Banana Bread Squares: Gluten-Free

Adapted from "Cooking for Your Gluten-free Teen" published in The Detroit Free Press
Banana Bread Squares
Makes 9 bars, Prep time: 20 minutes, Total time: 55 Minutes

If you can't find gluten free flower with xanthan gum, the authors suggest adding 1 teaspoon xanthan gum to each cup of gluten-free flour. Xanthan gum adds volume and moisture to gluten-free baked goods. It can be found at large supermarkets.

1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) butter
2/3 Cup packed brown sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/3 Cups smoothly mashed very ripe bananas, about 3 bananas
2 teaspoons dried egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/3 Cups gluten-free flour with xanthan gum or 1 1/3 Cups gluten-free flour mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9X9 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper; coat parchment paper with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla; beat well.

In another medium bowl, whisk dried egg whites, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice with the flour. Add dry ingredients in batches to banana mixture, beating well after each addition. Batter will be very thick; beat only enough to mix well. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Smooth level with a spatula. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven, cool on a rack. When cool, cut into 3 inch squares.

** Chef's notes: Since we don't bake a lot, we don't like spending money on a lot of specialty ingredients that will just go bad on the shelf. When my wife made this, she omitted the dried egg whites and went with normal gluten free flour with no xanthan gum. She added some nuts and raisins, too. It still turned out very moist and light. It wasn't gummy like some gluten-free baked goods can be. Try it. If it doesn't work out for you, you can always invest in the specialty ingredients.**