The Perfect Banana Bread
A naturally gluten-free loaf of banana bread that’s perfectly moist with a delicate crumb. It just might be the best banana bread ever!
I’ve been craving banana bread ever since we returned from our trip to Maui, aka Banana Bread Heaven, but I was determined to make one that was both healthy and gluten-free. After many months of failures, it makes me so happy to be able to finally share a success with you.
Now I know that even though I think this is the perfect banana bread, ultimately food is subjective so the best thing I can do is explain what it is about the ingredients, texture and flavor that has the potential to make you go bananas too.
Pun intended.
Let’s review what makes it so perfect:
- It’s soft and moist with a beautiful buttery, golden crust. Check.
- It’s made from wholesome and recognizable ingredients. Check, check.
- It only uses two types of flour: brown rice and almond meal, both of which are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals and also happen to be gluten-free. Checkity-check.
- It’s made without refined sugar. Ch-ch-ch-checka.
- The high amount of protein and fiber means that it keeps you full and satisfied for hours on end. Checky McCheckerton.
- Most importantly: it has that irresistible classic banana bread flavor. CHECK!
Can you tell I’m obsessed?
It gets worse. Spread some vanilla almond butter on top and then we have a real problem on our hands.
Oh, just looking at that is making my mouth water.
Okay, I need to focus.
So I originally had high hopes of developing a vegan recipe for you guys but forcing myself to choke down all of the gummy failures made me decide that eggs are a necessity. In fact, beating the whites so that they’re nice and fluffy is precisely what gives this bread it’s perfect texture.
I also recommend using very ripe {there should be some black on the peel} bananas since they’re one of the main sweeteners in the recipe. I personally prefer my banana bread not to be really sweet but if that’s what you’re used to then you can always add some sugar to make it to your liking. Like I said, it’s all subjective. But I have a feeling if you give it a try, you’ll agree that it’s perfect the way it is.
In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen whipping up another loaf. With nuts this time. Whether Brandon likes it or not…
Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (approximately 4 small bananas)
4 eggs, separated
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup light agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup
optional add ins: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts/chopped pecans/or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan.
- Combine the brown rice flour, almond meal, baking soda, and salt in a medium-size bowl and sift together.
- In a separate large bowl, combine the egg yolks (separate the egg whites in a medium bowl for beating), mashed banana, agave or maple syrup, vanilla extract, apple sauce, and melted coconut oil. Mix ingredients together and then set aside.
- Beat the egg whites for about 30 seconds on high so that they are thick and fluffy. Add them to the bowl with the wet ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold together.
- Lastly, fold the dry ingredients into the wet, again using a spatula, until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix the batter.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Time may vary depending on your oven. Stick a knife in the center to tell if it is finished. If it comes out clean, then it is done!
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes then serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
Inspired by Musings of a Housewife
Wow, from those pictures I would have never guessed that it is gluten free! It looks so delicious. I can honestly never have too many banana bread recipes, and now I have a gluten free one to add to the list. Stoked!
Oh man, I’m really craving banana bread now! This looks awesome and your pics make it look even more delicious!
Justin and I love banana bread! I make it fairly often and it doesn’t last long at all. I’ve made lots of different versions, and I’m definitely loving this one!
I absolutely love banana bread and have never made it before. I love this healthy take on it. Maybe I’ll give it a shot one day, because it has my mouth watering.
This banana bread does look super moist, Delish! I love banana bread, especially warmed with almond butter! ;)
That banana bread is PERFECTION.
This does look PERFECT. I’ve never used brown rice flour (expensive?), but I want to give it a shot.
No, it’s actually not expensive at all! Bob’s Red Mill is like $3-4 a bag.
I just made banana bread, and so did my friend Leigha! Banana bread is taking the blog world over, and I love it. No two recipes seem the same! This recipe is amazing! The banana bread looks so thick and fluffy and PERFECT with almond butter/peanut butter on top. Swoon.
This DOES look like perfection, Sarah! I honestly never would have guessed that it’s gluten-free… And while I’ve never tried baking with rice flour before, I’m seriously considering running to the store to pick up a bag just so I can make this. Now if only I can make the bananas last long enough for them to ripen enough…
I have read the recipe and would love to make this without running to the store. I have Better Batter gf flour on hand which is made with brown and white rice flours. Would this work in place of the brown rice flour and almond meal that you used? I am gluten free/dairy free so I want to try your recipe!
Hi Amy! It sounds like it would work fine to me. The almond meal adds a little extra fat so without that, it might not be as moist. You might want to add a little more coconut oil, like 1/4 cup total.
This is a gorgeous loaf, Sarah! I would eat the whole thing!
OK, I cannot get over the way the sun is glinting off this banana bread! You captured that gorgeous, golden, fluffy loaf SO perfectly. If you can believe it, I went to Hawaii with my family when I was 3 or 4 and STILL remember the banana bread. They delivered mini loaves to our hotel room and I used to hide them so I could have them all to myself! Food obsession at an early age. I cannot wait to try this!
Wow, this is a perfect looking banana bread and it is gluten free. Awesome!! I love that whipped egg addition. Smart!
Oh wow, this does sound perfect! Banana bread was my all time favorite cakey treat when I was younger, so I love the idea of making a healthier version, and this sounds as though it takes the cake (pun intended ;)
Checky McCheckerton – haha that one was my favorite!
This looks amazing. I’ve been on a banana bread kick lately – but I have never thought to top it with almond butter – where has that idea been all my life??? Clearly I need to make a loaf of this to test that out :) Happy weekend!
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I’m so impressed with your banana bread persistence! Testing recipes is sometimes one of my least favorite things to do, I guess I am just impatient and want things perfect the first time. I’m so glad you stuck with this banana bread though, because it looks so soft, moist, and delicious!! Banana bread is one of my my favorites because it isn’t too sweet, yet it is the perfect snack or dessert. Especially with that almond butter, yes please!
Ohh wow Sarah!! It does look like the most perfect banana bread indeed. That golden crust is calling my name ;)
I have been craving banana bread all day! Love that I stumbled across this recipe. Yum! While I’m not gluten-free, I love trying new recipes that are. This one looks delicious!
This looks amazing… and it is GF!! Win, WIN!
We’ve got some brown spotted bananas on our counter. I think those shall be used very soon for this bread :)
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I made these as muffins instead of bread and they turned out great! The recipe made 17 muffins and I baked them at 350 for 20 minutes. My girls just love them! They save bananas to over ripen specifically so that we can make this recipe!
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe! Thanks for the feedback, Anna! :)
What is the calories per serving…I just this and it is very very good but was wondering the nutritional information.
I’m sorry, I don’t calculate nutritional information for my recipes but you can enter the web address of the recipe into MyFitnessPal.com under food- recipes and that will give it to you. You can also enter the exact brand of ingredients you used so that it’s more accurate. It’s completely free too. I hope that helps!
These turned out great!! We used honey and maple syrup (instead of all maple syrup) and it tastes wonderful! I also used all-purpose gluten free flour from Trader Joes instead of the brown rice flour since that’s what we had on hand and that turned out well too. My family ate the whole thing in one day! :) Thank you!!
I’m happy to hear it worked well with the gluten-free AP flour! I’m sure others will appreciate your comment too. Thanks for letting me know! :)
I love this recipe but I have subbed mango in for the banana and its even better. Amazing.
Yum! That’s a great idea!
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Hi! This GF banana bread looks delish! Any idea if I can substitute the brown rice flour out for just regular rice flour? (I wanna make it right now but regular rice flour is all I have in my pantry!)
Hi Lucy! I think regular rice flour would be fine. Let me know if you give it a try!
Can coconut flour be used instead of the brown rice flour?
Can coconut flour be used instead of the brown rice flour? This looks amazing!!!
I don’t think it would work the same because coconut flour absorbs moisture much more than brown rice flour. But I know of a recipe that uses just almond meal: http://www.theroastedroot.net/paleo-banana-bread/ or this one uses coconut flour: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2015/01/chocolate-chip-coconut-flour-banana-bread-gluten-free-paleo/
I hope that helps!
Hi Sarah,
I found your recipe on Pintrest, Yay! I have the loaf in the oven as I am writing this. I am so excited to try it and see how it turns out. I opted to use a GF flour blend instead of the almond meal, and I also used a bit of grass-fed butter warmed with my coconut oil, so the total came out to be just under 1/4 cup. I saw you mentioned adding more if not using the almond meal. I loved the idea of whipping the egg whites (I did it by hand, pheww) it was more fun. :) I also added a nice protein powder, cacao and maca to the dry mixture to boost of the nutrient factor. I didn’t have apple sauce, but did have a fresh very ripe pear, so I used that instead. ;) My choice for sweetness was coconut nectar. I don’t like agave due to the fact that is resembles HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in the body. And, I only used about 3 heaping Tbs. I will follow up with how this yummy recipe of yours turned out. Thank you so much for sharing it with us! :)
Happy cooking- Stacey Rae <3
@staceyrae47
Your substitutions sound delicious, Stacey! Thank you so much for the comment! :)
Just made this today after finding the recipe on Pintrest. Really good! I’m just at the beginning of my gluten-free journey. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
I’m so happy you you liked it, Paula! Thank you for the comment! :)
Hi Sarah,
Can you substitute the brown rice flour for oat flour? Just wondering since I have some and have to go buy brown rice flour!
Hi Katie, It might work but I haven’t tried myself so I can’t say for sure. If you end up trying it please let me know how it turns out!
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Do you use the egg yolks too? I really don’t want to mess this up it is for my mothers birthday thank you oh and I did make your pumkin bread today it is awesome.
Hi Sherry! Yes, you use both the yolk and the whites. The yolks get added in step 3.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the pumpkin bread! I hope your mom has a wonderful birthday! :)
Hi! Question, do you think I’d be able to replace the brown rice flour in this recipe with gluten free oat flour?
I’ve made this recipe as is several times and it always turns out perfect! It’s my go-to GF banana bread recipe :)
Thanks!
Hey Makenzie! I’m so glad you like the banana bread. Thank you so much for the feedback!
I think oat flour would yield a similar result. Just be careful not to overmix so it doesn’t get gummy! :)
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Can you except similar results using almomd flour instead of meal?
Yes! Almond flour will work great.
how many calories in a slice of this bead. It looks amazing.
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I made this recipe & my roommate ate almost the whole pan in a day! It really is delicious. I tried swapping out the eggs for flax & it still turned out pretty good but I thought they had more of a muffin like consistency. I’m commenting now because I was just looking at the recipe to make sure I have all of the ingredients on hand to make it later today!
Thank you for the review! I’m so glad you enjoy it! :)
I made this banana bread this morning and it tastes so good! My 18 month old granddaughter loves it too! I was looking for yet another vegan banana bread recipe that would come out perfectly (I’ve yet to find one☹️) but your pictures looked so enticing I decided to go with your recipe even though I don’t like using eggs and oil. Well I’m very glad I did! Finally a banana bread that actually cooked through for me, smelled AMAZING in the oven, and tastes yummy! I added mini dark chocolate chips and used maple syrup. Divine!
Thank you so much Sarah for your wonderful recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Maureen! I do have a vegan and gluten free banana bread but it definitely isn’t as good as this version. You can check it out here if you want: https://www.makingthymeforhealth.com/flourless-vegan-gluten-free-oatmeal-banana-bread/
Wonderful recipe, thank you Sarah! I love the fact it has no refined sugar + beating the egg whites gives it that extra lightness… Just making another one to take to a shared supper .
I have everything except apple sauce! Is it necessary or can I sub in something else? I would love to make this today or tomorrow!
I used the applesauce to reduce the amount of oil. You can replace it with oil if you like!
The picture looks fabulous and I have the bananas begging to be made into this bread! But, can’t have those eggs in my diet! In all your trial recipes have you checked if flax eggs could be substituted?
Hi Karen! I haven’t tried subbing flax eggs so I’m not sure it would work all that well. I usually have to adjust the amount of leavening to compensate for the acid in the eggs. I will add it to the list to test though!
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It was a delicious cake. With an additional banana on the top and some almonds flakes, it increases the flavor. Also, I roasted the bananas before mashing them and that’s key. You should try too ! Thank you for your recipe !
I made this recipe tonight but I replaced the almond meal with 1/4 cup of oat bran and 1/4 cup of GF oats and I also used 1/4 c. brown sugar instead of honey, agave or syrup. And we added 1/4 c. chocolate chips. And I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on top, just because. It turned out delicious!
Think I can use oat flour instead of brown rice and almond flour instead of meal?? making your baked apple oatmeal as I type!!!
That should work! Oat flour tends to be less absorbent compared to brown rice so sometimes I find it can turn out a little too moist but it will definitely still be edible. I would test it out as is (but just sub oat flour) and then see if you need to use a little less liquid next time. :)