I’ve been pretty absent from here lately, but I’m back! I’m in my final year of my program, and since my program is a condensed/accelerated one I’m definitely feeling the heat. When I do have some spare time, I have been spending it with Matt, my family, pups and baking of course!
Pumpkin is definitely one of my favourite flavours of fall. I love it all; pumpkin pie, lattes, ice cream, grilled pumpkin, you name it! Another one of my favourite treats has always been banana bread, so I decided to try and combine the two! The results: Ah-mazing.
I didn’t really know how this would turn out when I started it – I was a little worried that the pumpkin would make it too soft and that the bread wouldn’t bake properly with the gluten free flour. I was extremely happy and surprised with the results! This recipe makes two loafs of the most moist, cake-like banana bread. It’s amazing. I’m not just saying that either, my family said that it might be their new favourite treat. And lets be really, family never lies, right? I mean, they’re totally not biased! (Okay, they probably are. But I’m just repeating what they said here!)
Since our family is lactose intolerant in addition to being gluten free, I opted to use lactose free milk and cream; you don’t have to do this but just know that it works just as well if you do! I’m sure you could use regular, non-gluten free flour for this recipe as well for all of you people with regular tummies – I would just not use the xantham gum if you go this route.
Anyways, let’s hop to it!
- 1 ½ c gluten free all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 c pumpkin puree
- 1/4 c cream
- 1/4 c milk
- 1 ½ c pecans, chopped
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 bananas
- 1/3 c melted butter
- 3/4 c sugar
- 3 large eggs
- pinch of salt
- ¼ c cream cheese, softened
- ¼ c icing sugar
- water
- Mix the banana and butter together first
- Add all dry ingredients and mix
- Add in pumpkin puree and pecans, mix again
- Cover bread pans in tin foil (this makes clean-up easier), shiny side down
- Bake for 1 hour at 350F
- Beat together cream cheese and icing sugar (electric mixers work best for this) in a large bowl
- Add water 1 tsp at a time until your glaze reaches your desired thickness - I used about 2 tsps
- Once the bread is cool, pour the glaze over top and garnish with more chopped pecans
- Use lactose free cream and milk if you're lactose intolerant like me
- You can use coconut oil instead of butter to make it even healthier!
And there you have it! What are some of your favourite fall treats? I’d love to know! Last weekend I made Apple Crisp Pancakes, so stay tuned for that recipe sometime soon as well.
