Treat yourself to a moist, fluffy and vegan banana bread that's also gluten-free and guilt-free. The bread is naturally sweetened with date syrup, which adds richness and a gorgeous, chocolate-brown hue. Almond flour and crunchy walnuts stir in more flavor and keep this beloved dessert healthy.
I'm not strictly gluten-free but I do bake a lot of gluten-free desserts because I love the flavor and because they are ideal for gatherings where there's bound to be someone that's avoiding gluten. This banana bread is always a hit: not only is it vegan, gluten-free and naturally sweetened, it is unequivocally scrumptious.
I have already shared with you my recipe for vegan banana bread. It's made with wholegrain flour, it's so, so delicious, and it's a go-to in our home. This vegan gluten-free banana bread riffs off that one, but I made a bunch of adjustments to make sure that it was just as delicious, if not more so.
Applesauce makes the bread tender and moist while reducing the amount of oil in the recipe, and the bananas both flavor the bread and help bind the ingredients without the need for eggs. And don't you just love that deep, rich color the date syrup adds to the bread?
Table of Contents
Recipe card
Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1½ cups gluten-free all purpose flour (with xanthan gum added)
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- â…” cup date syrup (or maple syrup)
- ¼ cup oil (avocado oil or any neutral oil)
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 very ripe bananas (peel and mash the bananas until smooth. Some small lumps are fine).
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts (optional, toast the walnuts lightly, then chop into smaller pieces)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius. Oil the loaf pan.
- Place the gluten-free flour and all-purpose flour in a bowl. Add the baking soda, baking powder and salt and whisk to mix.
- Add all the wet ingredients: date syrup, oil, applesauce, mashed bananas, apple cider vinegar and pure vanilla extract. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients until there is no dry flour remaining in the bowl.
- Stir in the chopped, toasted walnuts and mix them in.
- Scrape the batter into the oiled loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the banana bread in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the banana bread on a rack for an hour. Run a knife along the sides, then unmold and let the bread continue cooling on the rack.
Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
Ingredients guide
- Bananas. You will need three overripe bananas for this recipe, approximately 1 ½ cups. Bananas with skins that are turning quite black are ideal. If the bananas you have are not overripe and you don't want to wait, you can still make this banana bread. See the FAQs below for tips.
- Date syrup. I wanted to keep this recipe as healthy as possible and date syrup, a natural sweetener made from dates, is loaded with nutrients and minerals. You can substitute the date syrup with maple syrup, or use sugar. An unrefined sugar like coconut sugar will add richness, like the date syrup.
- Flour: Mixing gluten-free flour with almond flour makes the banana bread tastier. Gluten-free flour can taste a bit chalky so to improve the flavor I add almond flour, which is rich-tasting and nutty. If the gluten-free flour you use doesn't have xanthan gum added to it, add ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum for better binding.
- Applesauce. The applesauce helps keep the gluten-free banana bread moist and tender and reduces the amount of oil in the recipe. To make the recipe oil-free see FAQs below.
- Walnuts. I like walnuts in banana bread but you can substitute with pecans or blanched, sliced almonds. You can also skip the nuts or replace them with chocolate chips.
Recipe instructions with photos
Mash peeled bananas using a fork until quite smooth with some small lumps.
In another bowl place the gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to mix.
Add the wet ingredients to the bowl: date syrup, oil, applesauce, mashed bananas, apple cider vinegar and pure vanilla extract.
Use a spatula to mix the ingredients. Make sure you scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl so there is no dry flour.
Stir in the nuts and mix once more. Make sure they are evenly distributed.
Scrape all of the batter into an oiled loaf pan. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees until a toothpick in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Cool the banana bread on a rack for an hour, then run a knife along the edges to make the bread easier to unmold. After removing the banana bread from the loaf pan, continue cooling it on the rack.
Top Tip
If you are using cup measures and not weight measures for the flour, be sure to scoop the flour into the cup measure using a spoon for accurate measurements. If you scoop the flour directly from the canister with the cup measure you will almost certainly end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
Recipe FAQs
You can make this gf banana bread with sugar instead of date syrup. If the batter is too dry, you can add some non-dairy milk, a little at a time.
Yes, but puree the bananas so they are quite smooth before adding them to the batter. This is easily done in the food processor. You can also taste the batter and add a little more date syrup or sugar if needed.
Yes, you can make this banana bread with only all-purpose gluten-free flour. Just use a total of 2 ½ cups all purpose flour and add a little non-dairy milk if the batter is too stiff.
You can substitute the oil with an equal amount of applesauce, but keep in mind that this could make the bread very tender and hard to slice, although it will still taste heavenly.
Store the vegan gluten-free banana bread in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, freeze in an airtight freezer-safe bag or container for up to three months. Thaw completely before eating.
Marta E Calleja says
Re: vegan gluten free banana bread
May I substitute a regular whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, or chickpea flour, for the white all-purpose flour?
Vaishali says
Hi Marta, absolutely, but in that case just use my recipe for vegan banana bread, which is linked from the recipe. It's made with whole wheat flour but the measurements do have to change a bit. Also bear in mind this is not regular all purpose flour but gluten-free all-purpose flour.