Gluten-Free Banana Bread

3 very ripe bananas (1 cup mashed)
¼ cup applesauce (see below)
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup cane sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp light rum
1 cup sorghum flour
½ cup white rice flour
¼ cup corn flour
¼ cup almond meal
¾ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
½ tsp salt
½ cup chopped walnuts

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and oiling a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, mash the bananas and add enough applesauce to bring the mixture to 1¼ cup. Add the maple syrup, rum, oil, and sugar and mix until combined.

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flours and almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, spices, and salt. Fold in the walnuts, then pour the batter into an oiled loaf pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and run a paring knife around the edges to loosen the loaf, then let cool in the pan.

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

2 zucchini, grated (around 2 cups worth)
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup raisin puree (see below)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp light rum
2 ener-g eggs
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup corn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and oiling a loaf pan. If possible, grate the zucchini a few hours ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. You want to ring out a good amount of the liquid in them before adding them to the recipe, and grating ahead of time will make that step much easier.

This recipe calls for raisin puree, a not-so-common ingredient in home baking but one used more often in commercial baking, especially in gluten-free products. It adds a bit of sweetness and moisture to the recipe, but most importantly, it works as a fantastic binder that helps keep the zucchini bread from crumbling while slicing or eating. You can make a batch by following the directions here.

In a large bowl, combine the grated zucchini, sugar, oil, applesauce, vanilla, rum, and egg replacer. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flours and almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, spices, and salt. Working in two batches, mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. Fold in the walnuts and raisins.

Divide the mixture evenly between two greased loaf pans, and bake at 350 for 50 minutes (or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean). You can also bake these as muffins, reducing the cooking time to 20-25 minutes.