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Gluten Free Banana Bread with Browned Butter and Maple Glaze {gluten free}

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This is no ordinary banana bread! The flavors of browned butter, sweet bananas, a tantalizing maple glaze and toasted pecans come together to make the best gluten free banana bread you’ve ever tasted. 

Gluten free banana bread is an easy adaptation of one of my favorite classic recipes. I fondly remember waiting impatiently for the loaf to cool after smelling its tantalizing aroma for nearly an hour as it baked. My mom was a make-it-from-scratch kind of lady. She made everything from pizza crusts, to homemade bread, to banana bread and baked them often.

I grew up eating real, homemade foods fresh out of the oven which is, perhaps, why I love creating dishes in my own kitchen now. It has become a great asset as I now have 2 kids on low sodium diets and a husband and child with multiple food allergies. There aren’t a lot of pre-packaged foods that meet all those requirements, but that’s OK because homemade tastes better anyway! 

The ultimate gluten free banana bread with browned butter, toasted pecans, and maple glaze! #glutenfree #glutenfreebananabread #glutenfreerecipes

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for new recipes using over-ripe bananas. This is a fun twist on a traditional gluten free banana bread recipe, and I was a little surprised that all the kids love it just as much. Nuts (especially pecans) are often a turn-off for the littles, but even my kids’ friends who have been visiting when we’ve made a loaf have loved this bread!

Either you’re a browned butter fanatic, orrrrr you haven’t tried adding browned butter to your baked goods yet 😉 Browning butter gives it a distinctly rich and nutty flavor and aroma. It’s the secret to theperfect chocolate chip cookie and can be used in place of regular butter in just about any recipe. It’s also very easy to make; all you’ll need is a saucepan and about 5 minutes!

Side Note: If you haven’t tried making these Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies from my friend Michelle at My Gluten-Free Kitchen, you’re missing out! This is our go-to recipe and I’ve given up on trying to develop a recipe that can beat it. We always swap browned butter for the melted butter and it is absolute perfection!

The ultimate gluten free banana bread with browned butter, toasted pecans, and maple glaze! #glutenfree #glutenfreebananabread #glutenfreerecipes

The trick to browning butter is to watch it very closely. As it’s heating, the butter will bubble and pop, and then all at once it will settle down and give off a delightful nutty aroma. This is when you remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature before using it in your recipe.

If you’re tempted to skimp on the cooling time, just keep in mind what happens when you add eggs to something hot. No one wants scrambled eggs in their gluten free banana bread 😉

Here is a great tutorial/video on how to brown butter from Simply Recipes. It’s super easy once you know how!

Gluten Free Banana Bread with Browned Butter and Maple Glaze?! SO GOOD! ThereIsLifeAfterWheat.com #GlutenFree #glutenfreebananabread #glutenfreerecipes

The best thing about this recipe is that it’s gluten free but no one will know it. It’s soft and not crumbly at all. This banana bread is packed with flavor and will have you eating up every last crumb. Enjoy!

The ultimate gluten free banana bread with browned butter, toasted pecans, and maple glaze! #glutenfree #glutenfreebananabread #glutenfreerecipes

Gluten Free Banana Bread with Browned Butter and Maple Glaze

Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Additional Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

This is no ordinary banana bread! The flavors of browned butter, sweet bananas, a tantalizing maple glaze and toasted pecans come together to make the best gluten free banana bread you've ever tasted. 

Ingredients

  • BROWNED BUTTER BANANA BREAD
  • 1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 medium-large over ripe bananas
  • 1/2 T vanilla
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 3/4 cup high quality gluten free flour blend (I've used Grandpa's Kitchen and Thrive Life)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup toasted, chopped, pecans
  • MAPLE GLAZE
  • 1 T unsalted butter, browned (see instructions)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 T water
  • 3/4 tsp maple flavoring
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan, brown butter by heating over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Swirl the pan occasionally but do not stir. Watch it closely, it will bubble quite a bit for the first few minutes and when it bubbles less and you smell a nutty scent and the bottom looks golden brown, it's done. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  2. Once the butter is cooled to room temperature, combine it with the brown and white sugars the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer. Mix together thoroughly.
  3. Add eggs and mix until smooth.
  4. Mash the bananas until smooth and add them along with the vanilla and sour cream. Mix until smooth.
  5. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low until combined.
  6. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool.
  8. While the bread is cooling, brown another 1 T butter for the glaze.
  9. Make the maple glaze by whisking together the browned butter, powdered sugar, water, maple, and salt to taste. Add additional powdered sugar or water if needed to reach the right consistency.
  10. Spread the maple glaze over the banana bread and top with some extra toasted, chopped, pecans if you want. Slice and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
  11. Slice and store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 243Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 299mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 3g

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Move over banana bread! This recipe is packed with rich browned butter flavor, crispy toasted pecans, bananas, and a creamy maple glaze.

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Alene

Friday 23rd of October 2020

Which other flour do you think would work, cup 4 cup, better batter, ka measure for measure. Those are the ones I have right now and am trying to avoid the stores these days. Thanks!

Patricia Reynolds

Monday 5th of October 2020

I just found your website for the first time and have printed out a few recipes to try this week. I have a granddaughter who is highly allergic to wheat, eggs, and all dairy. I've found some recipes for gluten free or dairy free but none for dairy, egg, and wheat/gluten free. Do you also have recipes that cover all those categories? My trials at some have not yielded many positive results. Thanks in advance for any information.

thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com

Tuesday 6th of October 2020

Hi Patricia! I haven't done a lot of egg-free recipe testing, but I have know of a couple other blogs that are SO helpful in that area, I've personally tried many of their recipes. Try out https://allergyawesomeness.com/ and https://allergylicious.com/

Kelsey Ngo

Friday 22nd of May 2020

Made this just now; turned out great! Although I made some adjustments for what I had on hand...

Unless I'm totally missing it, I don't see anywhere that indicates what size pan or even what type of pan to use... Now the obvious thing would be a typical bread pan. Well, I always bummed my mom's pan off of her, and I didn't have access to it, so I used a cast iron dutch oven! And it worked great! The texture of the end product is more like cake than bread; is that what the "bread" is like when cooked in the proper bread pan, or is it more dense? Regardless, if someone doesn't have a bread pan, using a dutch oven (with no lid) makes a nice banana cake. :)

I used King Arthur GF All Purpose Flour. For the glaze, I used real maple syrup instead of flavoring, and milk instead of water.

Otherwise, I did everything as written, and it made a nice dessert. I may add cinnamon next time... Thank you for the recipe!

thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com

Saturday 23rd of May 2020

Sorry about the confusion of a pan, a standard 8x4 loaf pan works great, but love your ingenuity! I think you'll find the texture more like banana bread if you use a loaf pan. Thanks for sharing what you did!

Susan Bushey

Thursday 21st of May 2020

I have tried many banana bread recipes over the years since my husband and all my boys were diagnosed with celiac disease but I have to say your recipe is the best by far! My hubby said he could tell the difference with the first bite and for him to notice is unusual, let's say. I've not tried it with the maple glaze yet because it was SO good without it but I'm curious and just might. Thanks for all your great bread recipes too. You're my go-to website now.

thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com

Saturday 23rd of May 2020

Susan thank you so much for sharing! I love that your family is enjoying the banana bread and my other recipes. -Celeste

Sharon @ What The Fork

Tuesday 11th of April 2017

I need to try this, it looks fantastic!

thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com

Tuesday 11th of April 2017

I hope you enjoy it Sharon!

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