Okay friends, I know it’s a bold statement – to say this is the BEST gluten free banana bread – but this recipe is honestly up there from the one’s I’ve tried! It’s so incredibly fluffy, light, and soft. Not to mention healthy as it’s loaded with good for you ingredients.
Although requiring a few more ingredients than my typical recipes (you need 3 different types of flours) – believe me when I say, it’s 100% worth it!
This recipe is not only gluten free but it’s dairy free, made with healthy fats from olive oil, lower in sugar than your average, and happens to have loads of fibre from the oats and brown rice flour!
You can make this recipe your own by adding whichever mix in’s you like! I am always changing it up between berries and chocolate chips.
In this particular batch I made plain because I really wanted to test how good the texture was (I know anything can taste good with chocolate). And let me tell you – it did NOT disappoint!
One thing to note is that I ALWAYS make 1 loaf pan and about 6 muffins. This prevents the loaf from being too big and therefore taking too long in the oven and getting burnt on top (but still wet in the middle).
To my gluten free friends, I hope you love this loaf as much as I do (I’m quite certain you will)! To my non GF friends – I know you’ll love it too (I’ve had many non GF people taste test who loved it equally as did my GF friends)!
Ingredients
DRY
– 1 cup whole rolled oats blended into a flour *
– 1/2 cup brown rice flour *
– 1/2 cup tapioca starch (or flour – they are the same) *
– 2 tsp. baking powder
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– 1/2 tsp. sea salt
WET:
– 3-4 very ripe banana (ensure they truly are ripe!)
– 1/3 cup olive oil
– 1/3 cup raw cane sugar
– 1/4 cup maple syrup
– 2 pasture raised large eggs
– 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
MIX INS
– 1 cup frozen berries or chocolate chips (or you can keep plain)
TOPPINGS
– 2-3 Tbsp. hemp hearts
*NOTE: I recommend sifting the flours for this recipe – it’s a bit more work but makes a world of difference when it comes to fluffiness!
Instructions
– Pre-heat the oven to 325F convection
– Place your oats in a blender and blend until you reach a fine flour like consistency – it should look like and fluffy with no oat chunks remaining
– Although a little more work, I highly recommend sifting (with a thin mesh strainer) the oat flour, tapioca flour, and brown rice flour into a large mixing bowl. Doing so helps to add an even fluffier texture than you can imagine!
– Place all dry ingredients into a bowl and stir
– Place all wet ingredients into a blender and blend until well mixed
– Add wet to dry and stir until just combined
– Fold in berries or chocolate chips
– Place in prepared muffin tins – until you get 6 muffins. Then pour the remaining batter into a prepared loaf pan
– Sprinkle each muffin top along as well as the loaf with the hemp hearts
– Place both in the oven (you can cook them at the same time) at 325F (convection). Bake the muffins for 18-20 min. For the loaf, I typically cook for 40-50minutes. If you’re using berries, it will take longer to cook than if you do plain or chocolate chip.
– The best way to know if they are done is to insert a knife in the centre of the loaf to ensure it comes out relatively clean. You can also lightly pat the top of the loaf – it should spring back to you.
– Once cooled, remove from muffin tray, and ENJOY!
*NOTE: cooking times vary depending on your oven, how full you filled your tins/ loaf, and what you added to the muffins (ex. berries will take longer than chocolate chips, and plain will be the quickest). The loaf should look lightly browned but not crisped.
