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This Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread is super easy and simple with only 9 ingredients and 1 bowl to clean! A fun recipe to make when you're baking with kids or easy enough to make on a weekend morning, this banana bread is oil-free, healthy, moist, and delicious.
Hey Internet, I know I'm bringing you another dessert but I just finished testing this gluten-free vegan banana bread recipe and I'm OBSESSED! It's so yummy and simple--I only used 9 ingredients and it used up a bunch of REALLY ripe bananas on my counter.
This recipe is made easily in one bowl and within one hour your house will smell AMAZING and you'll have delicious banana bread ready to enjoy. It's also an easy recipe to customize, which is great if you can't get all of the ingredients or you don't like one or more of them.
And I have to tell you, it was not easy to make this recipe as awesome as it is. It can be tricky to work without gluten in baked goods, especially when also working without typical binders like eggs and oil.
I used a blend of almond flour and oat flour in this recipe. I LOVE the texture it gives, but if you don't have one of those, I have some options for you below.
What Do I Need To Make Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread?
You'll need a mix of oat flour and fine almond flour. For substitutions, please see the next section.
I made my own oat flour using my Vitamix. You can use a high powdered blender and most modern food processors shouldn't have a problem with it.
To make your own oat flour, add rolled or quick oats to your blender or food processor fitted with a standard S-blade. Using the pulse function, repeatedly cut your oats until they've become a fine powder with no hard pieces or lumps remaining.
You can also just buy your oat flour.
I did buy my almond flour online. It can be tricky to get almond flour fine enough without accidentally turning it into nut butter.
Obviously you'll need some super ripe bananas. What do I mean by "super ripe"?
I mean spotty. Spotty bananas are ripe bananas. Solid yellow bananas are actually not completely ripe.
They're still edible of course. But they aren't as sweet.
The nutrients and sugars in bananas are more bio-available when the banana is mostly spotted. Ripe bananas are sweeter so they taste better in this bread, and they're also easier to mash.
Can my bananas be too ripe?
Yes, they can be over ripe. Try not to let your bananas get to the point where there is no yellow left in the skin. If they are moldy, do not use them.
This recipe is written as a dessert recipe, so there is some sugar in it. I used coconut sugar to make it refined sugar-free.
To make this banana bread more healthy or perfect for a snack, you can add up to 2 additional bananas and take away some of the sugar. You can also just make it without sugar. Feel free to adjust it to how you need.
Also,you'll need one flax egg to bind everything together. To make a flax egg, simple mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or in the fridge for 5 minutes, then mix it into the wet ingredients.
Additionally, I used one cup of coconut milk to make this recipe nice and moist. See substitutions below.
I also used vanilla extract, canned coconut milk, baking soda, and salt.
What Substitutions Can I Make?
First of all, let's talk basics: Flour. I used a blend of 1.5 cups oat flour and 1 cup of fine almond flour.
If you are not gluten-free, you CAN use regular all purpose flour.
You also should be able to use a basic 1:1 gluten-free flour like Bob's Red Mill -- just make sure whichever one you get does include xanthan gum, a plant substance that is a decent replacement for gluten.
If you still want to do oat flour but cannot do almond flour, simply use the equal amount and double the baking soda.
For sugar, you can use none, you can use cane sugar, you can use a mix… I just wouldn't substitute a liquid sweetener because I am not sure how it would change the viscosity of the batter.
If you wanted to experiment and use a liquid sweetener like maple syrup, you could try upping the flour content to make it a somewhat thick batter.
Instead of the canned coconut milk, if you want to use any nondairy milk from the carton, do so but reduce the amount by 25% (since it's thinner than canned coconut milk). So use 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup. Add more if you find that your batter is too thick (but this is not meant to be a drippy batter).
You can add anything you like to the batter--nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, etc!
How Do I Make Banana Bread in One Bowl?
It's actually pretty easy to make most baked goods in one bowl. There's two methods: wet first or dry first.
My preferred method is to add the wet ingredients and mix them together well first. then I add the sifted flour on top and sprinkle on any other dry ingredients like salt, baking soda, etc.
But the other method is just as easy; you mix the dry ingredients in the bowl and then make a well in the center of them and pour in your liquids.
In either case, what you want to do is use your spatula (a spatula works best as opposed to a wooden spoon or a thicker stirring implement) to gently fold and mix the ingredients, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl as you mix so you're not over mixing and compromising the batter's ability to rise.
Other Gluten-Free Baking Recipes
I have many other gluten-free baking recipes that you might enjoy!
Carrot Cake with Protein-Packed Cream Cheese Frosting
Easy GF English Muffins From Scratch
GF Waffles with Raspberry Compote
Anything Else?
As always, I hope you love this recipe--I know I do. This gluten-free vegan banana bread is
- Moist
- Fluffy
- Sweet
- Cozy
- Banana-y (??)
- Nutty
- and the PERFECT texture
Let me know in the comments below if you make it, tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)
Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!
<3
Liz
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Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread is super easy and simple with only 9 ingredients and 1 bowl to clean! A fun recipe to make when you're baking with kids or easy enough to make on a weekend morning, this banana bread is oil-free, healthy, moist, and delicious.
Vegan, Oil-free, Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free, Soy-free
Ingredients
Wet
- 3 spotty bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup canned coconut milk (see note 1)
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup coconut sugar (see note 2)
Dry
- 1.5 cup fine oat flour + 1 cup fine blanched almond flour (see note 3), both sifted
- 4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Make your flax egg and place it in the fridge. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (or 177 degrees C).
- Mix your wet ingredients together in a bowl. I would start with the coconut sugar and coconut milk. You can use a whisk but it's easier if you have a mixer (even hand beaters). Cream it together and add the rest of the wet ingredients including the flax egg.
- Shake your sifted flours over the top so they cover the majority of the liquid. BEFORE YOU STIR, sprinkle on your other dry ingredients. Use your spatula to gently fold and mix the ingredients, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl as you mix so you're not over mixing and compromising the batter's ability to rise. If using any add-ins like chocolate chips, do it now.
- Next, add your batter to your loaf tin. I like to use parchment paper so I line it inside the tin. A trick to keeping it from moving while adding your batter is use tape (I use painters tape for this because it's easy to remove and I just have a huge roll leftover from painting my house) to secure the paper to the sides of the tin while I add the batter.
- Tap the pan on the table a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. A few gentle but purposeful taps will work. Decorate the top if you'd like -- I had another super ripe banana to use up and I added a few sliced almonds.
- Bake uncovered for 50 - 55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Now this is the hard part. Leave it to rest for 20-30 minutes in the pan. This helps it firm up. After the waiting period, run a butter knife around the inner edges of the pan and pull the tabs of parchment paper to gently lift the banana bread out of the pan. Let it finish cooling on a rack and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 5 days, or freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months.
Notes
- Note 1: Instead of the canned coconut milk, if you want to use any nondairy milk from the carton, do so but reduce the amount by 25% (since it's thinner than canned coconut milk). So use 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup. Add more if you find that your batter is too thick (but this is not meant to be a drippy batter).
- Note 2: If you want less sugar you can reduce the amount as you see fit. You can also use regular cane sugar, I just wouldn't substitute a liquid sweetener because I am not sure how it would change the viscosity of the batter. If you wanted to experiment and use a liquid sweetener like maple syrup, you could try upping the flour content to make it a somewhat thick batter.
- Note 3: If you are not gluten-free, you CAN use regular all purpose flour. You also should be able to use a basic 1:1 gluten-free flour like Bob's Red Mill -- just make sure whichever one you get does include xanthan gum, a plant substance that is a decent replacement for gluten-free. If you still want to do oat flour but cannot do almond flour, simply use the equal amount and double the baking soda.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Vegan, Oil-free, Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free, Soy-free, Banana Bread, Baking
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