Easy Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread

This Vegan Gluten-free Banana Bread is moist, rich and naturally sweetened. With almost no sugar added and requiring just 8 ingredients, it’s one of the healthiest and easiest loaf cakes ever!

Banana Bread has been a staple in my house since I discovered it, and one of my favorite loaf cakes. Cake for breakfast? This is it. Or better as a mid afternoon snack together with a cup of coffee? Mmmm… tough decision for me, I would start and end my day with a big piece of cake.

This banana bread is made with dates and very ripe bananas, making it super flavorful and full of goodness. Just realized you’re left with no ripen bananas? No problem. Unless your bananas are quite green, you can ripen yellow bananas in half an hour by cooking them in the oven, to get the sweetness you need for baking.

Ingredients

Gluten Free flour. For this recipe, you need all purpose gluten free flour. If you don’t need to make this bread gluten free, use all purpose regular flour at a ratio of 1:1.

Baking powder. It helps to lighten the texture of the bread. Remember that baking powder expires and loses effectiveness. Check the expiration date of your baking powder before starting the recipe.

Vegetable oil. Any mild vegetable oil will do: canola oil, olive oil, sunflower oil.

Bananas. Use ripe or overripe bananas for this recipe, they are are sweeter and softer. 

Cane sugar. Cane sugar is much less processed and it’s more flavorful than regular sugar. Brown sugar is a great option too.

Flaxseed. Flaxseed mixture is a substitute for eggs in vegan baking. Replace each egg with 1 tbsp ground flax, plus 2.5-3 tbsp water. Mix and let sit for 5 minutes.

Dates. Dates add consistency and sweetness to this banana bread. Soak in water and puree them together with the vegan milk and vanilla extract.

Plant based milk. There is almost one dairy-free milk for everyone. I use mostly almond, oat and soy milk for baking.

Vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract has the best flavor but any vanilla extract you may have will do the trick.

How to Make Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread

Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a summary of the process. 

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. You can either line with parchment paper or grease an 8 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground flaxseed with ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of water. Let rest for 5 minutes. The mixture will soon thicken.
3. Prepare the date paste: blend the dates, milk and vanilla in a food processor or blender. You can also use a potato masher or a fork. Add date paste to the bowl.
4. Then, add the sugar, banana and oil. Mix well.
5. Sift in the flour and baking powder. Stir until well combined.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, let cool down in the pan before slicing.

How to make Date Paste

Date Paste is easy to make and extremely delicious. Al you need are moist and fresh dates. If you find your dates a bit dry, soak in warm water first to soften them.

Start by combining the dates, plant based milk and vanilla extract in a food processor. Then, mix on high until very smooth and creamy or until you get your desired consistency. Your can adjust the consistency by adding more milk if it is too thick to pour easily. Remember to scrape down the sides during the process.

Alternatively, you can mash the dates mixture with a potato masher or a fork.

This date paste will keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Easy Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread

Yield: 1 LOAF

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

This Vegan Gluten-free Banana Bread is moist, rich and naturally sweetened. With almost no sugar added and requiring just 8 ingredients, it’s one of the healthiest and easiest loaf cakes ever!

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Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 + ¼ cups GF flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• ½ cup cane sugar ⠀
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed, ground

For the Date Paste:

• ¾ cup dates, pitted and soften
• ¼ cup plant based milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ºF/180ºC, and lightly grease a standard bread loaf pan (8 x 4 inch / 20 x 10 cm) with margarine or vegetable oil.
2. To make the flaxseed egg, combine the 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal with ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of water, in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula or spoon and let set for 5 minutes to thicken and become a gel.
3. Next, in the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the soften pitted dates, vegan milk and vanilla extract. Process until you get a pourable paste, scraping down the bowl to incorporate all the dates.  
4. Then, add the date paste, sugar, bananas and vegetable oil to the flaxseed mixture. Mix until smooth. 
5. Add the flour and the baking powder, stirring just until well combined.
6. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and let the banana bread to cool completely in the pan.
8. Cover and keep at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week. 

Notes

Use ripe bananas. If your bananas are a little green and you need them right away, place them unpeeled on a lined baking sheet and bake at 250˚F for 15-20 minutes or until they have softened. They are done when the peel is shiny and black.

You can use thawed bananas. Make sure to thaw them completely before throwing them into the mixing bowl.

Optional Add-ins. I make this banana bread nut-free but adding ½ cup of chopped walnuts or hazels will work great here. Chocolate chips are a wonderful addition too, ½ cup will be enough for this loaf cake. 

Sugar free. To make it sugar free, replace sugar with maple syrup.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. 

See our full nutrition disclosure. 

Nutrition Information

Yield 12 Serving Size 1 ounce
Amount Per Serving Calories 213Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 0mgSodium 44mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 2gSugar 18gProtein 1g