Growing up, banana bread was one of my very favorite breakfast treats.
Who wouldn’t love eating cake for breakfast?
Made with almond meal, freshly ground chia seeds, and overripe bananas, this tender banana bread packs a punch of protein, fiber and relatively little sugar, making it perfect for a quick breakfast or a sweet mid-afternoon snack.
In my experience, eggs are usually required for “structure” in almond-flour baked goodies, but the bananas and chia seeds work well as a binder in this particular mix–> making this bread not only vegan-friendly, but also properly combined.
And it still tastes like you’re eating cake. Win, win!
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Almond Flour Banana Bread (vegan-friendly)
makes one 9″ x 5″ loaf pan
adapted from this recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups almond meal
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons freshly ground chia seeds
3/4 cup water
2 very ripe bananas, about 3/4 cup mashed
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup, for vegans)
coconut oil, for greasing pan
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan well.
Using a coffee or spice grinder, grind the chia seeds first, then measure what you need for the recipe. (I measured out 1/4 cup of seeds before grinding, which turned out to be more than what I needed after they were ground.)
Mix 1/4 cup of the ground chia seeds with 3/4 cup water, and allow to sit in the fridge for 15 minutes to gel into “chia eggs.”
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl, add the chilled chia eggs, and mix well until a batter is formed. Transfer to the greased loaf pan, and use a spatula to smooth the top.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the golden brown and when a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Slice and serve!
- 3 cups almond meal, or almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons freshly ground chia seeds
- ¾ cup water
- 2 very ripe bananas, about ¾ cup mashed
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup, for vegans)
- coconut oil, for greasing pan
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan well.
- Using a coffee or spice grinder, grind the chia seeds first, then measure what you need for the recipe. (I measured out ¼ cup of seeds before grinding, which turned out to be more than what I needed after they were ground.)
- Mix ¼ cup of the ground chia seeds with ¾ cup water, and allow to sit in the fridge for 15 minutes to gel into “chia eggs.”
- Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl, add the chilled chia eggs, and mix well until a batter is formed.
- Transfer to the greased loaf pan, and use a spatula to smooth the top.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the golden brown and when a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice and serve!
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Hope you all enjoy!
Reader Feedback: What was your favorite breakfast as a child? Are you a banana bread fan?
Looks delicious! I just made some vegan banana blueberry muffins with brown rice flour! About to enjoy one now…
I luv banana bread…luv this recipe..so simple! I made an almond coconut cookie sans flour yesterday based off your flourless sugar cookie recipe..amazing! Thanks!
OH, looks delicious. I love a banana bread but I am trying to limit grains in my food. Great idea, I will give it a try;)Thanks
This looks delicious. I’m wondering if I can use ground flax seed in lieu of ground chia seeds …. Would that work as well?
Yes, I think flax and chia seeds are pretty interchangeable, though flax may have a slightly stronger flavor than the chia.
Also, make sure the flax is freshly ground– pre-ground flax meal isn’t as effective as a binder.
Thanks, Megan! I’ll give it a whirl!
I adore banana bread! It’s my fave quickbread next to carrot cake. As a kid, my favourite breakfast was something along the lines of Eggos smothered in margarine and Aunt Jemima…. oh how the times have changed!!
Carrot cake is my other favorite, too! And I totally loved Eggos smeared with LOTS of butter and syrup… I think we grew up with similar taste buds.
Your banana bread looks so good! It’s the perfect Sunday morning, have with coffee while reading the paper recipe. I like to smear mine with coconut oil and a little salt.
Have a great day!!!
Good call on the coconut oil and sea salt. YUM!
This looks awesome…I can’t wait for my bananas to go brown!!!
I wanted to add another note. Since following your website and using food combining, enjoying healthy decadent foods, reducing grains, losing labels and eating tons of fruit/veggies I feel fantastic. I had a friend in town for the weekend, and she is struggling as I used to…saying she feels fat all the time, making comments about being naughty or bad and craving french fries and ben and jerry’s. It was obvious that food really stressed her out and she felt tremendous guilt about eating anything sweet or what she deemed “unhealthy”, yet still really wanted these things, like they were cool or desirable and she always made a big deal about eating them. She couldn’t get over the fact that a vegan cookie is a treat…like it’s supposed to be bad for you in order to be good enough to be dessert and mocked me for liking them. Later, we got chocolate candy and it seemed like talking about it was better than eating it…like she had to eat candy to be “fun” and she kept going on about how she was eating it and making a big show of the wrapper. Same with restaurant food. I can’t explain it, but it seemed like she was caught in this good/bad food jail, pretending that it’s not a big deal and that junk food is cool and fun. I feel such a peace about food right now, I eat a ton of chocolate, but I balance with mondo salads and I don’t feel like I’m weird or uncool because I love vegetables and salad….it was clear she was not in that place yet with the constant fat and food comments…plus we’re the same size!!!
In a casual, converstaional way I mentioneded your site as a place I get advice and recipes. I hope she visits because you have really been so helpful and your way of eating is very freeing and such a pleasure to follow…I guess with all that I just wanted to thank you
Thanks for your sweet comment, Jeanne. I feel like those of us who have been trapped in “good food/bad food jail” (I’ve definitely been there myself!) can all really appreciate how wonderful it feels to NOT be there anymore– it’s freeing to just not worry about food so much! I hope that my website can become a resource for worry-free meals and treats for your friend, too.
I totally posted a banana bread today too… ‘cept this looks a bit healthier
Gotta get me some almond meal. Thanks for the recipe!
Looks so good! I think between banana bread and pancakes those were two of my favourite things as a child! Brings back good memories!
I’m trying to follow proper food combining, but I am still getting confused when it comes to fruit/ dried fruit. In this recipe you are using bananas(fruit) and mixing it with protein (almond flour/ chia seeds). Isn’t this an improper combination?
Bananas are an exception to the fruit rule! They combine with nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
I’m fairly new to this use your site as a learning tool. I’ve seen you mention combining foods several times. Can you explain what that means, please? Or if you’ve already explained it in a previous post, could you provide the link? I would appreciate it. Thanks
Here you go!
http://detoxinista.com/about/food-combining/
is there a way to make the gel using flaxseed meal? I don’t have seeds or a coffee grinder.
I would give it a shot! I’ve heard that the freshly ground stuff is more effective, but I bet it would still work… just make sure it’s nice and gooey after letting it set in the fridge.
This sounds amazing! Is there anything I can use to replace the chia seeds? Or are chia seeds necessary in this recipe? Thanks!
The chia seeds do help act as a binder, but you could use flax seeds instead!
Do you think eggs would work?
Ha, yes, eggs would definitely work. I had my “vegan brain” turned on.
I haven’t tried it with eggs myself, so let us know how it goes! I’d guess using 2-3 eggs would work for this batch.
I stumbled upon your website while searching for recipes for low-sugar almond-flour banana bread. I am so glad I found you! I’m a newcomer to a gluten-free, (mostly) vegan diet due to health issues.
Prior to this, I hadn’t found any recipes for baked goods that yielded great-tasting results. I just finished baking your banana bread, and it is so good!
The only downside is that now I’ll be tempted to make – and EAT – every grain-free recipe you offer.
Hi! I love your recipes. Do you think this could be made with pumpkin or zucchini instead of banana?
I haven’t tried it myself, but it’s worth a shot! Please let us know if you have any success!
Hi I just made this bread and it never fully baked after one hour in the oven. It was still in batter/liquid form. I followed the recipe but I ground up blanched slivered almonds. Now I’m thinking I should have ground up whole almonds with the skin on. Is that the reason for my bread being all mushy? Thanks!
Hmmm, I wouldn’t think that the skins on the almonds would make that much of a difference. Perhaps your bananas were larger than mine? I have no idea why the batter would still be in liquid form after an hour in the oven! Sometimes when using flax eggs, I’ll have baked goods with a slightly soft center, but that’s no problem since there are no raw eggs to worry about. However, I’ve never heard of the batter not setting at all! At this point, all I could recommend is cooking it longer, until the moisture evaporates… hope it turns out eventually!
I made this last night and had the same problem-it just wasn’t set in the middle. I am eating it anyway and thinking of it as a pudding but my other half won’t eat soggy cake! I don’t know why it didn’t work-I followed the recipe exactly, I had exactly 3/4 cup of mashed banana and everything! Would it work with less chia egg as it seemed like this was keeping it too moist. It does taste lovely though so it wasn’t a complete disaster
It’s not uncommon for baked goods made with almond flour and flax or chia eggs to be a little soggy in the middle– it’s a very moist recipe, and it’s difficult to achieve even-baking with a big loaf like this. With some practice, you may be able to figure out a lower oven temperature and longer bake time that will provide more even baking, or you can try making these into muffins, to avoid a soggy center. I actually don’t mind the moist middle, and will often save that part for myself– especially since there are no raw eggs to worry about!
Glad it tasted good, regardless!
I’m looking forward to making this recipe soon! I bet it will be delish! As I have plenty of almond butter, no almond flour, & I don’t want to/can’t spend extra money right now, I wonder if I can use the almond butter instead?! If so, could you tell me how much to use? I was guessing I’d use less than the almond flour, but I’m not sure exactly how much or maybe it is the same amount?! Thank you so much for your fantastic site & any help you can give me on this :0)!
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Hi! I was recently referred to your site and am beyond excited. My husband is ACTUALLY trying some of the things that I am making without resistance and liking them. I made the mistake (when making the banana bread) of adding an EXTRA 3/4 cup water to the recipe (after adding it to the flax seed to make the eggs). I have not tried the bread yet as it is sitting/cooling. Anyone have a suggestion on how to de-hydrate?!