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This is the best Coconut Flour Banana Bread you’ll ever try. It’s easy to make, not overly sweet, and reminds me of the real thing– without using gluten or dairy.
What You Need to Know About Coconut Flour
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Coconut flour is SO tricky to work with. You’d think by now, after developing recipes like my Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread, Coconut Flour Carrot Cake, and Coconut Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, I would have a pretty good idea of how to make practically any baked good with coconut flour.
However, it still took me 6 different attempts to get this recipe right. My picky toddler has deemed this coconut flour banana bread to be the “best ever,” so I suppose my effort was worth it!
How to Sweeten It Naturally
The resulting Coconut Flour Banana Bread is moist, without being gooey in the middle, and is also not overly sweet. It could still pass as “normal” banana bread, which is why I added just a touch of natural sweetener, but you could definitely omit the coconut sugar entirely if you don’t mind having a less-sweet bread for your family.
(See the notes below the recipe if you are interested in using maple syrup instead. I tested that, too, but the results are more moist.)
Keep in mind that the riper your bananas are, the sweeter the banana bread will be, so be sure to use bananas with LOTS of black spots on their skin for best results.
How to Measure Coconut Flour
When making this recipe, be sure to use the “scoop and swipe” method for measuring. I dip the measuring cup into the bag of coconut flour to get a heaping scoop, then use the back of a knife to swipe the excess off the top.
This should leave you with a measuring cup of coconut flour that has a perfectly flat and leveled top.
I’ve also included the weight of the ingredients in grams in the recipe below, if you prefer to measure using a food scale.
This Coconut Flour Banana Bread recipe is:
- Gluten-free and grain-free
- Naturally sweetened, with the option of using NO added sugar if you prefer
- Oil-free
- Nut-free (technically coconut is classified as a fruit)
- Fast to prepare! The batter can be ready in just 10 minutes before baking it.
- Higher in protein
- Super-moist and delicious!
Why You Need So Many Eggs with Coconut Flour
Like most coconut flour recipes, this one does require more eggs than a recipe using any other type of flour. Coconut flour is freakishly absorbent, and because of that it requires eggs for both structure and moisture.
Trust me when I say that I used as few eggs as necessary to produce a good result. On the bright side, the eggs do give this bread more protein in each slice.
If you need a vegan recipe, check out my Vegan Almond Flour Banana Bread recipe, or the Vegan Buckwheat Banana Bread (which is nut-free) found in my first cookbook.
Tip for Stick-Prevention
Coconut flour tends to stick to pans more than other varieties of flour, so I like to line my loaf pan with parchment paper to guarantee the banana bread will easily release from the pan later.
To make your life easier, spray the pan with a little bit of oil, then press the parchment paper into the bottom of the pan. The light coating of oil will hold the parchment paper in place, so it doesn’t wiggle around while you pour the batter in!
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas (344 grams; not including peels)
- 3/4 cup coconut flour (87 grams)
- 5 large eggs (250 grams)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (1 gram)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (6 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (5 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (2 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add in the coconut flour, eggs, coconut sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Use a whisk to stir the batter well, breaking up any lumps so a smooth batter is formed. (You can also use an electric hand mixer to do this.)
- Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and bake until the center of the loaf has risen and started to crack, feeling firm to the touch, about 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
- Because this loaf is moist, be sure to store it in an airtight container in the fridge for best shelf life. It should last at least a week when stored in the fridge, though you might eat it all before then!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is for 1 of 10 slices. This information is automatically calculated, so it’s just an estimate and not a guarantee.
Recipe Updated: 6/30/2020
I slightly modified this recipe to help prevent the soggy middle that some readers were reporting, and I added the weights for those who like to be exact with a kitchen scale.
If you are still in love with the original version, I only changed 3 things: I reduced the number of bananas from 4 to 3, I added a teaspoon of baking powder to help it rise even more, and I increased the coconut sugar from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup. Feel free to change these things back if you prefer the original recipe.
Substitution Notes:
- There is no substitution for coconut flour, so if you’d like to use another flour please see my two suggestions that I mentioned earlier in this post.
- I did test this recipe using 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and the result was slightly sweeter and much more moist. I thought it was “too moist” to serve to company, but the results were just fine if you’re only serving this to your family. You can also omit the sweetener entirely if you don’t mind it tasting less sweet.
- I don’t think flax or chia eggs would work in this recipe, because they would result in a very gooey center. Feel free to experiment, if you like, but I also mentioned my two vegan banana bread recipes earlier in this post if you’d prefer to start with those.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know what how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I would love to hear about that, too! We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite quick bread that I haven’t covered yet? Be sure to check out my Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread and Vegan Pumpkin Bread, too!
Made this today, but added chopped walnuts…great!
I recently had WLS so I am tracking all my intake, would anyone have the nutritional info on this recipe?
Love, Love, Love.. second time making this recipe. So easy, simple ,and nutritious, most importantly my kids Love it. Thanks!
Hi
This is the moistest gluten free banana bread I have ever eaten!
Superb!
I didnt have cocnut sugar so used pure maple syrup – about 1/3 or 1/4 cup
Do you know how many carbs per serve? Thanks
I just did this recepie! It’s amazing and very easy! I wanted to ask you if it can be done with any other fruit?
Is it possible to get grams measurement for the coconut flour and bananas? Cups of flour and banana sizes can differ which can mess this up, especially since the recipe calls for coconut flour. :$
I did make the bread, however, my batter wasn’t as moist as yours on the picture, it looked more like a cookie batter that’s ready to be shaped into cookies. I did put it into the loaf pan, it did rise a bit, but the results weren’t really the best.
The inside texture was moist, but when chewing it, traces of coconut flour could be felt inside of the mouth, kind of like raw flour in my mouth.
I used a teaspoon of vanilla, but it ended up completely overtaking the scent and taste of the bread so I couldn’t taste the bananas in it (I guess I would have to omit or go for way less here).
Could there be something else added as well into the batter, such as dried fruits or nuts? If so, would there be a need of coconut flour/liquid ratio adjustment?
I second the request for gram measurements. Planning to make this tonight regardless, but it would be so helpful!
Has anyone tried to make this without vanilla extract and sugar?
Anyone try to throw some apples in instead for extra sweetness?
Salut mes amis!
Can I use dates instead of the coconut sugar. I couldn’t find it here!
J’adore ce blog.
Merci beaucoup!!
Eugénie
Hi friends!
I couldn’t find the coconut flour at my local supermarket so I checked out the organic shop down the street. But they were unfortunately out of stock!!! So my question is if I can use normal all-purpose flour instead of the coconut flour. Thanks! Love your recipes!!!!!
No, you absolutely cannot use regular flour instead of coconut flour! It will not turn out properly because coconut flour and wheat flour are completely different. If most of the readers of this site are like me, we are using coconut flour because we can’t have the gluten in wheat flour. But if you want to use regular wheat flour, there are probably a million recipes for that online. (Or when in doubt, just use any recipe you find in the classic American cookbook, The Joy of Cooking. They have a wonderful banana cake recipe that I used to make when I was eating wheat, white sugar, etc. I’m sure their banana bread recipe is excellent as well.
love it!!! have recently lost 4 1/2 stone and DON’T want to go back there!! i left out the cinamon (as i HATE it) and left out the sea-salt (don’t want salt in my food) BUT still made it and it was superb!!! quite a nice sized chunk for the 70 calories so i’m very happy – i bet it would taste even more delicious with a tub of butter on top but can’t have that either! i’ve made “proper” banana bread in the past but this as a lower calorie gluten free option is just as good! yummy!
First time using coconut flour-impressed!!
Thanks for the recipe! I made this into muffins with a 6 muffin tin and they game out amazing!!