Baked Bananas & Banana Cobbler

The other day  Aldi had very ripe bananas  on sale for $0.50 per bag.  I bought a couple of bags, but I wasn’t in the mood for making banana bread.  Instead, I made this simple, sweet, and sugar free dessert.  It was nice by itself, but would also be delicious served with ice cream.

Baked Bananas

• 5 bananas
• 2 Tb. butter, melted
• 3 Tb. agave nectar
• 1/4 c. orange juice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Peel bananas, remove any mushy parts, and place them in a buttered square casserole dish.  You can cut them into sections if you like.  I cut them into thirds so they would fit into the dish more easily.  Drizzle the butter, agave nectar, and orange juice over top (you don’t need to combine them).  Sprinkle the cinnamon on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Serve warm.

While I thought that little dish of baked bananas was wonderful, my hungry guys like something with more substance.  To use my second bag of bananas I created a banana cobbler which consists of batter in the bottom of a baking dish with the above baked banana recipe on top of it.  It turned out great.

Gluten-Free Banana Cobbler

• 3/4 c. sorghum flour
• 1/2 c. white rice flour
• 1/2 c. potato starch
• 1 Tb. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6 – 8 ripe bananas

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.  In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork or whisk until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Spread the batter into a buttered rectangular baking dish (about 9 x 13 inches). 

Peel the ripe bananas and cut them into three pieces, placing the pieces on top of the batter.  Drizzle over top:

• 2 Tb. melted butter
• 3 Tb. agave nectar
• 1/4 c. orange juice

Then sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Bake at 350 degrees about 35 – 45 minutes, or until the batter tests done. 

This cobbler is low in fat, but it is not dry.  However, I loved it eaten warm with milk over top.  It’s great by itself, too, and I’m sure it would be even better with ice cream.

Visit  Friday Foodie Fix for more recipes that use agave nectar, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays for fabulous food made a little bit healthier.