Gluten Free Banana Bread
One of my little treats on a weekend is to go and relax in a cafe with a group of my cycling buddies after a training ride and enjoy a slice of banana bread with a good cup of coffee. There is something magical and comforting about banana bread served lightly warm and toasted. It’s yummy on it’s own or topped with a little ricotta + honey. I have two delicious recipes that I always bake, one is made from wholemeal spelt flour and the other made completely gluten and grain free using ground almonds as the base mix. I normally buy almond meal in bulk 10kg boxes and keep it in the fridge. it works out extremely budget friendly and cost effective. You can also buy whole raw almonds and grind them yourself if you prefer.
Bananas are a terrific energy food and a great source of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function.They add moisture and sweetness to baked goods, which means you can reduce the amount of sweetener and oil considerably. Almonds are packed full of protein + heart healthy fats that are kind to your arteries and can help lower cholesterol as well as keep blood sugars stable. This makes a nice change from typical store bought and cafe style banana breads that are generally high in refined white flour, sugar and butter. I love using either madacamia nut oil or a good cold pressed light oliveo oil when baking. They are both a delicious source of monounsaturated fats which is great for heart health.
Makes 1 loaf
300 g smashed ripe banana
3 free range / organic eggs
60 g honey or organic maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
60 g cold pressed olive oil or macadamia nut oil
half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda ( bicarb soda) + 1 tbsp lemon juice
200 g ( 2 cups ) almond meal
25 g (1/4 cup) ground flaxseed (linseed)
Preheat your oven to 160 C.
Combine smashed banana, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, bicarb and lemon. ( the lemon activates the bicarb). I normally do this step
in my trusty vitamix and blend up all the base ingredients like a smoothie, then pour into a mixing bowl to finish off the banana bread batter.
Add the almond meal and flaxseed and mix well.
Lightly oil one loaf tin and then coat liberally with extra almond meal – this will prevent the cake from sticking.
Spoon batter into the tin and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour ( a skewer inserted into the centre should come out dry).
Cover the top with foil if over-browning.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before turning out the loaf.
Makes 1 loaf serves 12.
Serve warm or at room temperature by itself or with a little ricotta and honey.
keeps in the fridge, covered for up to 1 week.
NOTES: Sometimes I love to decorate the top of my banana bread before baking with a handful of chopped walnuts and a lightly sprinkle of cinnamon that forms a delicious and crunchy streusel topping after it’s baked.
Protein: 6.1 g
Carbs: 10g
Total Fat: 15 g
Saturated: 1.7 g
Kilojoules: 828
Calories: 193
I cooked this for my husband and we love it!
a nice little treat to reward our hard training
This receipe rocks! I’d been fumbling through some receipes trying to find a tasty gluten free banana bread receipe that avoided all the usual processed ‘white’ ingredients commonly used in baking + delivered a moist texture (hard to achieve sometimes with gluten free receipes!). Had very little success…until now!
Thanks Teresa, it tastes great & we are just going to double the receipe next time so we get even more!
Does anyone know a weight to volume conversion for this recipe ? I don’t have kitchen scales.
Hey Teresa,
I love your website and the cafe is amazing!!
i have loved baking all your recipes.. however i think i keep mixing up the amounts of honey and oil. Can you please indicate how much of each in milliliters or teaspoons as i dont have scales?
Thanks again and especially for making the dairy free suggestions…
This recipe looks great, can you post the wholemeal spelt flour recipe too?
Thanks!
Hi Teresa cant wait to cook your banana bread have shared protein ball recipe to all my gym buddies . I have always got a supply in freezer . You look amazing you trained me for awhile at craige centre WA 15 years ago thanks to you i am still training at age 64 thanks for 80/20 book just fab cheers meg.
Hi Teresa, thank you for your regular recipes. While I enjoy a high raw diet my children have an interest in food preparation and cooking. This recipe is perfect for them. I’m sure my daughter will be very keen to make this recipe and have printed it for her. Your photos help too. Have a great day! xx
Hi Teresa I make your almond milk often and wonder what to do with the almond pulp after strainning the milk off, can I use this pulp instead of the almond meal?
Cheers Caryn
Hi Teresa,
Do you have suggestions for replacing the almond meal with some a little more allergy friendly?
I love your recipes, particularly the healthy twist on sweeter things and snacks. I’malways looking for healthier snacks for my kids and while they (and I) love almond meal unfortunately I can’t pack it into a kinder lunch box due to the no nut policy that all kinders and some schools have.
Thanks,
Sally
I will post up a lovely spelt flour version that is delicious very soon: Try out the oatmeal scones also the spelt soda bread spread with whole fruit blueberry jam and ricotta is lovely for kids
Hi Teresa,
Any tips on where to get bulk almond meal? I haven’t seen it around but it does sound like a very sensible option… would love to hear where you can find it!
Hi Teresa,
I love your recipes!!
I bake a lot with Almond Meal and am having trouble sourcing a bulk supplier of Almond Meal.
Is there one you can pass on the details for?
Much appreciated if you can.
Thanks.
Best,
Renee
The best supplier of Bulk 10 kg boxes Almond meal here in Sydney is a company called the natural grocer.
OMG so glad this one is finally up
xxx
I’m from the UK and never heard of almond meal. Is it called something different here?
Maybe almond flour, ground almonds….? its just basically whole raw almonds that are ground…it’s what macaroons are made from if that helps.
For UK peeps, this is a good web company to source ground almond (flour alternative) and most of the other ingredients above. http://www.naturallygoodfood.co.uk Lots of organic/gluten free and dairy free options for most.
Yes Meg
Hi Teresa cant wait to cook your banana bread have shared protein ball recipe to all my gym buddies . I have always got a supply in freezer . You look amazing you trained me for awhile at craige centre WA 15 years ago thanks to you i am still training at age 64 thanks for 80/20 book just fab cheers meg
Hey Meg – lovely to hear from you. So happy you are still training. Loved those craigie Leisure Centre days. ! You will really like the banana bread, not too sweet and just right with a cup of tea with the girls after a good workout.
Hi Teresa
Absolutely loved the Banana recipe , best gluten free one I have ever tasted . Would now like to cook substituting the honey for Perfect Sweet xylitol. What quantity of xylitol would you use and do I change any other ingredients please.
Carolyn
I made 2 of these on Monday morn……only Wednesday and there is only 1 slice left. And it’s alllllllll mine!!
Hey Love – hope you’re well. Good Paleo article in today’s Sun Herald.
xx
Hi Teresa
What would you suggest for an egg alternative? I’ve heard that ground flaxseeds and water combined make a good egg replacer. But perhaps extra banana would suffice?
Hey Ruth, every time I’ve tried an egg alternative such as flaxseed or egg replacer, the results have been pretty sad. You can make an excellent egg free vegan banana bread very simply….I will be posting one up very shortly.
Brilliant, thanks, I look forward to it. I have egg replacer but prefer a more natural alternative.
Just made this recipe and its tastes amazing. I used LSA instead of the flaxseed as I didn’t have any on hand. Loving all your recipes Teresa……easy to follow and healthy alternatives to popular recipes. Wish you had a restaurant in Melbourne!!
Hi Teresa,
Thanks so much for this recipe, I made it for my son for morning tea and he loved it, even after telling me he doesn’t like almonds. This will be a favourite for a healthy snack that still feels like a treat.
Can’t wait to try some more of your wheat and sugar free recipes.
Love this recipe! Just wondering what your thoughts are on using mashed pumpkin as an alternative to banana? Maybe with a touch of nutmeg??? I have a pumpkin loaf recipe but is made with refined flour and butter, and am looking for an alternative.
It should work Kim, you should give it a try – it will taste amazing !!!
Same quantities won’t work….but I’ve made it with buckwheat and it’s lovely..will try and find recipe.
hey Teresa Just wondering what your thoughts are on using buckwheat flour instead of the almond meal?
cheers
Hi Teresa, just wanted to know your thoughts on using buckwheat flour as an alernative to the almond meal?
As a lover of banana bread but a hater of sugar, very keen to give this recipe a try! How well does it freeze?
Hi Teresa,I have heard your Banana Bread recipe with Spelt is delisious but cannot find it.I have already made the Almond Meal recipe which i enjoyed.
Spelt version is awesome – actually my fav too ! it’s in my 80/20 book, but will do another post on it very soon. TX
Hi teresa, just wondering if it was possible to used less oil in this recipe or something i could change to reduce the fat content? woud using half buckwheat flour and half almond meal with some orange juice work? would it change the nutritional info?
if not, any ideas?
thank youu
can i make this with raspberries instead of bananas?
Hello! What a lovely site – many thanks for the recipe. I have a home office where I have six colleagues who join me in my home everyday, and one of them is gluten intolerant – so I’d thought that an afternoon treat of making freshly baked banana bread for everyone was out of the question, until I saw your recipe. It’s now baking away and it looks divine!
I thought the recipe batter looked a little dry (which I realise it may just be that way!), but tinkerer of recipes that I am, I added half a shredded apple and one extra banana, roughly mashed, and just because I love butter so much I replaced the oil with butter (tsk tsk I know!)
From the smell of it now and the sight of six people salivating at their tables it looks like you’ve hit on a winning recipe!
Thanks again for sharing.
Awesome Cyn – let me know how it went.
xx
Hi Teresa,
I just cooked this for the my husband, 2 teenage girls and their friends… it was a huge success all round! Thank you, I’m always looking for healthy, GF substitutes.
xx
Just a quick question – i have made this bread a few times and its absolutely beautiful. However my loaf doesnt come out very high – should i be doing something different?
What are the measurements of the loaf pan you use?
Thanks
Vaso