Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Almond Banana Bread

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Almond Banana Bread

{free of gluten, dairy, nuts**, and more}

Ingredients for Chocolate Almond “Nutella”

• 1 cup almond butter (**For a nut-free bread, use Sunbutter sunflower seed spread that is free of peanuts & treenuts.)
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 6 Tbsp maple syrup
• 4 Tbsp allowed oil (grapeseed, coconut, butter, shortening)
• 1/2 – 1 cup allowed milk (cow, almond, rice, soy, etc.)

• Whisk together all the above ingredients together in a sauce pan over low heat until smooth (be careful because it can scorch easily).
• Add more milk as (necessary) until it becomes a creamy consistency. I added pretty close to 1 cup of milk.
• Whisk frequently until you achieve the desired “nutella” consistency.

Ingredients for Banana Bread

2 eggs (or EnerG egg replacer = 3 tsp powder + 4 Tbsp water)
2 bananas
6 Tbsp oil
2/3 cup buttermilk (add 1 Tbsp vinegar to dairy-free milk to make a DF buttermilk; let stand 5 minutes)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 tsp guar gum (or xantham gum)
1 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds, optional (other suggestions: coconut, dried fruit, sunflower seeds)

Directions (do this while the chocolate almond mixture is heating up):

1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs or EnerG egg replacer.
2. Add the bananas and mix together until smooth.
3. Add in the oil and buttermilk; mix until smooth.
4. Add in the sugar and mix again.
5. Throw all the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. (You can mix them in a separate bowl first if you want. I never do.) Mix until just combined.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Cut parchment paper the size of a loaf pan and place in pan.
8. Pour half the batter into the parchment-lined loaf pan. Pour a thin layer of the chocolate almond sauce over the batter (don’t use all the sauce because you’ll need to drizzle it on top of the bread). Spread the rest of the batter over the chocolate almond sauce.
9. With a knife or toothpick, gently swirl the batter so that you’re swirling the chocolate almond sauce throughout the bread. Don’t go crazy with this, just give it some good swirling.
10. Sprinkle batter with chopped or slivered almonds (or coconut, dried fruit, etc.)
11. Bake for 35 minutes and check for doneness with a toothpick; add on minutes as needed, only a few at a time.

When baking is complete, remove from oven and allow to cool in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan by picking up the sides of the parchment paper and allow to cool completely.

Now it’s time to drizzle on all that chocolate goodness!

Make sure your chocolate almond sauce is still smooth; heat up if necessary. Slowly drizzle on the desired amount of chocolate almond sauce over the bread with a spoon. Allow the chocolate to set before cutting into the bread.

Enjoy!