If you’ve decided to remove gluten from your diet and are wondering, “Is banana bread gluten-free?” The answer is, sadly, no. The traditional banana bread recipe isn’t gluten-free.
However, no problem comes without a solution! There are gluten-free flour substitutes for white flour, so you’ll be able to make gluten-free banana bread.
As to how to make the recipe, that’s going to be the topic of this article. So keep reading!
Is Gluten-free Banana Bread Healthy?
Yes! Gluten-free banana bread is an excellent recipe for individuals following a healthy lifestyle.
This is because the gluten-free flour that you use for the recipe doesn’t spike your blood sugar levels, unlike the traditional white flour. Plus, gluten-free flour like almond flour is rich in healthy fats and fibers.
How Do You Make Gluten-free Banana Bread?
We love this gluten-free banana bread recipe because it’s paleo-friendly and sugar-free. It’s super healthy but still mouthwatering!
To make this recipe gluten-free, we replaced all-purpose flour with almond or coconut flour. We prefer almond flour because its high-fat content keeps baked goods moist for a long time.
However, use coconut flour instead of almond flour if you’re susceptible to kidney stones. That’s because almond flour is rich in oxalate.
Ingredients
- 4 overripe bananas
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 360g almond or coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 tablespoons sweetener (optional)
- 32g softened butter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
Before you follow the instructions, preheat the oven to 350 F.
Now, let’s get to the detailed recipe!
Step 1: Mix Your Ingredients
In a medium-sized bowl, add the bananas and mash them with a fork. After that, crack the eggs and add them to the bowl.
Then, add the melted butter, cinnamon powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to the mix. Feel free to add a sweetener, too.
Afterward, stir thoroughly until you get a homogenous consistency.
Step 2: Add Flour to the Mix
Add your choice of flour, whether that’s coconut or almond, to the bowl.
Again, gently stir the mix until the flour blends with the rest of the ingredients.
Step 3: Put the Pan in the Oven
Grease a 9×13 inch loaf pan with a bit of butter, then pour the mix into it.
Afterward, put the pan in the preheated oven and let it bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
Vegan and Gluten-free Banana Bread Recipe
If you’re vegan, the banana bread recipe can be easily adjustable to meet the requirements of your diet. Just replace butter with coconut oil or vegan butter, and you should be good to go!
As for eggs, simply remove them from the recipe because bananas can act as an egg replacement.
Yet, if you’d like to give it a shot, you can make your own flax eggs. However, not many people like using these for the recipe because they’re a bit runny, but they might just be your cup of tea!
Here’s the recipe:
Flax Eggs Recipe
Using a ratio of 1 egg: 1 flax egg, you’ll need to make three flax eggs for the banana bread recipe.
The ingredients below make one flax egg, so adjust the quantity as you wish.
Ingredients
- Coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
First off, you’ll have to ground some flaxseed. Add the seeds to a blender and grind them until they’re very soft.
Of course, if you already have fine-grained flax seeds, you can skip this step.
Afterward, add all the aforementioned ingredients to a small-sized bowl and stir until you get a thick, homogenous mix.
After giving the flax eggs a good whisk, they should’ve already thickened a bit, but don’t use it for the recipe yet!
Let the flax eggs sit for five minutes to make them thicker.
Once you make the flax eggs, follow this vegan-friendly banana bread recipe:
- In a bowl, mix four ripe bananas, three flax eggs, and 32g vegan butter, then stir.
- Add 360g almond flour, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp baking powder.
- Whisk the banana bread batter.
- In a greased loaf pan, pour the batter and let it bake at 350 F for 50 minutes.
Gluten-free Flourless Banana Bread Recipe
Did you run out of flour? No problem!
You can substitute flour with oats. Just make sure you aren’t using instant oatmeal because you won’t get the bread-like texture of banana bread.
You should also use less sweetener than usual because oats are slightly sweeter than flour. Here’s a breakdown of the flourless banana bread recipe:
Ingredients
- 4 mashed and over-ripe bananas
- 180g quick oats
- 32g honey or any sweetener
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 eggs (substitute with flax eggs if you’re vegan)
- A bit of lemon juice
Instructions
Here’s how to make some yummy flourless banana bread:
Step 1: Mix Your Ingredients
Before you start, preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter. Then, combine all the ingredients until you get a consistent mixture.
Make sure to add the oats last. We also recommend adding a few drops of lemon juice to the mix.
Oats need a strong raising agent to get fluffy banana bread.
So, adding lemon juice will boost the raising activity of baking soda. Plus, it will slow down the oxidation process of the mashed bananas.
During blending, avoid over-mixing because the oats might start to turn into oatmeal from the heat.
Step 2: Bake Banana Bread
Afterward, pour the batter into the loaf pan and let it bake in the preheated oven for about 30 to 45 minutes. You might need to bake it for more or less time, so do the toothpick test to determine whether or not it’s fully baked.
Once the banana bread is done, let it cool in a different pan. Finally, enjoy the scrumptious banana bread!
Final Thoughts
We hope this article covered your question, “Is banana bread gluten-free?”
To sum it up, the original banana bread recipe isn’t gluten-free because it’s made with white flour. However, using gluten-free flour like almond or coconut flour will help you make your own version of gluten-free banana bread.
Lastly, don’t forget to try one of the recipes above and let us know how it tastes!
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.