A recipe for Gluten-Free and Vegan Banana Bread that tastes equally as delicious as your traditional banana bread. No one will know it is gluten and dairy-free!
I often get asked why my recipes use certain flours/starches and why some are vegan while others are not. My recipes are almost always gluten-free because I eat gluten-free (most of the time), but as I’m sure you’ve discovered I am certainly not vegan or paleo or follow any real diet for that matter. Honestly, there is no rhyme or reason to it, my recipes come out the way they do entirely based on what I have on hand.
Sure I make the occasional grocery shop, but especially when it comes to baking there’s always different combinations that can yield the same result. I’m not about to go running out to the store to buy cornstarch and buckwheat if I already have tapioca flour and brown rice flour on hand. Same goes for eggs. If I’m out but have some flaxseed in the fridge, flax egg here we come. When there’s a will there’s a way!
Of course I’m also a sucker for a good science experiment. A while ago I read that mixing applesauce and baking powder can act as a binder instead of eggs. Obviously I forgot to write down where I read it or how to do it, but I gave it a shot and the baking gods must have been on my side because it actually worked out in this recipe.
I really had no intention of posting this recipe when I was baking it because I made it last-minute for C when I visited Montreal a few weeks ago. I sneakily made it gluten-free so I could eat it too. He was shocked at how good it was despite its “healthiness” (healthy food can taste good people!!!) that I knew I had to recreate and photograph it. I then made them into muffins when I catered and fooled everyone there too. I declare myself the banana bread queen because damnnnnn this.is.good.
The Best Ever Banana Bread {Gluten-Free & Vegan}
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 slices 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Bake
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Dry:
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour*
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp gluten-free oat flour (ground rolled oats)*
- 3/4 cup potato starch*
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch*
- 1 tsp xanthan gum**
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet:
- 1/2 cup applesauce, warmed up and then mixed with ½ tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional: 1 cup chocolate chips or nuts (or a combination)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with coconut oil or non-stick spray (bread is big so don’t use a smaller sized pan)
- Combine all dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a separate bowl mash up bananas. Add in warm applesauce (premixed with baking powder), melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined.
- Add in chocolate chips or nuts if desired.
- Scoop batter into pan and bake for 55-60 mins.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 mins before removing from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Will keep in a sealed container on counter for up to 5 days.
*Or replace brown rice flour, oat flour, tapioca flour and potato starch with 2 1/4 cups + 2 tbsp of regular all-purpose or whole wheat flour.
**If using regular all-purpose or whole wheat omit xanthan gum
***Can also be made into 12 large muffins (bake for 25-30 mins or until top is brown and springs back)
Keywords: vegan and gluten-free banana bread
Like this recipe? Check out some of my other baked goods!
-
- Gluten-Free Coconut Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
-
- Gluten-Free Gingerbread Loaf
-
- Gluten-Free Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Streusel
Do you like experimenting with different types of foods or do you stick to what you know? What’s your “best ever” recipe?
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157 Comments
Donna
May 12, 2018 at 1:10 pmHi! I had this in the oven for half an hour before I discovered the melted coconut oil in the microwave (that I forgot to add to the batter!). You know what, it’s STILL delicious!
Thanks for this recipe, it’s great!
Diana
May 16, 2017 at 3:29 pmHi Davida.
Why so much potato starch?
Can I substitute the potato starch for anything else?
Thanks.
Susan
February 24, 2016 at 8:59 amThank you for the applesauce plus baking powder trick! My kids are allergic to eggs and seeds, so finding replacements is always tough. I’ve often tried applesauce, but warmed up with the baking powder seems like it would make a better binder.
Excited to try this!
Sherwood
January 29, 2016 at 9:42 pmConfession: I don’t like bananas. I eat them medicinally (sometimes) and use them to ripen avocados. So it’s not uncommon for me to buy a bunch… and they just sit around turning nasty colors and making me dislike them even more. Such happened recently, and I decided I’d try to make the best of the situation. I bet you can’t guess how. 😀 Well, my bananas were really over-ripe (more black than yellow), and I worried they’d lend that super-banana taste and smell to the bread. It seems baking tames even the wildest of nanners, though, and the muffins are as advertised! I used white whole wheat flour, and uh-ohs, I just noticed I didn’t add enough baking powder… I’m not sure the copy of the recipe I printed is the same as what’s here anymore, but I may well have just overlooked it. I just put the 1 tsp in the applesauce and didn’t know/notice that there was a separate allotment for that purpose. Well, um, the muffins still turned out awesome! lol I got 15, though I didn’t fill the tins up all the way ’cause I wasn’t sure how much they’d rise when they baked. I don’t bake much. 🙂 I did add dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips to make sure my boyfriend could eat these without worry. Each muffin is surprisingly heavy yet isn’t dense. I heat mine up a little. They’re so moist and soft and amazing! Thanks so much for the recipe!
The fifth banana is awaiting repurposing still, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to it in time…
Davida Kugelmass
February 2, 2016 at 9:32 amHappy to hear they turned out despite the little mishap 😉 Sometimes baking can be forgiving. Or you had luck on your side! I have many a recipe for that 5th banana btw…I love me some bananas!
Sherwood
February 2, 2016 at 9:39 pmI think I’m more lucky than I deserve sometimes. lol The 5th banana was black with only a couple spots of yellow (and clearly mushy to the touch) by the time I even got home, so I tossed it… I thought I’d picked a recipe calling for the right amount of nanners, but I was off. I’ll definitely keep you in mind for when I’m in desperate need of using up some bananas! 😀
Juliana
July 17, 2015 at 1:28 pmHi just wondering if using all purpose gluten free flour would be okay? If so will all the measurements be the same? Thanks I’m
New to baking lol. 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
July 17, 2015 at 2:20 pmHey Juliana! You should be able to substitute all-purpose gluten-free flour for the flours but it may change the recipe slightly. You’ll notice that I use xanthan gum in the recipe, which is necessary for binding so make sure the gluten-free all-purpose flour you use contains xanthan gum (some of them don’t) otherwise the bread may crumble. Let me know how it goes!
Juliana
July 17, 2015 at 1:26 pmCan you use gluten free all purpose flour instead? Would all the measurements still be the same. I’m new to baking so just wanna make sure. Thanks! 🙂
Michelle
September 21, 2014 at 4:12 pmLove it 🙂
christine
September 21, 2014 at 2:03 amOmgosh I made this tonight with a few adaptations and absolutely love it!!! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, it’ll be a staple in my book for sure! 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
September 21, 2014 at 12:23 pmSo happy to hear it! Honoured to be a staple 🙂
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Terri
September 7, 2014 at 1:56 pmHELP NEEDED!!!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I have such blind faith in you that I QUADRUPLED the recipe. I am about to start making them, however, I am concerned with the “4 bananas” because they vary in size so much. I usually mash my ripened bananas down and freeze them. It would be incredibly awesome if you could give some sort of measurement either cups or grams of mashed bananas. Because they have so much of an impact on the density, moistness, and ultimate success of the recipe, I’m scared to continue. I only have the dry ingredients mixed right now. If you miraculously get this and respond soon, it would be so appreciated. I would hate to ruin 4 batches 🙁 Thanks SOOOOOOOOO much!
Davida Kugelmass
September 7, 2014 at 3:28 pmHi Terri,
I wish I could give you a definitive answer but I don’t know for sure. My bananas are usually around medium-large and I would say would be about a 1/2 a cup mashed each so 4 bananas would be around 2 cups of mashed banana. Truth-be-told I have made this bread many times and my bananas always vary but have yet to ever have a loaf not turn out. I’ve never tried to quadruple it though. Let me know how it turns out! Best of luck. -Davida
Calum
August 29, 2014 at 7:38 pmThank you very much. My girlfriend and I have enjoyed this recipe very much. However the only issue we have had is that the bread does not hold it’s shape when it cools. It looks fluffy and incredible when it comes out of the oven, but then quickly drops and flattens as it cools down. Is there a way that we can stop this from happening or is there something we can add to help it hold it’s shape?
Thanks again!
Davida Kugelmass
August 29, 2014 at 10:39 pmHi Calum! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. As for the sinking, do you happen to live in a high altitude location? Oftentimes the difference in altitudes can affect recipes. You could also try baking it longer. It may not be as moist in this case but it will hold up a bit better if that’s your preference. Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Lisy
July 29, 2014 at 2:25 pmWhat are your thoughts on using frozen bananas? I have about 4 on hand (no time to make banana bread when they were getting ripe, so off to the freezer they went!). Obviously, I would let them defrost.
Davida Kugelmass
July 30, 2014 at 8:21 pmHi Lisy! Frozen and thawned bananas would work perfectly well! In fact I almost always use frozen bananas since they were usually frozen because they were super ripe. Hope you enjoy!
Lisy
July 31, 2014 at 9:27 amThanks for the speedy reply. I’ll be baking this for Shabbat dinner tomorrow night 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
July 31, 2014 at 9:29 amNo problem! Hope you enjoy 🙂 Shabbat Shalom!