Gluten-Free Appleanna Bread

Just like mom used to make! Sort of…

Over the last 15 years or so, my mom has gradually been cooking less often and less extravagantly (which is good news for me as she is a client!) But one of her favorites that she still makes time and time again for family, bake sales and just for fun is Appleanna Bread (that’s apple banana bread for the uninitiated). My nephews have shortened it appropriately to “Nanny’s Bread” and they love it just as much as she does.

But for the last many years since I have been gluten-free I have not been able to partake <inserts sad emoji face>. That all changed last week when I finally got around to asking her for her recipe so that I could adapt it to be gluten-free. She said she would scan it and send to me; my mom is old school and most of her recipes are still on index cards.

The email arrived the next day and was I in for a surprise when I opened the attachment (see below). You may notice the rather girly and somewhat childish scrawl as much as the time-worn and well-loved index card it is written on. I took one look and realized that recipe was actually written by ME – probably sometime in the 80’s judging by the handwriting!

You can see my mom’s notations in the top right corner because my recipes were notoriously lacking in detailed steps and directions even then :).   I am also confident that I wrote “cinn” instead of “cinnamon” because I invariably would have spelled it wrong, yet another trait that has not changed over time. You may also notice the “e” missing from “shortening”. I thank my lucky stars every day for spell check!

I am also a little horrified that I used shortening at all, but somehow mollified by the fact that at some point I changed “eggs” to “eggbeaters” (a change I would never make today but still applaud my younger self in her quest for health). It is amazing how much we have learned about good nutrition in the last 30 years!

So without further adieu, I give you the 2016 version of Mom’s Appleanna Bread (less sugar, less fat, more protein and fiber, and as always with substitutions for paleo and vegan). Enjoy!

Beth’s Gluten-Free Appleanna Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/4 C butter   use margarine sticks or coconut oil in solid form for vegan
• 3/4 C sugar/coconut sugar  use 1/2 C maple syrup or honey for paleo
• 2 large organic eggs   use chia/flax seed egg substitute for vegan
• 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
• 1.5 tsp vanilla   use vanilla powder for strict paleo or omit
• 2 very ripe bananas (I like to freeze very ripe bananas and then defrost for banana bread)
• 2 1/4 C gluten-free flour blend (I used Cup4Cup)   substitute 1 1/2 C almond flour and 1/2 C coconut flour for paleo and increase eggs to 3
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
• 2 C chopped apples – peeled or not, your choice
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts
• 1/2 C chopped pecans (or all walnuts or all pecans, whichever you have on hand)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
2. In a large bowl, cream/beat butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until your arm gets tired.
3. Add eggs, banana, vanilla and applesauce. Mix some more.
4. Add dry ingredients. Mix a little more.
5. Stir in apples and nuts. Stir to combine.
6. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans or 6 mini loaf pans (grease the baby ones too).
7. Bake for for 40-60 minutes depending on the size of your pan – remove when a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.