Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Texture: Super moist (without being mushy), easily bakes all the way through, amazing crumb.
Taste: Perfect amount of sweetness and banana taste. Add walnuts or pecans if you like a little nuttiness!
Ease: Very easy! Can be made ahead of time too.
Recommended GF Flour: Works great with many gluten-free flour blends. Use a high-quality flour that contains xanthan gum. I like King Arthur Flour and Bob’s Red Mill.
Top Tip: Be sure to measure the amount of bananas for the right texture. This loaf calls for 1 cup.
Would I make these again? Absolutely! This is based on my Mom’s family recipe and has been my go-to recipe for years!
xoxo erin
Featured Comment
From Kathy: “When Erin says it’s the best gluten free banana bread, she is not joking or exaggerating! Finally, finally a gluten free banana bread that tastes like banana bread. We all love it and I am making it constantly! The consistency and taste are exactly what banana bread should be. Sorry, sounds like I’m going on and on, but really…..blown away!”
Is there anything better than a piece of warm banana bread slathered in butter? Dreamy. Everyone needs a go-to banana bread recipe!
Since going gluten-free I have tried a TON of banana bread recipes. Over the years I’ve decided my Mom’s recipe from growing up – tweaked to be made gluten-free – is my favorite tried-and-true banana bread recipe.
Table of Contents
- Erin’s Recipe Rundown
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Bread
- Storing/Freezing Instructions
- Mix-Ins
- Can I make this gluten-free banana bread dairy-free?
- I have a nut allergy! What can I use instead of the almond flour?
- What can I use instead of the shortening?
- More Gluten-Free Quick Breads
- Gluten-Free Banana Bread (5-Star Recipe!) Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on the key ingredients for this gluten free banana bread recipe. Jump to the recipe for the full measurements.
- Gluten-Free Flour: I like to use a high quality gluten-free flour blend like gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend like King Arthur Flour in my baked goods. It works best to use a blend that contains xanthan gum in this recipe.
- Almond Flour: Helps with texture and browning. A touch of almond flour is also my secret ingredient in my famous gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. You can also use more gluten-free flour in place of the almond flour to make this nut-free.
- Bananas: Be sure to use very ripe bananas with dark spots. You’ll also want to measure the amount of bananas for the right consistency.
- Shortening: While I love the taste of butter, shortening gives this banana bread an irresistible crumb and texture. I use organic palm shortening. My Mom used to use Crisco. Butter will work as well!
- Milk: A few tablespoons of milk (any kind you like!) help make this banana bread moist.
- Mix-ins! Add any mix-ins like chocolate chips, nuts or blueberries that you like! The possibilities are endless. You can use up to 1/2 cup of any mix-in.
For more gluten-free banana recipes, try this gluten-free banana cake, gluten-free banana muffins, banana pancakes, gluten-free banana pudding and oat flour banana muffins.
How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Start by whisking together the the gluten free all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, mash up some overripe bananas and measure out 1 cup. It’s important to use exactly 1 cup of mashed bananas for the right texture.
This recipe also doubles great. The recipe takes about 2 1/2 bananas per loaf. So if you have 5 over-ripe bananas sitting around make two loaves! Nobody at my house complains when I do that!
- In a large mixing bowl, add the shortening and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy
- Add the eggs, a teaspoon vanilla extract and almond milk and beat for 1-2 minutes until light and combined.
- Add the 1/2 the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.
- Add half the bananas and mix to combine. Repeat with the other 1/2 dry ingredients and bananas. (Adding them alternately helps the batter hydrate.) Fold in any mix-ins with a spatula.
- Pour batter and smooth batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan then on a wire rack until fully cooled.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover fully cooled banana bread tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature. It will keep for up to 3 days.
TO FREEZE: You can freeze the unsliced, whole loaf by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap and placing the loaf in a ziploc bag. Thaw the banana bread to room temperature before serving.
Mix-Ins
This gluten-free banana bread is such a great base recipe! I love it a classic banana bread loaf, but if you want to add in mix-ins go for it! You can add 1/2 cup of the following:
- Chocolate chips
- Chopped walnuts
- Chopped pecans
- Blueberries
- Coconut flakes
Can I make this gluten-free banana bread dairy-free?
Yes! Shortening is naturally dairy-free. Use a dairy-free milk and this banana bread will be dairy-free.
I have a nut allergy! What can I use instead of the almond flour?
You can replace the almond flour with an additional 1/2 cup gluten-free measure-for-measure flour. Use regular milk or oat milk in place of the almond milk.
What can I use instead of the shortening?
I think the crumb and texture of this banana bread is unmatched when made with shortening. I like to use sustainably sourced organic palm shortening. However, if you’d prefer not to use shortening, you can use butter. The crumb will be a little different but it will still be delicious!
More Gluten-Free Quick Breads
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
- Gluten-Free Applesauce Bread
- Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread
- Oat Flour Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Orange Cranberry Bread
Gluten-Free Banana Bread (5-Star Recipe!)
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup (150g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) almond flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Other:
- 1/3 cup (65g) shortening
- 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons almond milk or regular milk
- 1 cup (230g) mashed ripe banana about 2-3 bananas
- 1/2 cup (65g) chopped walnuts pecans, blueberries or chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the shortening and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, vanilla and milk and mix for 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through, until light and well-combined.
- Add ½ the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add ½ the bananas and mix to combine. Repeat with the other ½ dry ingredients and bananas. (Adding them alternately helps the batter hydrate.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixer and mix for another 15-20 seconds, until the batter is very smooth.
- Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips (if using) with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
The best banana bread! I mixed in walnuts and sprinkled some chocolate chips on top. Even without those add-ins it would have been delicious.
Yay! We’re so glad you loved the recipe, Jody! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience with us!
This is the best recipe ever. I substituted butter for the shortening and mixed the batter alternately as you suggested. Also added Ghirardelli chocolate chips. I brought it into my office a few months ago and everyone kept asking me when I am going to make it again. So I did, and wow, did it disappear fast. No one can believe this is gluten free. This recipe is my all time favorite. Thanks Erin
So good! I doubled the recipe and used butter instead of shortening, put it in a Bundt pan. Cooked at 325 for 1 hour
We’re so glad you loved it, Trista! Thank you for sharing with us. Happy baking!
I made this with butter rather than shortening since I’m allergic and oat flour rather than almond just because that’s what I had on hand. It was so good!! The texture was perfectly moist :). I made one loaf with chocolate chips and pecans and one loaf plain and both were divine! I will definitely be making this again.
Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us! It’s good to know those swaps work and we’re so glad you loved the recipe!
Sooooo I’ve made this 5 times in 10 days …. May need to invest in stretchy pants I’m not gluten free but my husband is … this is just fantastic .. love to add walnuts ..I am continuing to enjoy baking again since discovering your site .. thank you
My granddaughters boyfriend doesn’t like bananas at all He LOVED this bread. I baked some in muffin tins that way she can take them to school with her. My husband doesn’t like Gluten free things but he never knew this was gluten free. Thanks for the recipe. You have such great recipes with a gluten free member of the house I am always serching.
Made this today and used olive oil instead of shortening, tastes amazing, even husband approved
Wow! I tried it with the shortening you recommended and measuring the mashed bananas…and it’s so yummy. It came out perfectly brown and crispy on the outside and moist but not wet on in the inside. Thank you!
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Christina! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. Happy baking!
Oh, wow!! This is delicious. I will definitely be making again!
Yay! We’re so happy to hear you loved the recipe, Rachel! Thank you for taking the time to share your kind feedback with us!
Can you recommend a sugar substitute? Maple, date, coconut, honey… I try to avoid regular sugar
Hi Julie, we don’t typically bake with sugar substitutes ourselves, but other readers have shared that monk fruit worked well for them in this recipe. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Very good! My daughter is Celiac and cannot have gluten. We will make this again .
We’re so glad you all enjoyed the recipe, Donna! Thank you for sharing your kind feedback with us!
I don’t normally leave comments but this recipe is delicious! I made it into muffins with mini chocolate chips as my add in. Baked for 21 minutes at 350 with parchment paper liners. The almond flour gives them a nice nutty flavor and the texture is perfect, moist but not gluey like other gf banana muffin recipes. This will be my go-to banana muffin recipe. Thank you!
Yay! We’re so happy to hear it’s become a go-to recipe for you, Katherine! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us. Happy baking!
Highly recommend!! Made this a couple of nights ago & it’s delicious! Boyfriend approved as well lol
I subbed the milk for lactose free whipping cream and the shortening for lactose free butter.
We’re so glad you and your boyfriend both loved the recipe, Nicole! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us!
Have you ever put streusel on the top and baked as normal?
Hi Kaylee, we haven’t given that a try, but it sounds delicious! If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Tried it and it def worked and was soooo yummy! This recipe is my new go-to!
Yay! That’s good to know it worked well! Thank you for sharing with us. Happy baking!
THIS IS DELICIOUS!! The only thing is I definitely recommend making sure your bananas are extra extra ripe and extra sweet or/and adding sugar if you like a banana sweet bread (and trying your batter before baking to make sure it’s sweetened to your liking!) because, I’m not sure if my bananas were just not flavorful enough or what but I tried the batter before i baked and it was waaaay lacking sweetness. I had to add quite a bit of sugar. it also lacked a bit in the banana flavor department. Next time I need to wait longer for my bananas to ripen I think, since the recipe calls for only 2 bananas they have to be extremely ripe to flavor the bread. For my milk of choice i used sour cream/milk combo, and it was perfect! I also used coconut flour instead of almond flour, which I prefer and it worked out great! For my other flour mix I used (and I know this sounds odd but it worked out i promise!) casava flour, lakanto monkfruit sweetened baking mix, and bobs redmill gluten free pizza crust mix. And I added chocolate chunks! I tried to eat just one piece to test it and ended up eating an entire row of pieces. And I realized after I ate huge slices like cake rather than bread slices… it’s truly irresistible. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Hi Rosie, we’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Happy baking!
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely perfect! I am following all of your holiday recipes now and will be baking from your cookie list. Thank you.
Yay! We’re so glad you loved the recipe, Lorrie! Thank you for sharing with us. We hope you love the cookie recipes just as much!