I’m so glad you’re here, because this is the BEST vegan banana bread I’ve ever made. (And that’s saying something, because my Almond Flour Banana Bread is already very popular.) It has the most perfect texture and flavor, with a soft crumb, and the fact that it’s gluten-free and oil-free is just an added bonus. It couldn’t be easier to make!
Healthy Homemade Banana Bread
This gluten-free banana bread is a little healthier than your average recipe, because it’s made with no oil or refined sugar. Instead, it uses almond butter, which offers a healthy source of fat and plenty of fiber and nutrients.
Bananas add natural sweetness to this bread, especially when they are ripe with lots of brown spots on them, but to make it taste like a “mainstream” quick bread that you would buy at a coffee shop, I also like to use coconut sugar as a low-glycemic sweetener. It gives this bread the perfect sweetness, without being overly sugary.
How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Since all of the recipes on my website are gluten-free, I’m using King Arthur’s all-purpose flour in this recipe, and the results are amazing. (This is not sponsored; I just wanted to use a brand that I could easily find across most grocery stores– even at Target!)
I imagine most gluten-free flour blends would work well with this recipe, but gluten-free mixes tend to vary slightly in both taste and texture. (King Arthur’s all-purpose flour is better than their cup-for-cup blend, in my opinion.) I haven’t had the chance to test this with other gluten-free flour blends, or with regular wheat flours, so please let me know if you give anything else a try.
If you prefer to use another type of flour, such as coconut flour or almond flour, I’ve already got you covered. Try my Coconut Flour Banana Bread or Almond Flour Banana Bread, instead. Or, for a totally flourless banana bread experience, try my Paleo Banana Snack Cake. (Which is sweetened with only bananas!)
You only need one bowl and about 10 minutes of time to stir together this vegan banana bread batter, and then it will bake to perfection! I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread (1-Minute Video):
Vegan Banana Bread (Gluten-free & Oil-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 large, ripe bananas)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (brown sugar would work, too)
- 1/2 cup creamy almond butter (should be runny in texture; only ingredient is almonds)
- 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur's brand)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. (Tip: I spray the pan with cooking spray, then line the pan to keep the parchment paper in place.)
- In a large bowl, combine the mashed banana, coconut sugar, almond butter, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Stir well to combine, until all of the flour is mixed in and the batter looks relatively uniform.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the loaf at 350ºF for 50 minutes, or until the top has risen and a toothpick placed in the center of the bread comes out relatively clean. Let the bread cool completely.
- Once the bread is completely cool, use the parchment paper to help you lift it out of the loaf pan. Slice and serve! This bread can be stored at room temperature for up to 48 hours, but I recommend storing it in the fridge for longer shelf life. It should keep well for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.
Video
Nutrition
Vegan Banana Bread Nutrition (per slice): Calories: 158, Fat: 6g, Carbohydrates: 25g, Fiber: 3g, Protein: 4g
Recipe Notes:
- To make this recipe nut-free, you can make it with tahini, sunflower seed butter, or possibly coconut butter instead of the almond butter. This will change the flavor slightly, so make sure you like the flavor of whatever you’re using.
- I tested this recipe with King Arthur’s gluten-free all purpose flour, but I imagine any gluten-free blend will work.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear how they work for you, too! We can all benefit from hearing about your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite type of quick bread? This one and pumpkin bread are my two favorites!
This bread is fantastic!! Just made with this bread using Kroger brand simple truth gluten free all-purpose flour mix. Ingredients: brown rice flour, potato starch, white sorghum, rice flour, quinoa, millet, amaranth, tapioca starch, xanthan gum.
Thank you so much for letting me know! I’m glad to hear the Kroger gluten-free flour works well for this, too. I appreciate the feedback!
Will substituting the gluten-free all-purpose flour with oat flour work well?
I’m not sure that oat flour will work the same way (the texture might be a little more gummy) but let me know if you experiment with it!
Hi, turns out i had 3 bananas waiting for a purpose, so your recipe came right on time! But my cake didn’t rise at all in the middle, I don’t understand why… I used coconut flour and had to add quite a lot of water, because my almond butter wasn’t very runny, maybe that’s the reason…
Oh, darn! Yes, coconut flour is not a substitute for a gluten-free flour blend, so that would explain the difference. Coconut flour requires eggs to rise, and you don’t need a lot of it in a recipe, so I’d start with a recipe that calls for coconut flour to begin with, like my Coconut Flour Banana Bread.
I just made this today, as I had over ripe bananas. I used all purpose flour, but followed recipe otherwise. It came together very quickly and easily. Not a lot of banana taste, but a nice moist bread all the same.
Just wondering if you have made these in muffin form, or if you have a suggestion for making them into muffins? Excited to try it!
I haven’t yet, but I’d probably bake a 12-cup muffin tin for 25-30 minutes at 350 and then test the tops to see if they feel firm in the center.
Hi,Can i use normal butter instead of almond butter.My son is allergic to seeds and nuts so no sunflower butter.Thanks.
You might need to use a little extra flour in that case, as the almond butter also provides extra fiber and structure to this recipe that regular butter won’t have. But I think with a little more flour (maybe 1/4-1/2 cup) it would work. Let me know if you try it!
Just made this bread and it is delicious. I substituted three things to use what I had at home: peanut butter instead of almond butter, all purpose flour instead of gluten free and two bananas instead of two. But even with all substitutions it still came out amazing. I also made the instant pot lentil minestrone today, one of my favorite soup recipes and so easy!
Awesome recipe!
Hi! My husband is allergic to sugar and still cannot have the coconut sugar either. Do you know if I can substitute honey for the coconut sugar and how much i should use? Thanks!
Meghan, love your creativity and healthy take on all the recipes. This came out really well. May your creative juices keep flowing!
Cynthia,
I wanted to avoid sugar, so, I tried with 4 bananas adding about a cup or less of chopped dates to the banana mush and let it soak up for a few minutes. Followed her recipe otherwise and added some walnuts and chocolate chips and couple of spoons of trader joes fig butter. I love baking and I feel that this is the best banana bread that i have ever tasted.
I made this recipe using cashew butter since it’s what I had. You can definitely taste that more than almond butter but it is also sweeter. I completely omitted the sugar and it was delicious. Used Half einkorn whole wheat and half teff flour. Yum!!
This bread is amazing! It’s officially our bread for the Fall. I am exciting about incorporating other add ins like nut toppings, etc. I used the Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and it worked great.
Do you think buckwheat would work instead of a blend? I prefer fewer ingredients and don’t love the blends as they often aren’t organic and have gums in them. Thanks!
I haven’t tested it with buckwheat flour so I couldn’t say for certain, but I think it’s worth a shot! Please come back and let me know if you try it. 🙂
Can i make this with no oil and no nuts?
I think you’ll need something to replace the almond butter that is similar, otherwise the texture won’t be as perfect. Coconut butter could possibly work?
Do you think an oat flour would work and would it be the same amount?
This is amazing! It was so hard to find a banana bread that was vegan, soy free, nut free (I used sunbutter), and gluten free, but this turned out perfectly! I used King Arthur flour. I am thinking I might try it with pumpkin instead of banana sometime and see if it will work!
I’ve been meaning to try a pumpkin version, too! Let me know if you get to it first. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This recipe was so easy to make and very moist and delicious.
Megan,
This is a wonderful and amazing recipe! I’ve made this a few time and it never last long enough to worry about the self life LOL! Truly another great recipe!
Thank you!
Lisa
It is a good gluten free recipe but it is not not vegan.It alls for 5 eggs !
Hi Mary! You left this comment on my Vegan Banana Recipe (which is gluten-free & vegan) but it sounds like you’re referring to my Coconut Flour Banana Bread recipe, which does call for 5 eggs and is not labeled as vegan. Feel free to use whichever recipe works best for your needs!
Amazing!!!! My bread is nice, warm, sticky. Next time I wanna try to cook it without coconut sugar.
Loved this recipe! Made it a few hours ago and our family has already devoured it! I made a few tweaks that I thought would be helpful to share. I was out of almond butter so I made a quick batch in the food processor. Because i was throwing it together quick during my toddlers quiet time, I didn’t process it super smooth.the consistency was in between almond flour and butter. Also, I subbed out about a quarter cup of the sugar and did maple syrup instead. Added chocolate chips! Can’t wait to make this again! Will be my go to!
This banana bread was amazing and delicious. My husband is hooked on the recipe now and keeps dropping hints about wanting more by noting that our bananas are looking pretty ripe, maybe ripe enough for baking…? Guess Im making another batch this afternoon 😀
Can I use plant-based butter instead of almond butter?
I don’t think the plant-based butter (if it’s something like Earth Balance or Miyokos) would have the same fiber content as the almond butter. In this case, the almond butter is acting partly as a flour replacement, so you need something more similar, like another nut or seed butter.
The bread was delicious! It ended up moist and a very good texture and flavor. I didn’t think it would need the whole 50 minutes but it ended up very nicely cooked.
Has anyone ever sliced and froze this particular recipe? How did it hold up??
With the banana bread, can you sub Almond flour for all-purpose flour and how much? Thanks.
R/David Gutierrez, gutierrezdavidw@gmail.com
I’ve never tried this recipe with almond flour, so I couldn’t say for sure! I’m guessing it might not get quite as fluffy, but it could still work. Please let me know if you end up trying it!
Can I use coconut oil instead of butter and what would the measurement be? Thanks so much 😊
You’ll be missing the fiber that the almond butter adds to this recipe, so you might need to use a little extra flour? I haven’t tested it that way, so I can’t be sure how it will turn out. I’d probably use less oil if swapping it for the almond butter– maybe only half the amount? You’ll have to report back and let me know if you try it!
Tried making banana bread , and to my surprise it turned out so well . The recipes are easy and with limited simple ingredients . Thank you Megan ❤️
Hice la receta ayer y está increíble. ¡La mejor receta que he hecho hasta ahora de pan de plátano! Muchas gracias y saludos desde Barcelona.
I’ve recently had to start eating vegan and gluten-free. So glad I found this recipe! I used brown sugar instead of coconut sugar and followed everything else exactly and it turned out great! Super moist, rose pretty well, tasted great. Didn’t taste super banana-y but I still liked it 🙂
This is the best vegan gluten free banana bread I’ve tried!! So yummy!! I put chocolate chips in mine. Can’t wait to try it with walnuts. I also used sunbutter. Thanks for an amazing recipe!!
Just made this! Yummy!
Do you add xantham gum to this since the all purpose flour doesn’t have it in the mix?
No, I don’t! The texture of this bread is amazing without it.
This banana bread is amazing! Finally found a banana bread that my entire family LOVES! Doesn’t last more than 2 days… such good flavour and consistency. Just wondering though… do you think I could freeze it (once its been sliced) to keep it for longer?
Cant wait to try out more recipes 🙂
I didn’t like this at all but I still give it 3 stars to be fair.I didnt make any substitutions. I made mini loaves, it wasnt dry or too moist and looked lovely but I have come to the conclusion that my palate only likes goods baked with almond flour and coconut flour as that’s what ive been eating the last few years. It seems to be a texture issue for me. I’ll stick to almond and coconut recipies from now on as i know thats what i like and ive never had a fail using them and there are lots here on this site. Thank you for your efforts.
I made this with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour, which is what I typically use. The flavor is amazing, but the inside is super gummy. The edges are borderline too dark so I don’t think it needed to cook more. Do you think it’s just due to different ingredients in the flour mix? I’ve never used King Arthur gf, but this one is sweet rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain sorghum flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum.
Oh I did just realize also that the Maranatha almond butter I used is not the raw one I normally buy, but a no stir version that does have added oil. Could that be why?? Trying to solve my gummy texture issue before I make this again!
I love your recipe of the Banana bread, but I would like to have the recipe for the almond butter.
Thank you.
You can find my homemade almond butter recipe here: https://detoxinista.com/how-to-make-homemade-almond-butter/
This recipe is amazing! I added fresh berries to it. Great addition!
Great!
I am waiting for the timer to go off and I can pull it from the oven, let it cool and have
some with dinner. Smells amazing around here!
I just made this! I didn’t have coconut sugar so I substituted date sugar, but it still came out fabulous! Thank you for such a great revipe!