The Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread! EASY to make with perfect texture and delicious flavor! Sure to become your go-to recipe!
This banana bread is a long-time reader and family favorite! This recipe has a few tricks so you get soft, moist, easy-to-slice and completely delicious gluten-free banana bread every time.
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.
It is moist with the perfect amount of sweetness and banana flavor like traditional banana bread. Not to mention an ideal texture that is not crumbly, mushy or gummy like gluten-free baked goods can often be. This banana bread has moist crumbs
Whenever I have brown bananas on my counter this is hands down my favorite thing to make! (Close 2nd is this gluten-free banana cake!)
Why You’ll LOVE This Recipe!
- Amazing crumb and texture
- Soft and moist – but not crumbly or gummy
- Stays delicious for up to 3 days
- Naturally dairy-free
- Easy to make!
VIDEO: How to Make It
This easy recipe is one of my favorite gluten-free breads of all time! If you love this bread be sure to try this gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bread and this gluten-free zucchini bread. You also might like these banana pancakes or gluten-free banana muffins. Both recipes are made with the same gluten-free ingredients!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on the key ingredients for this gluten free banana bread recipe:
- Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking 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. See the recipe card for nut-free instructions.
- Shortening: shortening gives this banana bread an irresistible crumb and texture. It also makes if so no dairy-free option is needed! I use organic palm shortening. My Mom used to use Crisco. Butter will work as well!
- A splash of milk: A few tablespoons of milk (or almond milk) help make this moist banana bread.
- Mix-ins! Add any mix-ins like chocolate chips, nuts or blueberries that you like! The possibilities are endless. You can use up to 3/4 cup of any mix-in.
Note: A tub of palm shortening will keep at room temperature in your pantry for many months. I always keep a tub of it around to make this banana bread when we have brown bananas!
How to Make It
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.
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
My kids are a huge fan of making this banana bread an extra special treat with the additional of chocolate chips. You also might like this gluten-free pumpkin bread.
Substititions
MAKE IT DAIRY-FREE: Yes! Organic palm shortening is naturally dairy-free. Use almond milk for the milk and this banana bread will be dairy-free.
MAKE IT NUT-FREE: Swap the almond flour out for ⅓ cup more of gluten-free 1:1 baking flour. Use regular milk or rice milk in place of the almond milk.How should I store this?
Storing Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Store any leftover fully cooled banana bread tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature. It will keep for up to 2 days.
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.
Gluten-Free Banana Bread FAQs
The secret to making delicious gluten-free banana bread is to use the right amount of bananas and shortening for the fat. Too much banana can destabilize the crumb and result in gummy banana bread. Butterfat also cause the crumb to clump up, so shortening works best!
Gluten-free banana bread is moist from using very overripe bananas and a combination of gluten-free 1:1 baking flour and almond flour for the dry ingredients. Almond flour adds moisture and flavor to the loaf so you have moist crumbs in the final product!
Yes! Baking powder is important to use with gluten-free flour when baking to give gluten-free baked goods the proper rise. Baking powder makes gluten-free banana bread have a lighter crumb and texture.
More Gluten-Free Baking Recipes
Happy Baking! I hope you love this gluten-free banana bread recipe as much as we do! If you try it be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
The Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup gluten-free 1-to-1 all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Other:
- 1/3 cup shortening or butter I use palm shortening
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons almond milk or regular milk
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana about 2-3 bananas
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts pecans, blueberries or chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Mash the bananas together in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, add the shortening and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy and combined. Add the eggs, vanilla and almond milk and beat for 1-2 minutes until light and combined.
- Add the 1/2 the dry 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 the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool for five minutes in the pan. Gently turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Enjoy! Store covered at room temperature.
Can I make this with whole milk without compromising recipe?
Thanks,
Vanda
Yes that will work great!
Wow! Since I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2018 I have been trying to bake myself and although I am a very good gluten baker I am a horrible gluten free baker. But this recipe is fantastic! This turned out just great, good flavor and good texture… I love it, thank you so much for sharing ❤️
I’m so glad it turned out for you! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Has anyone tried this not in a glass loaf pan but just a regular one with success? I’ve never had much luck with recipes in loaf pans, I grew up with glass loaf pans, but I own none of my own. I’m afraid to try it and have it not work out!
This banana bread recipe was just what I was looking for. So delicious. Moist and flavorful. Will definitely make this again!
Does the gluten free flour require xanthan gum for this recipe?
Yes it does! I like to use a 1:1 (also called measure-for-measure) GF baking flour for this banana bread.
What should I use to replace the almond flour…allergies
You can use an additional 1/3 cup gluten-free 1:1 baking flour in place of the 1/2 cup almond flour. That should work great! I hope this helps
Mixture was dry like cookie batter not cake batter. Why only 2 tbsp of milk? Doesn’t seem like nearly enough….
I used butter and baked for about 1 hour in a 325 degree convection oven. The bread finished beautifully! It is delicious. I too have tried several banana bread recipes lately. This one is excellent!
I made this bread and it was very tasty! The only problem I had was that it cooked around the edges while the centre was a bit gummy still. I ended up baking it for 65 minutes. I used a tin 9×5 greased pan at 350 degrees?
My guess is you used too many bananas or your oven temperature was off. This always happens when I add 3 bananas whole instead of measuring out the 1 cup. I hope this helps!
I made this today and it’s delicious!!! I subbed coconut sugar for plain sugar, and cut the salt from 3/4 tsp to 1/4 tsp. Came out perfect. YUM!!!
I made this recipe exactly as written except I followed your suggestion to another comment bout 1/4 cup extra of 1:1 flour in place of almond flour and I used butter instead of shortening and my loaf overflowed out of my pan twice while baking and wouldn’t cook in the center. Never had this issue with any other breads I’ve baked. Wondering what may have caused this? It smells amazing and once I can get it to bake thru I’ll taste a piece I’m just worried about the dryness of the rest of the bread from over baking. 🙁
I’m sorry this didn’t turn out for you! Do you know how many bananas you used? It’s important to use 1 cup (and not just 3 bananas). Also what size pan did you use?
My 9 year old LOVES this recipe!! He was so upset when he found he had Celiac’s Disease. I’ve been doing everything in my power to find his favorite foods and make them gluten free. This recipe is a Winner! Thank you!! He always asks me to make this over everything!!
I’m so glad your son likes the banana bread! That makes me happy to hear 🙂
Best GF Banana Bread EVER! It tasted just as good the next day!!!!
I’ve made this recipe so many times without fail, and my mother in law has added it to her regular baking rotation too!
My only question – how well would this freeze? I wanted to bake a few loaves for my mother for Christmas but my bananas are at perfect ripeness right now, about a week before I would give the breads to her.
Phenomenal recipe. Disclaimer: I used butter instead of shortener, and added a cap full of almond extract that I thought would go really nice with the level of ripeness on the bananas- and it did. My adders were dark choc chips and crushed pecans. It turned out great but could have used another five in the oven (55 min total) and I’d like to find out how to prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom. Any clues? Great recipe.
Soooo good. Very soft and scrumptious. The whole family loved it!!!