Gluten-free Chocolate Banana Bread

Ok, so here's the deal: I recently decided to remove wheat from my diet. I do not have Celiac disease, but I have many friends who for different reasons have gone gluten-free and experienced great health benefits from doing so.
High blood pressure, acid reflux problems, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes are among some of the problems that seem to get fixed by eliminating wheat /gluten from the diet. The last few years my cholesterol has been creeping upwards and at my last physical it was alarmingly high, and I can't figure out why. I eat a healthy, fairly balanced diet. I exercise and I am by all other accounts a healthy person. I am not aware of any genetic component that would contribute to this either. Well, having had numerous friends tell me their cholesterol was corrected to a normal range by eliminating wheat from their diets I have decided to give it a try. I am completely fascinated by this new world of gluten-free and also somewhat overwhelmed. Finding good substitutes for the foods I really like hasn't been all that easy. Finding decent breads and pastas is hard. I am still exploring and experimenting and learning. I have only tried out a few gluten-free recipes so far with mediocre results. So today when I tried this chocolate banana bread recipe and it came out fantastic, I was so happy I just had to archive it for myself and my family and all of you who are looking for gluten-free foods that taste as good as those made from wheat and other regular flours. This bread is moist and soft and has some spring in it (often lacking from gluten-free baked goods). The taste is very chocolaty. In fact I would compare it to a cake-like brownie. Put some whipped cream on it (or a scoop of vanilla ice cream) and it would be a great dessert. I am just so pleased to have discovered this recipe. Look for more to come.

For 1 loaf you will need:
2/3 cup teff flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cups chopped walnuts
1 topped teaspoon Psyllium husk, optional*

2 medium sized very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup soy-free oil (olive, walnut and canola work well)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt, plain or vanilla (regular yogurt or even sour cream can be used)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
.
Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (Pam original or Pam olive oil contain no wheat. Do not use Pam baking. It has real flour in it!)

Flour pan with a mix of 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder. Reserve any extra for a topping.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. In a large bowl combine mashed bananas and the rest of the ingredients. Stir well. Add flour mixture and stir until just moist (do not over mix!).
Add batter to prepared pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining sugar cocoa mix.

I enjoyed a slice with cream cheese. Yum!

*Psyllium husk: I have noticed this ingredient being used in a lot of baked goods (especially in Scandinavia) to create better structure and stability in the food. Gluten-free baked goods are often very crumbly and fall apart easily (I speak from experience!). Sometimes referred to as fiber husk this is a dietary fiber in powder form much like Metamucil but without the sugar or sodium. Your bread may turn out just fine without it, but it certainly didn't hurt to add it. I think this might be the secret ingredient to provide better structure in gluten-free baked goods.

(Recipe from Gluten-free living, February 2013)