I recently came to terms with the fact that I may have an intolerance to wheat and possibly dairy or lactose. I've cut them out of my diet for the most part and I've been feeling a lot better. (I've also lost six pounds in three days, but that's probably just because I haven't been eating much in general.)

Yesterday I spent $40 on a variety of gluten-free flours and quickly got to work on my first gluten-free baking experiment. I took my tried and true recipe for banana bread, switched out the flour and added a bit of xanthan gum as a gluten alternative.

I was amazed by how well it turned out! You can't tell just by looking at it that it's gluten-free. The texture is a bit gritty though and I think that's from the brown rice flour. Next time I will replace some of it with sweet rice flour.

For more information about gluten-free flours:
Gluten-Free Girl's guide to working with gluten-free flours
Celiac.com's gluten-free flour alternatives

Adapted from my Perfect Banana Bread

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a nonstick loaf pan, or just the bottom of a regular loaf pan. (I use an 8"x4" pan although the recipe suggests a 9"x5" pan. Bake it about 10 minutes longer if using the smaller size pan.)

Whisk the flours, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.

Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined. Scrape the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes (65 minutes for a smaller pan). Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting. This bread is better the next day. Store, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature or in the refrigerator.