Gluten-free banana blueberry coffee cake with granola topping (aka Monk's practice birthday cake, aka "best cake ever")

We’ve been feasting in our living room a lot lately, and by ‘feasting’, I mean this:

And the feasting isn't limited to the cardboard builder's block tables and chairs of "Chocolate Wally's", our 3-year old's chosen play restaurant name which is sometimes shunted to the side in favor of "No Noggin's" instead. In the kitchen, we've been gnoshing on cake. (Quick aside, isn't "Chocolate Wally's" the cutest, most enticing restaurant name? If it isn't already in existence as a 'real restaurant', it needs to be, one day.)

What I mean by cake, specifically, is breakfast cake which is also very important "practice" birthday cake for THE very important Monk, whose birthday is coming up in February (Valentine's Day). This information alone should be testament enough to the scrumptious, wholesome loveliness of this cake. Anyone who knows anything about Monk knows he deserves the very best.

We all know anything labeled "cake", from coffee cake to birthday cake to be a sometimes-only treat. I mean, we love them, but not on a regular basis, right? When it comes to this cake, however, there's so much to glow about. First, its yumminess meets the standard for the BIG birthday celebration cake while the combined ingredients rise to optimistic requirements for healthiness. Chickpea flour has yet to let me down, though I'm sure I'm bound to push the boundaries eventually. Ripe bananas and just two tablespoons of honey (or maple syrup for vegan) are plenty enough sweetener when delivered parceled into the dense, moist texture the garbanzo bean flour brings. And what ties it all together and makes prep a quick cinch in the morning is the sprinkling of delectable granola baked on top.

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a blogger's event hosted by Sprouts Farmers Market and Fiona's Natural Foods at the Fiona's production facility in north Longmont. The building space is shared with several local brands, all of which share like-minded philosophies concerning health, sustainability, and compassion. Our group was treated to a tour of the facility, and throughout it was apparent how much meticulous care and purpose went into every corner.

The owners of Fiona's Natural Foods, a family with combined interest and experience in agriculture and food service, purchased Fiona's Natural Foods from the Fiona, a woman from Boulder inspired by a family recipe. Touring and tasting product, the fact that the Fiona's team today is committed to the original mission of good nutrition and whole health was clearly evident: slow roasting and hand-tossing to bring out the best in flavor and texture; using only quality ingredients; sweetening with organic coconut nectar, the newest in superior sweeteners that I'm just learning about. Coconut nectar comes from a painstaking process of tapping the flowering stems of the coconut blossom to draw sweet sap. The sap is then evaporated at low temperatures, producing a raw, low glycemic syrup that provides perfect, delicate sweetness to perfect, crunchy granola...

which also happens to provide the perfect sweet-crunchy topping for breakfast/birthday cake for the very best of friends. "Best cake ever," Monk pronounced it. In this moment, in our house, there may be no greater foodie stamp of approval.

Gluten-free blueberry banana coffee cake with granola topping

1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch sea salt
2 large eggs or egg replacer equivalent (such as Bob's Red Mill)
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons olive oil or melted coconut oil
½ cup almond milk
3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (defrosted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Fiona’s almond millet granola (or vanilla sunflower, or any flavor really!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch round (or square works, too) baking pan with parchment paper or coat with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Make a well in center of flour mixture. (If using frozen blueberries, add to dry mixture to coat.)
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs or egg replacer, honey/maple syrup, almond milk, applesauce, banana, oil, and vanilla until well blended. Add to the flour mixture in large bowl, stirring to blend.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and sprinkle top with granola.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm.