepared a gluten-free version of one of his favorite recipes for a family member with celiac disease. By simply adding walnuts and orange and lemon zest to the mix the result is a light and flavorful muffin or bread. Follow along with his recipe below.
One of my favorite banana bread recipes is from Britain’s Delia Smith – she includes lemon and orange zest in her banana walnut loaf, giving it a lighter flavor and feel than classic banana bread. I wanted to bake a version that I could share with a relative who has celiac disease and this is the recipe I used.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup oil (if using olive oil, an extra light olive oil is recommended)
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork or pureed in a food processor
- 2 large eggs – brought to room temperature, beaten
- Zest of one lemon and zest of one orange
- 1 package of Breads from Anna Banana Bread Mix
- 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
Makes enough for 24 mini muffins and 2 mini loaves
Steps
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees using center rack. Check temperature with oven thermometer.
- Use cooking spray to lightly oil pans.
- Mix wet ingredients until they reach a creamy consistency. I use a stand mixer with wire whip beater on medium high for about a minute.
- Thoroughly wash one lemon and one orange and scrape off their zest – you should get about 1 tablespoon of each. Add the zest to the mixture and whisk for a few seconds.
- Sift in the bread mix and blend. I switch to a flat beater and blend for about half a minute.
- Fold in the chopped walnuts.
- Divide the mixture between muffin and loaf pans – you can make 24 regular muffins, 48 mini muffins, 4 mini loaves or 1 large loaf.
- Bake 20 minutes for mini muffins, 25 minutes for regular muffins, 30 minutes for mini loaves and 60 minutes for large loaf.
- Cool on cooling racks to room temperature.
It makes a nice, airy bread or muffin.
