So this last Christmas (yes it was that long ago) one my closest friends visited from North Carolina. We decided to do an experiment to see what the real difference is with baking and using gluten-free flour. So we made her amazing (lower fat) banana bread three-ways.

1. All organic wheat flour
2. Gluten-light with half organic wheat flour and half gluten-free Flour
3. All gluten-free flour

Here are the recipes and the results. I think you might be surprised. I know we were!

Recipe 1: Banana Bread – Wheat Flour Only

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4-5 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Recipe 2: G-Lite Banana Bread

• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 cup applesauce (added more to adapt to the GF Flour)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4-5 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup gluten-free flour (I used Pamela’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Recipe 3: Gluten-Free Banana Bread

• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4-5 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 2 cups gluten-free Flour (I used Pamela’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup milk (Extra milk was needed here because of the GF Flour’s tendency to absorb liquids more than wheat flour)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 3/4 cup chocolate

Directions for all Recipes

1. Set Oven temperature to 375 degrees.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together (set aside).
3. Combine oil, applesauce, vanilla, and bananas in mixer.
4. Add eggs and sugar and beat until smooth.
5. Add your dry ingredients slowly until combined well.
6. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips if you choose.
7. Spray your bread pan with oil and then lightly coat with flour (we used wheat flour for the full wheat recipe and gluten-free flour for the other two versions.)
8. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Pictures of the Process

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The Results

It blew our minds, but the gluten-free version actually was the prettiest visually overall. Nice high rise, perfect browning. The full wheat and gluten-lite versions looks almost identical. Neither got the high rise (I think more baking soda might have helped – this is often a sign of high altitude baking issues.), but both browned very nicely. Texture-wise when we cut into the three different loaves, they all looked pretty similar. So next we moved onto the taste test.

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The Taste Test

Conclusion

So cutting your gluten in half on this recipe won’t make a difference to the taste or texture. I will argue (which is why I started this blog) that it will make a difference in how you feel after eating it. For me, cutting out half the gluten leads to easier digestion and less bloating afterwards. So in my opinion 100% worth it!

I’ve been working on this recipe for quite a while, but I think I’ve got it down now. I make homemade biscuits all the time. They are quick and easy and so much better than store bought.

My family loves them. We have them for breakfast (biscuits and gravy), dinner (chicken potpie), and dessert (biscuits with butter and honey).

I adapted this recipe from the one printed on the back of the Clabber Girl Baking Powder can. I live at high altitude so I also adapted this recipe to help with the issues associated with baking at high altitude. That being said if you live lower than 9,200 feet (like I do) you’ll likely just get bigger fluffier biscuits which is never a bad thing.

Gluten Light Biscuit Recipe

• 1 Cup Gluten Free Flour mix (I use Pamela’s Gluten-Free all Purpose Flour, but other’s might work as well)
• 1 Cup Organic Wheat Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Soda (This is more than a normal biscuit recipe to adapt to the weight of the GF Flour and my altitude.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening (I prefer Spectrum Organic Shortening, but any will do.)
• 1 – 1 1/4 Cup Milk
• 2 Tablespoons of butter

Directions (Pictures are below)

1. Turn on the oven to 475 degrees.
2. Mix all of your dry ingredients together.
3. Cut in the shortening. I use two butter knives slicing the shorting through the dry ingredients until it is smaller than pea size.
4. Stir in the Milk. Start with 1 cup, but if the dough is too dry (GF Flour can such in wet ingredients faster than wheat flour) then add a bit more until you get a nice texture. It will be a little sticky (from the GF Flour), but should still be pliable.
5. Knead the dough just a few times forming it into a ball.
6. Flatten out the dough to about 2 inches thick on a floured surface (you choose if you want to use wheat flour or the GF Flour for your surface)and using a biscuit cutter or a juice glass, cut your biscuits. Continue reforming the dough in a ball and flattening it until you have used it all up. (I always give the last little piece to my daughter because for some reason she loves eating raw biscuit dough.)
7. Melt the butter in your glass baking dish. I use an 11×7 baking dish)
8. One at a time, dip the top of biscuits into the melted butter (or use a pastry brush to brush butter on top) and then arrange the biscuits in the pan. It is okay if they touch.
9. The biscuits only need to cook for 10-12 minutes. I keep an eye on them and wait until the tops get nice and browned.

If you are interested in my country gravy recipe or chicken potpie recipe let me know. Both are super easy to make and meals my kids will eat (so that’s a plus!)

Let me know if this recipe works for you or any modifications you make.