Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Banana Raisin Coffee Cake, gluten-free #recipe from author @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl aka Avery:

Hi! I picked three winners last week instead of 2. Their names are posted in the side bar on the left. Congrats to all! Thanks to everyone for your great mom stories.

One of my all-time favorite coffee cakes is something I stumbled on while trying to find a gluten-free version for Bisquick coffee cake. I didn't like the boxed Bisquick version (sorry Bisquick), but I thought I might be able to recreate it from scratch. And I did. That recipe in a few weeks.

But today, I'm sharing this one that is possibly even more luscious because it has a filling. I've made it a number of times and never failed. In fact, I made one last week switching up the type of raisins and gluten-free flours, and it still turned out fantastic. (See switch-ups below)

Can you tell I love it?

It's so easy to make. And there's a bit of fun in the making, like being a nursery school and playing with play dough.

So follow the steps, have fun, and enjoy with a relaxing cup of tea or coffee. And a good book! Always a good book!

Note: in the second making, I got smart and used parchment paper to line the pan, but I forgot to take a picture.

BANANA-RAISIN BROWN SUGAR

CREAM CHEESE

COFFEE CAKE

(Gluten-free)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp. vanillin (you may use real vanilla if you have no reaction to it)

2 eggs, large

1 cup cream cheese

1 tsp. cider vinegar

2 cups gluten-free flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon xanthan gum

Filling:

1/2 cup raisins, pre-soaked

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 bananas, peeled and sliced

1 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9 x 9 pan or line with parchment paper.

Soak the “filling” raisins in ½ cup hot water and set aside.

For the batter: In a large bowl, mix melted butter and sugar and vanillin (or vanilla). Add eggs and beat on low. Still beating on low, add cream cheese and vinegar. Then add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum and stir until thoroughly mixed.

For the filling: drain raisins. In a small bowl, mix raisins with the bananas, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Spoon half of the batter into prepared pan. Pat down with your fingers. This is the fun part – like working with play dough. Layer all of the filling on top of that. Spread the rest of the batter over the filling. Again, pat down with your fingers.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until nicely browned.

Mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle topping all over the coffee cake.

Let cool for 20 minutes and remove from the pan. Serve warm or room temperature.

Switch-ups for ingredients: Add 1/2 cup sorghum flour in place of any of your other gluten-free flour. Gives this a nice "graham cracker" flavor. Also, switch out dark raisins with golden raisins. Yum!