This post is a little different than usual. I am offering a personal glimpse into something that we are being challenged with in our family right now. My little Pia has had a sensitive system since she was born. We always blamed her highly reactive and “sensitive” skin on my genetics. Same with her “sensitive” stomach and immune system. We just sort of called her our delicate little flower.
She ahs had chronic sinus infections and puffy eyes for as long as I could remember. The doctors just sort of said, “well, I guess she has allergies- give her claritin” and assuming it was pollen or mold or something environmental, we never really knew to press it further. But in the last 6 months things have started to change. First came the stomach aches. One was so bad this summer that we wound up in the ER without any answers at all. That was around when I started to suspect a food allergy. First I was convinced it was Dairy. I was lactose intolerant as a child, and I can still remember the pain it would cause. But after doing several trials with elimination and adding it back, I think that while it does irritate her sinuses, it was not the main culprate.
After weeks of experimenting, we are at a point where we are pretty positive it is a gluten allergy.
My initial reaction was of complete horror, and to be honest, fear. What would this mean for her, and selfishly, what would this mean for us as a family.
We are still feeling our way through this and I have so much work to do in educating myself about what gluten free means as well as just how sensitive she is. As I go through that process, I am mostly focusing on making sure that she feels normal and and like she has not been cut off from normal food. I have kind of thrown myself into the world of alternative baking and cooking, and I am excited about some of the results. I guess I get the most thrilled when the results are almost exact, or really, really close to the original- such was the case with this gluten free banana bread by the way!
And don’t worry- this has by no means just become a gluten free blog!! But I will be contributing gluten free recipes more often as I bring you the best of what I figure out as I go along. And even if you are not worried about being gluten free- this bread is delicious! (or swap out the gluten free flour for regular AP). Enjoy!
Recipe: Gluten Free Banana Bread
Ingredients
- -1 ¼ cup sugar
- -½ cup butter, softened
- -2 cups ripe banana
- -2 eggs
- -1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- -1 ¾ cups All-Purpose Gluten-Free flour (I used “cup 4 cup” brand)
- -1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- -1 teaspoon baking soda
- -3/4 teaspoon salt
- -½ teaspoon ginger
- -1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Add the banana and combine well. Add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla and beat until fluffy.
- In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and the milk to the mixer and beat the batter until well combined.
- Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and bake the bread at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out with only a few crumbs on it or clean.
- Let cool slightly until you can turn the loaf out and slice it.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 50 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Print Recipe
Great gluten-free recipe, Heather!
Heather, I’m sorry to hear Pia you guys were going through a difficult time! Thank goodness you’ve been able to pinpoint it – I look forward to all your new gluten-free recipes too!! xoxo
That banana bread looks so good!
It’s a rainy day and I think I need to bake up a loaf of this banana bread! Looks great!
Your sweet girl is lucky to have a dedicated and determined mom… a mom who will do anything for her! I love the additions that gluten free options will bring. Thank you for sharing something that has been (and may continue to be) so hard on you all!
Better you figured it out now rather than years down the road when her health was compromised. I hear tell the French Laundry has one of the best gluten free flours around. Chef Keller requested his top baker come up with a GF flour for bread in the restaurant so his GF customers could enjoy bread.
So sorry to her struggles! I love GF recipes because it gives me something to share with my GF guests that come over. Thanks for sharing!
I’ll be bookmarking this recipe for sure. So many friends are having to eat gluten free, thanks Heather!!
I understand your horror, but it looks like you are working through it! This bread actually looks good. By the way, zyrtec is better than claratin, but hopefully little Pia doesn’t need any long term meds now that you have identified the culprit.
Aww poor little Pia! That’s so surprising that gluten intolerance is still so hard to diagnose these days with the rising number of these cases. I’m so glad you’re able to adapt and dive on into GF cooking and baking! This is a great banana bread recipe that is GF – good for you, Heather! xoxo
My son was diagnosed at 5 of be gluten and dairy intolerant. Not allergic, but the closer we came to 100% GF/DF the better he was. Years of asthma, illness and large doses of daily meds vanished. A few years in we were able to ease back in some gluten and dairy, now at 11 he is able to eat “normal” again, although, we still go GF/DF when he’s catching a cold or otherwise immune impaired. It’s challenging but worth it. Finally, I have a healthy boy. I would suggest that you find a doctor who backs you – most likely with homeopathic background, and try to repair your daughter’s intestinal lining from years of inflammation with a great (prescription strength) probiotic.
THANK YOU very much Deja!!! I am so sorry that you went through that with your son, but in the end it really sounds like a success story. I am getting all over this.
So sorry to hear about your daughter’s health struggles, gluten intolerance can be so tricky to diagnose. Your banana bread looks absolutely scrumptious!
Heather, my heart goes out to you and your sweet little pea, Pia. Unfortunately, M.D. physicians usually are of no help with pharmaceuticals (like with antibiotics which kill the good bacteria we need for a healthy immune system) while the naturopathic physicians are a big help with food allergies as are homeopathic solutions. (A terrific homeopathic non-addicting nasal allergy relief product, if you ever need it for Pia, is by Similasan. They also offer allergy relief eye drops. I swear by them. Clears me up fast!) I know from firsthand experience dealing with physician after physician. (My allergist even refused to test me for dairy allergy. He deferred to my dermatologist who said, “You just have sensitive skin.”) I am both sensitive or intolerant to wheat and dairy–especially in combination. If I consume them together, I get stomachaches, nasal congestion, watery itchy eyes, acne breakout, etc. An elimination diet, just as you have done (you’re such a good mom!), to pinpoint the food culprit, or the combination of foods, is the way to go. The evidence becomes empirical. Our immune systems can be very sensitive and can only handle so much at once. Suddenly, a histamine reaction can happen with inflammation, redness and itching…even breakouts. There is an article I read by an M.D. who claims that 10 to 15% of the population is allergic to the natural hormones found in milk (as it comes from pregnant cows) and milk products. Probiotics can only help so much with that. My blog is dedicated to offering paleo and gluten-free options for traditional recipes. Now, I will be concentrating on more dairy-free (vegan) gluten-free recipes as well because my go-to GF flour I recommend is by Lena Kwak and Chef Keller, Cup4Cup, which has dairy (milk powder) in it. Cup4Cup is outstanding, but I feel the need to offer some options that are dairy-free as well. Heather, check out my recipe for Russian Teacakes with a gluten-free option. Use it (my gluten-free flour blend and ratio of fat, sugar and flour) to develop recipes in baking for similar shortbread cookies as I know there is a beloved Greek version of these cookies, Kourabiedes, which are so integral to holiday and religious traditions. Your sweet little Pia should not have to go without! 🙂 To replace butter, I like to use Spectrum butter flavored shortening and coconut oil as a replacement in baking and cooking since ghee comes from dairy and can still have hormones in it even though the milk solids are removed (like with clarified butter). I hope that I have been helpful. Good luck to you, girl! I adore you and your blog…and, love your cookbook! xoxo
Stacy, what a wonderful and thoughtful woman you are. Thank you for your words of wisdom and kindness. You are doing such a service to so many people,and I cannot wait to get over and try your recipes. I also just ordered that nasal spray on Amazon.Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. XOXOXO
My pleasure, girl! I know what it is like to seek help, not find the answers you desperately need and then suddenly find solutions (simple natural ones, at that) to “chronic conditions” as many physicians like to call them. There are answers, but we just need to find them. All my best to you and Pia! XOXO
Now, about this gluten free banana bread…gorgeous! Pinning to all group boards. Thank you for sharing!
Love this gluten free bread. In fact I have been working on my gluten free cake for a while now. A great recipe, of course pinned.
Hello! we love that you are including GF recipes on your gorgeous blog. In fact we’re making the candy cane choco chip cookies for Santa right now. I do hope Pia is on her way to wellness and great energy. Merry Christmas
Heather (And Hendrix from Kippy’s last year…)
This is the BEST GF bread I have EVER eaten! I have made it several times, and it is just amazing! I did add a cup of mini chocolate chips to it, and it turned out delish! Everyone I have shared it with LOVED it! Thank you for the great recipe!!
that makes me SO HAPPY Jill!! really glad to hear it, I hope you will love future GF recipes!
Hi
I am a great grandma who is just now learning that I have celiac
I have been making bread forever and love fresh bread
No luck with any gluton free yeast bread recipes
Gross taste and texture
I bought rice flour wraps too and it tasted like plastic
Can you help me with a good yeast bread recipe if you have one please I have tried many many recipes and bought many brands of store bought bread and dislike them all
I love this banana one though but would love a yeast one to make toast with my breakfast
Hi Maryke, I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I have not yet made a yeast bread- (but I will get right on that!!) The best Packaged variety that I have found is Canyon White bread. Maybe look it up on Amazon if you can’t find it at your local grocery store. I am going to announce next week the launch of another site I am working on that will focus on allergy-free recipes, many of which you will also find here. They will all be gluten-free. Best of luck and I will email you is I concoct something gratin the yeast bread department 🙂
Hi Heather, If not making this gluten free, how much flour do you recommend? Can I just swap one for the other?
Jessica- yes! Just swap out the flours!
Thanks! SO love your recipes!
Thank you so much Jessica- that means a lot!
The best banana bread recipe ever! Thank you!
My now husband, then boyfriend was diagnosed with Celiac and Type 1 Diabetes when we were 17. It was right before we moved away to college and we had no idea what we were doing. We grew up in a small town in the South that had absolutely no options for him. We would drive 3 hours to Nashville once a month to stock up on gluten free foods, but all of them tasted like cardboard. Now, 8 years later I am happy to say he leads a totally normal life. We have figured out his diagnoses and are able to accommodate his restrictions so well that I have figured out a gluten free version of pretty much everything he ate before. (Except a good gluten free beer! ha!)
All of this is to say, it does get easier. You will figure this out, and things will eventually taste good again. 🙂 Hang in there!
I will try out this recipe. I live in Oregon and we can get Bob’s Red Mill products thar are gluten free and really like his packaged mixes. We were surprised how delicious the brownie mix was. I am looking for gluten free flour. Found some at Costco and looking here in town at one place. Looking to have some food that’s gluten free for me and see how I feel. I am visiting from Pioneer Woman’s blog post you wrote on food. Thanks.
I do like Bobs redmill ap gluten free flour very much but if you use it, you need to add 1 1/2 teaspoons of anthem gum, also bobs red mill brand- it will keep it moist and together- otherwise the texture will be off. Good luck!