Rice Flour Banana Bread (Wheat Free)

"I always seem to have rice flour on hand (for Vietnamese and Thai food), and am always looking for ways to use it up. This recipe is from the incomparable Beatrice Ojakangas' "Great Whole Grain Breads" (Simon & Schuster, 1984,1993). The recipe calls for small loaf pans, probably to reduce the baking time. Might be possible to use a large pan, but I haven't tried."
 
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photo by cat_ashwood photo by cat_ashwood
photo by cat_ashwood
photo by reaumegirl photo by reaumegirl
Ready In:
1hr 5mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
10
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy.
  • Beat in eggs, one at a time.
  • Stir in buttermilk and lemon extract and mix well.
  • Combine rice flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to the butter mixture.
  • Stir in bananas and coconut and mix well.
  • Spoon the mixture into two greased mini loaf pans (5 1/2 by 3 inches).
  • Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
  • Cool in pans 2 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.

Questions & Replies

  1. What are the carbs and calories in this recipe?
     
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Reviews

  1. Excellent, simple recipe, and every bit as good as traditional wheat flour loaf breads. Unlike some gluten free recipes, this one has the same texture everyone's familiar with. It's basically non-discernable; your guests won't even know the difference. <br/><br/>Coconut lends a tropical flavor, and adds a level of complexity not found in the usual ho-hum recipes. I'm thinking about adding a little crushed pineaple next time - well drained, of course.<br/><br/>All too often, gluten free recipes require tons of specialty ingredients; this one doesn't. I made due with what I had. I adapted the recipe by adding 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, and made 2 substitutions: vanilla extract instead of lemon extract, and greek-style yogurt mixed with a couple tablespoons of water instead of buttermilk. <br/><br/>Don't underestimate the importance of baking the batter in 2 pans. If you don't, the end product will be considerably more dense.
     
  2. This is excellent!<br/>My only complaint is that the banana flavor was weaker than some banana breads, but I think it's because I left out the lemon extract and coconut. I used frozen bananas and the texture was fine. I also added dark chocolate chips, which worked very very well. Next time, I'll add extra banana chunks as well, and maybe a little psyllium fiber for moisture. And there WILL be a next time.
     
  3. Delicious! I made this tonight for my two kids that are gluten free. I had to alter it a little according to what I had in the cupboard. I omitted the coconut since I didn't have any, used butter flavoring instead of lemon extract, added an extra overly ripe banana and used a round cake pan instead of a bread pan. My family loved it!
     
  4. This is delicious! I used lemon peel because I didn't have lemon extract. Also, I baked it in an 8 x 4 loaf pan. Thanks so much.
     
  5. I made this today. I did not have mini loaf tins so I made muffins instead. I followed the recipe and I even had a bit more banana than 1 cup. However I was disappointed at how dry they turned out. I added some Nutella to the batter for the second batch but still dry. I am not sure why because others said they were moist. But too try dry for me. I have not used rice flour before and a little afraid to use again.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Great recipe! I used six bananas and made half without sugar (for my son who is avoiding sugar) and half with sugar (1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white sugar), added 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon orange rind (omitting lemon extract) and an extra 2/3 cup coconut (I used sweetened) and left out the buttermilk due to the added moisture of the bananas. I made into cupcakes, baking about 20 minutes at 350. They came out perfect!
     
  2. Excellent, simple recipe, and every bit as good as traditional wheat flour loaf breads. Unlike some gluten free recipes, this one has the same texture everyone's familiar with. It's basically non-discernable; your guests won't even know the difference. <br/><br/>Coconut lends a tropical flavor, and adds a level of complexity not found in the usual ho-hum recipes. I'm thinking about adding a little crushed pineaple next time - well drained, of course.<br/><br/>All too often, gluten free recipes require tons of specialty ingredients; this one doesn't. I made due with what I had. I adapted the recipe by adding 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, and made 2 substitutions: vanilla extract instead of lemon extract, and greek-style yogurt mixed with a couple tablespoons of water instead of buttermilk. <br/><br/>Don't underestimate the importance of baking the batter in 2 pans. If you don't, the end product will be considerably more dense.
     
  3. I made little muffins out of these (but can't remember how long they took to bake--sorry). They were light and tasty. I substituted plain lowfat yogurt for the buttermilk and didn't have lemon extract, so I just used a couple teaspoons of lemon juice. I really liked the addition of the coconut (though I burned a batch trying to toast it. :)) Thanks for posting! LATER: I made this again yesterday as a loaf. I 1 1/2ed the recipe to fit a 9x5 pan and it fit perfectly. the taste was amazing, but for some reason it turned out a little more crumbly this time. I think I baked it for 60 minutes... not too much longer than the mini loaf pan! Thanks again.. my husband is requesting that I make this again soon. :)
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Food writer, recipe editor, gear tester, restaurant reviewer in the US. Author, "Southern Cooking for Company" (HarperCollins 2015); :The All-New Square-Foot Gardening Cookbook"; "Seductive Tables for Two," and many other books, usually for other people, companies and groups. You probably have one of my books on your shelf. I love to talk about food.
 
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