Blissful Banana Bread (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

I woke up a week ago with the strangest craving for banana bread. I'm not over-the-moon about bananas generally, so this was odd for me. I think it must have been a little ping from the universe to develop this recipe. Because hoooooo boy it's a good one!

Chock full of bananas, made with gluten free flours, coconut oil, coconut sugar, chocolate chips and pecans. It's moist and cakey and heaven with a cup of coffee. Truly blissful! Not to mention healthy enough to make for a fine breakfast.

This is a very moist cake with a soft crumb and lots of flavor. I use 4x as many bananas as most recipes I've found online. I think 1 banana for a whole loaf is woefully under-dramatic. So I pumped up the drama with extra banana flavor, lots of vanilla extract and cardamom to boot. I want every bite to big like a sweet (but not too sweet) flavor bomb. I hope you're into that.

I decided to use a combination of Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free flour, almond flour and tapioca flour as the base. If you can’t get your hands on Bob’s 1-to-1 sub it for another “All Purpose” style gluten free flour blend. Like Bob’s other AP gluten free flour, King Arthur or Jovial. Every flour blend will act a little bit different in the recipe. So if you sub out be prepared to adjust how much moisture you’ll need by adding a few tablespoons almond milk at a time if the mixture seems too dry (ideally the batter will be thick like cake batter, you should still be able to pour it into your loaf pan). You may need to adjust bake time as well, up or down. Keep an eye on that loaf!

Almond flour gives this banana bread keeps this loaf tender and moist. Tapioca flour puts some spring in its step — it keeps the loaf from feeling overly dense or compacted.

Blissful Banana Bread aka The BEST Gluten Free Dairy Free Banana Bread Recipe!

Author: Renee Byrd - Prep time: 5 mins - Bake time: 40 mins - Makes: One standard loaf

Notes: Bake time is set to 35-40 minutes. If you like banana bread that is almost underdone in the center stick to 35 minutes. If you prefer a well cooked center go to 40-45 minutes. The top of the loaf will crack as it finishes baking. Let's call that character. 

Ingredients

• 4 very ripe bananas

• 4 tbsp coconut oil, melted

• 1 egg

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose gluten free baking flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour)

• 1/2 cup fine blanched almond flour

• 1/4 cup tapioca flour (OR arrowroot flour)

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp cardamom

• 1/4 cup pecans chopped + handful more for topping

• 1/4 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips + handful more for topping

Method

1. In a medium bowl smash the bananas thoroughly -- little chunks are ok.

2. To the bowl with the banana, add the rest of the wet ingredients: melted coconut oil, egg, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar. Stir to combine. 

3. In a separate mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients: gluten free flour, almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, cardamom, 1/4 cup pecans, 1/4 cup chocolate. Stir together.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir everything together until smooth.

5. Pour into a parchment lined loaf pan (important to line with parchment in order to get it out of the pan!). Smooth out the top of the loaf with a spatula. Add chopped pecans and chocolate evenly over top.

6. Bake at 350f for 35-40 mins. Cool before slicing and serving. Enjoy!