Winter Citrus Banana Bread (GF)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A deliciously moist and delicately sweetened banana bread with bursts of seasonal mandarin in every bite.
Author:
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 3 large and very ripe bananas, mashed
  • ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or unsalted butter, room temp/softened
  • ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup seedless mandarin orange segments, no need to trim or chop (about 4.5 oz/125 gr)
  • ¼ cup fresh squeezed mandarin orange juice (or orange of choice)
  • 1 tsp mandarin zest (grated skin)
  • 2 eggs, lightly whisked
  • 1 cup whole grain oat flour (3.5 oz/ 100 gr), certified gluten free as required
  • ½ cup whole grain rolled (or quick cooking) oats (1.4 oz/ 40 gr)
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts (2 oz/57 gr), or nut/seed variety of choice
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp (ish) cinnamon powder
  • ½ tsp fine grain salt
Instructions
  1. Equipment: aluminum bundt cake pan (9W x 3H) or loaf pan (10.75L x 5W x 2.5H)
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine: oat flour, quick cooking oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, walnuts & dry orange segments in one bowl.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, blend: mashed bananas (I use a potato masher), butter or coconut oil, orange juice, orange zest and maple syrup (the banana does not have to be smooth, lumps & bumps are welcome). Add whisked eggs and blend again.
  5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
  6. Pour batter into a greased bundt cake pan (don't forget to grease the inner tube!) or greased loaf pan.
  7. Place pan in oven and bake for 60-90 minutes (cooking times will vary depending on pan used and heat of your particular oven) until cake tester or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean - (I find tapping the top of the loaf gives me a very good indication - it should be gently firm to the touch and no longer giggly).
  8. Carefully remove pan from the oven and allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes before gently inverting the banana bread onto a plate/cooling rack for another 10/15 minutes or so (if you can wait that long!) before slicing (I sprinkle a few oat flakes on top to finish).
  9. The flavor of this banana bread only gets better with time.
  10. Store leftovers in a covered container in fridge for 3-5 days or freeze.
Notes
Type of Orange: for this recipe you'll want to choose a small segmented seedless seasonal variety of orange such as mandarin, clementine, nectarine, tangerine, etc. I used mandarin.
Gluten Free: Oatmeal by nature is gluten-free however the issue with oats revolves around cross-contamination. To avoid this problem, be sure to seek out certified Gluten-Free Oats where necessary.
Oat Flour: If you are unfamiliar, oat flour is simply whole grain oats that have been pulverized into flour - the flour is both fiber and protein rich - containing 7 grams of protein per ⅓ cup. Because I like the texture of whole oats, I use these as well.
The Bananas: You will not get a tasty and moist bread from yellow bananas - you want to reach for those well ripened browning bananas.
Recipe by Inspired Edibles at https://www.inspirededibles.ca/2019/01/winter-citrus-banana-bread.html