Dang, that’s a mouthful. But it does sound good, right?  As promised yesterday, this recipe from The Gluten-Free Bible is one of our favorites, mainly because it doesn’t taste gluten-free. It’s a creative twist on your typical brownie or blondie. Plus it has a good dose of fruit and nuts, which, of course, justifies all the sugar and carbs (not really, but just tell yourself whatever you need to hear to make it okay).

Either way, everyone deserves a splurge or two every now and then. You could always throw in a couple tablespoons of flax seed and boost the dietary fiber.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (for a dairy-free version, substitute with dairy-free margarine)

5 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I used Bisquick’s gluten free pancake mix)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. With a mixer, beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add the mashed bananas, egg and vanilla and beat until blended. Beat in the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Once everything is blended, stir in the pecans.

Split the batter and add the cocoa to half of it. Spread the cocoa batter on the bottom of the greased pan and top with plain batter. Swirl with a knife. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are brown. Cut into bars and enjoy with a glass of milk.