Gluten Free Banana Cake

 I don't normally bake in the summer. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I don't have air conditioning so the inside temperature of my house is the outside temperature. However, when the July "high" is 60 degrees--and I am refusing to turn the heat back on--then I turn to the oven for long, slow soups and some baking.

Such a day left me feeling like cake. My bananas hadn't gotten the memo about the return of winter and were summer mushy. I had cake mix in the cupboard. This led to banana cake, which did warm up the room and went over well with coffee during last minute edits. Here's the recipe if you feel like experimenting!

Gluten Free Banana Cake

2 cups cake mix (King Arthur Gluten Free Classic Yellow Cake Mix is a staple for me)
1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas
3 large eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla*
2 tsp cinnamon*

Combine the wet together (eggs, oil, vanilla) and then beat in the cake mix, bananas, and cinnamon. Pour into a loaf pan. Bake at 355 for 55 minutes. 

Test with fork--if it comes out clean, it's done! I took it out of the loaf pan and let it cool on a rack before slicing.

If you prefer vegan or don't have eggs, I have used 3/4 cup of applesauce as a substitute for eggs. It came out fine although a little moister.

*Vanilla and cinnamon are optional but I believe everything is better with vanilla and cinnamon. Recently I've been using Trader Joe's Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste (yum!).