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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.

The Best Gluten-Free and Vegan Banana Bread // thehealthymaven.com #glutenfree #veganSure 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.

The Best Gluten-Free and Vegan Banana Bread // thehealthymaven.com #glutenfree #veganI 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.

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The Best Ever Banana Bread {Gluten-Free & Vegan}

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  • Author: Davida Lederle
  • 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

Scale

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

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. 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)
  3. Combine all dry ingredients and set aside.
  4. 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.
  5. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined.
  6. Add in chocolate chips or nuts if desired.
  7. Scoop batter into pan and bake for 55-60 mins.
  8. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 mins before removing from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. 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)

Like this recipe? Check out some of my other baked goods!

Do you like experimenting with different types of foods or do you stick to what you know? What’s your “best ever” recipe?

Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

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157 Comments

  1. Hi! 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!

  2. Hi Davida.
    Why so much potato starch?
    Can I substitute the potato starch for anything else?
    Thanks.

  3. Thank 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!

  4. Confession: 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…

    1. Happy 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!

      1. I 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! 😀