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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.
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)
Like this recipe? Check out some of my other baked goods!
Oooohhh I love chocolate chip banana bread!! I have a vegan recipe that I use to make it, but I may just have to try your version my friend.
I love me some banana bread!! I never have a rhyme or reason for my baking either. I just try things and see if they work!
Girl, I get so excited for posts that begin with “Best Ever”. They make me real excited. This bread is awesome and I can’t wait to eat the entire thing (in multiple sittings – of course).
If you can ship this to Puerto Rico I’ll happily eat it! And healthy can be as delicious as non-healthy 😉
I’ll come deliver it personally! I need beach in my life!
I’m lame and boring and stick to what I know for the most part but I’m slowly branching out – very slowly!!!
The two ways to my heart: brownies and banana bread. You’ve got one of the keys now! 😉
#honoured!!!
I absolutely love banana bread. this looks fabulous.
Go ahead calling yourself the Banana Bread Queen because even without taste-testing this I can tell it’s aaah-mazing. Not like I’d ever had banana bread before – it’s not a classic over here – but the ingredient list alone is a guaranteed winner.
Ever since getting more into veganism I’ve been experimenting with substituting ingredients in non-vegan recipes. Sometimes ending up with less-than-stellar results, sometimes succeeding. Like with the Semmelknödel I prepared for my birthday lunch today. They’re a German classic: bread dumpling that I think you might enjoy, too. Usually prepared with several eggs that my mum used to swear were necessary but I proved her wrong with a simple sub. I’m secretly hoping she might find it helpful when running out of eggs one day, too …
Next year I’m getting invited to your birthday lunch! Those sound fab!
Unfortunately, “healthy” food can get a bad wrap of tasting bad. Poo, poo on those haters! These pictures absolutely show that healthy can look AND taste delicious! I wish I was as good as you with substituting ingredients on the fly!
Pinned. 🙂
Girl you’re pretty impressive if I may say so myself!
Why do you do this to me……
Can you do readers requests and do no bake recipes? This looks so good, especially without eggs!!! I love experimenting- often though they do not lead to success….
I’ll focus on meat smasher recipes from now on k?