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Buckwheat banana bread is made with whole grain buckwheat flour and tastes just as delicious as the traditional version! Naturally gluten-free & dairy-free, it comes together fast in one bowl.
Why You’ll Love It
It’s delicious. Buckwheat flour can sometimes taste more bitter than white flour, so this recipe calls for less flour than expected. When you pair it with plenty of ripe bananas, coconut sugar, and a touch of cinnamon, it tastes like a slice of banana bread you’d buy from a coffee shop.
It’s gluten-free. Despite its name, buckwheat isn’t related to wheat. It’s actually a pseudocereal, meaning it’s a seed eaten like a grain, but doesn’t grow on grasses the way grains do. This grain-like seed bakes very similarly to wheat flour, making it easier to bake with than other gluten-free flour.
You can make the flour at home. If buckwheat flour isn’t easy to find at the store, you can make your own by grinding raw buckwheat groats in a dry blender. It will become finely ground in just seconds!
It’s easy to customize. This gluten-free banana bread is relatively flexible, so you can add any extras you love. Add walnuts or sliced almonds for extra crunch or dark chocolate chips to make it more of a dessert.
Ingredients You’ll Need
All you need is one large bowl and a few minutes to stir the ingredients together before this loaf bakes to perfection in the oven. If you’d like to add in nuts, or a splash of vanilla extract, you can do that, too.
Note: Buckwheat flour can vary from brand to brand, depending on if it is ground with the hull or not. If the flour looks gray or light blue in color, it will taste more bitter, so try to look for one that is lighter in color, as shown in the photo above. (I used Anthony’s buckwheat flour when testing this recipe.)
How to Make Buckwheat Banana Bread
1. Mash the bananas.
For this recipe, you’ll need roughly 4 large bananas, and make sure they have lots of brown spots on their skin for the best flavor. I find it’s easiest to mash bananas with a fork on a plate, but you can also use an electric hand mixer to break them down quickly in a bowl.
You should get about 1 3/4 cups of mashed banana from 4 large bananas. If you get slightly more or less, that should be okay, too.
If you are working with smaller bananas, you may want to use an extra one to reach at least 1 1/2 cups of mashed banana for this recipe. (You can find the measurement in grams in the recipe below if you like to be extra precise.)
2. Mix well.
Transfer the mashed banana to a bowl and add the wet ingredients, like olive oil and eggs. Mix well.
Then, add the dry ingredients, like buckwheat flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir with a spatula or electric mixer until the batter looks smooth and no lumps remain.
3. Bake.
Prepare a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan by spraying it lightly with oil, then press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan. The oil will hold the parchment in place, so it won’t move while you pour the batter into the loaf tin.
Bake at 350ºF for 50 minutes or until the loaf rises and cracks in the center.
4. Enjoy!
Remove the banana bread from the oven, and let it cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes. Then use the parchment paper to lift the bread out of the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
When the bread is cool, it is ready to slice and serve.
Storage Tips: Leftover banana bread can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. I recommend slicing and freezing it with parchment paper between each slice so you can easily thaw it later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store-bought buckwheat flour can vary drastically in taste and color. Some brands will have a blue-gray hue, and a bitter taste, while others are more lightly colored with a mild flavor. I tested this recipe with Anthony’s organic buckwheat flour, which is lighter. You can also make your own buckwheat flour by grinding buckwheat groats in a blender or coffee grinder.
Instead of olive oil, you can use melted coconut oil or butter. Remember that these two options become solid when chilled, so the bread won’t feel as moist when it cools. (That is why most bread recipes call for vegetable oil instead of butter.) For an oil-free option, you can most likely swap the oil for applesauce or extra banana, but it might affect the texture slightly.
I’ve tested this recipe with a 1/2 cup of maple syrup instead of the granulated sugar, and the texture is a little more solid and gummy. If you don’t mind a different texture, feel free to experiment with it! You can also use any other granulated sugar you have on hand, but if you use white or brown sugar, I’d reduce the amount you use to only 3/4 cup since they are sweeter than coconut sugar.
You can usually replace baking powder with baking soda by using only half the amount plus adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice. So, you could use 1 teaspoon of baking soda in this recipe plus 1 teaspoon of vinegar with similar results. Baking powder is double-acting, so you’ll get bread that rises better when you use it.
Sure! Muffins usually require only 22 to 25 minutes of baking so they will cook faster than a loaf pan.
Looking for more buckwheat recipes? Try Buckwheat Pancakes or Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies for more ideas. (They are vegan-friendly, too!)
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe bananas (2 cups mashed)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup buckwheat flour (light color, if possible)
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Remove the peel from the bananas and use a fork to mash them well on a plate (for a flat surface), or directly in the mixing bowl. You should get about 2 cups of mashed banana for this recipe, but a little less than that is okay, too.
- Add in the olive oil and eggs, and mix well. Then add in the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt, and mix again. The batter should look relatively smooth.
- Prepare a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan by lightly spraying it with oil and press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan. The oil will help hold the parchment paper in place, and the paper will help you remove the loaf easily later. Pour the batter into the pan, then bake at 350ºF for about 1 hour. The loaf should rise and crack in the center when it's done baking.
- Remove the loaf from the oven, and let it cool completely in the pan before slicing and serving. It takes at least 2 hours to cool, so be patient! Leftover banana bread can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the slices, with parchment paper in between to prevent sticking, in a container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this healthy buckwheat banana bread recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it!
I rarely review, but this recipe is so good! I used cane sugar and left some out per the notes.. Still sweet and delicious. I added mini chocolate chips and they sank, but still amazing.
Just following up to my last question: I left it in the oven for an additional 30 min (90 total) and it came out great. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad to hear it turned out! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Hi! Is the center supposed to be gooey? No one has mentioned the bake time being off so I’m troubleshooting a gooey center. I made this recipe as written, with the modification of using only 1/2 the sugar. After baking for 60 min at 350 the loaf has risen and cracked on top (it’s very pretty!) but the center is still gooey. A toothpick came out coated. The bananas I used were from the fridge so I’m hoping it just needs a little extra time for that reason, but since the recipe doesn’t say anything about how to tell when it’s done besides the cracked top, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be gooey. Thanks.