Banana Bread.

I have a two year old, perfect little person running around the house right now that I'm very happy to claim as my son. He loves fruit of every shape, size, color, texture and taste, and so I almost always have some in the house. Especially bananas.

Seven times out of ten there will be at least one banana leftover from the bunch for the week and so I'll toss it in the freezer. At some point a little while back I realized I had quite a few chilly little morsels in there and thought I should do something with them. Naturally banana bread came to mind. A perfect little treat and a great way to use those under loved bananas in the freezer.

I used my Better Homes and Garden recipe book for this and simply substituted the all purpose flour with my gluten free flour blend (Bette Hagman's four flour bean mix,) which complemented the banana bread splendidly.

Four Flour Bean Mix Formula (Makes 3 cups):
2/3 cup garfava bean flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup tapioca starch/flour

Banana Bread

* 2 cups four flour bean mix
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1-1/2 cups mashed banana (5 medium)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup melted butter
* 1 recipe Streusel-Nut Topping (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch or two 7-1/2x3-1/2x2-inch loaf pans; set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, banana, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). If desired, sprinkle Streusel Topping over batter.

3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes for 9x5x3-inch pan or 40 to 45 minutes for 7-1/2x3-1/2x2-inch pans or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

4. Makes 1 loaf (16 slices)

5. Streusel-Nut Topping: In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons gluten free flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.