Traditional banana bread recipes include refined flour and sugars so we wanted to make one that’s not only gluten and white sugar free, but also vegan.
Our dairy free banana bread is full of fibre, packed with flavour and is also super fast to make. You need just 1 bowl and 10 minutes to mix in all the ingredients and then you can pop it in the oven.
It’s also a great recipe for a home baking project with the kids! Without butters, white sugars or raw egg, they can even lick the bowl…guilt free!
Summary
Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: 45 minutes
Ages: Toddlers to Teens
Difficulty: Easy peasy
Makes: 1 loaf banana bread (about 8 servings)
Our dairy free banana bread
Our banana bread is without eggs or cows milk, without refined sugar and without refined flour.
Instead we chose to use natural sugars in the form of maple syrup. If you’re using ‘gluten free oats’ it also a great option for a gluten free dessert.
Is our banana bread healthy?
We believe that the ingredients we’ve replaced make our banana bread much healthier than the traditional kinds.
Instead of butter, coconut oil: Coconut oil is known to raise “good cholesterol” or HDL. In a randomised trial conducted in 2017, coconut oil outperformed butter in raising good cholesterol.
Instead of refined flour, oat flour: Oat flour is higher in carbohydrates than white flour, however it’s a slower and denser carbohydrate, meaning that it keeps you feeling full for longer.
Instead of refined sugar, maple syrup: Real maple syrup has a lower glycemic index than refined sugars. The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly glucose from food is released into the blood stream.
Eating food lower down on the glycemic index may keep weight in check and help prevent diabetes. So we believe our maple syrup can help you avoid those nasty sugar highs and lows!
One bowl dairy free banana bread
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups (310 grams) mashed very ripe banana – about 4 medium or 3 large
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds (15 grams)
- 1/3 cup almond milk (80 mls)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (80 mls)
- 150 mls pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Water (if needed)
Dry ingredients:
- 2/3 cup jumbo rolled oats* (60 grams) – gluten free
- 1 cup oat flour (90 grams) – gluten free
- 1/2 cup coconut flour** (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Topping:
- 1 packet pecan halves for topping
* You can use other types of oats, for example quick oats but these may soak up more of the liquids than jumbo rolled oats so you may need to top up with more water.
**If you prefer you can replace coconut flour with 1 cup of gluten free rice flour + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. As rice flour absorbs less fluid than the coconut flour we would also recommend reducing the quantity of maple syrup to 100 mls to help get the right consistency.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170℃ (340°F). Grease a 9 inch loaf pan with oil spray and set it aside.
- In a large bowl mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth.
- Stir in the chia seeds, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients one by one: your jumbo rolled oats, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt. At the end add in the coconut flour.
- The batter should be like a thick paste, not runny but also not as firm as bread dough.
- Spoon the batter into a loaf pan and level the top out with a spoon.
- Gently press the pecan halves into the top of the loaf.
- Bake your banana bread in the oven for 45 minutes until golden on top. The top should also spring back when you press it with your finger to show that it’s cooked, but it should also still be slightly moist inside. Enjoy!
Dairy Free Banana Bread – our step by step guide:
Start with the wet ingredients
Preheat your oven to 170℃ (340°F). Take a 9 inch loaf tin and spray the inside with oil spray. Put it to one side.
Mash your bananas in a large bowl with a fork until smooth.
Add your chia seeds, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla extract. Stir until everything is well combined.
Stir in your dry ingredients
Now add your the dry ingredients one by one.
Start with the rolled oats, then add the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt. Lastly add in the coconut flour.
If you mixture becomes too stiff you can add 50 mls of water or as needed to get the right consistency.
It should be like a thick batter, not runny but also not as firm as bread dough.
Spoon it into your loaf tin
Spoon your batter into your oiled loaf tin and press your pecan halves into the batter, covering the top.
Let it bake!
Bake your banana bread in the oven for 45 minutes.
The top should be golden and the banana bread should spring back when you press it with your finger.
Enjoy this tasty dairy free banana bread as a snack or dessert!
Dairy free banana bread
Our dairy free banana bread is full of fiber, packed with flavour and is also super fast to make. You need just 1 bowl and 10 minutes to mix in all the ingredients and then you can pop it in the oven.
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups ripe bananas 310 grams – about 4 medium or 3 large
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/3 cup almond milk (80 mls)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted (80 mls)
- 150 mls maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Water (if needed)
Dry ingredients
- 2/3 cup jumbo rolled oats (60 grams) – gluten free
- 1 cup oat flour (90 grams) – gluten free
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Topping
- 1 packet pecan halves for topping
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 170℃. Grease a 9 inch loaf pan with oil spray and set it aside.
-
In a large bowl mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth.
-
Stir in the chia seeds, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
-
Add in the dry ingredients one by one: your jumbo rolled oats, oat flour, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.
-
The batter should be like a thick paste, not runny but also as firm as bread dough.
-
Spoon the batter into a loaf pan and level out with a spoon.
-
Gently press the pecan halves into the top of the loaf.
-
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until golden on top. The top should spring back when you press it with your finger to show that it’s cooked but moist inside.
Notes
- If you don’t have jumbo rolled oats you can also use other types of oats such as quick oats. However bare in mind that these may soak up more of the liquids than jumbo rolled oats so you may need to top up your batter with water at the end to prevent your banana bread coming out dry.
- If you prefer you can replace the coconut flour with 1 cup of gluten free rice flour + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. As rice flour absorbs less fluid than the coconut flour we would also recommend reducing the quantity of maple syrup to 100 mls to compensate.
