Super Easy Gluten Free Banana Bread

Name: Super Easy Gluten Free Banana Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 52 min
Total time: 62 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 175g gluten free self raising flour (note 1); 50g almond meal (note 2); 220g caster sugar; 1/2 tsp bicarb soda; 1/2 tsp xanthan gum; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 2 eggs, room temperature; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 250g over ripe banana (from about 2 medium - large bananas)

Emma

Mar 1, 2024

Updated: Mar 5, 2024

Recipe Video

Put those old bananas to good use with this Super Easy Gluten Free Banana Bread. Moist, flavourful, dairy free and easy enough to make with your eyes closed, this recipe ticks all the boxes!

Gluten Free Banana Bread sliced to show the moist texture inside. A dish of butter and a butter knife are nearby.

I'm pretty picky about my banana bread. I want a moist yet light texture, bags of banana flavour, and please don't put any walnuts anywhere nearby! That last one is probably more just my personal taste, but the first two I think should be givens with a good banana bread. This recipe not only ticks those boxes, but it happens to be stupidly easy to make with basic pantry staples, and it's dairy free to boot!

How to Make Gluten Free Banana Bread

Mash the Bananas

This is probably pretty typical of most banana breads, beginning with mashing a couple of bananas. I've specified 250g of banana in this recipe to make sure it's consistent, and you should get that from two medium to large bananas. They just need to be mashed so they're relatively smooth, but a few little chunks here and there will be fine.

Mix the Dry Ingredients Together

From this point on this is a one bowl recipe! Step two is to whisk together all the dry ingredients. A whisk is the best tool for the job because it will ensure there are no lumps of almond meal and that things like the xanthan gum and bicarb soda are evenly distributed.

Add the Wet Ingredients

Believe it or not we're almost there already! To the dry ingredients we just add the bananas, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk again until smooth. You should end up with something that looks like a wet cake batter.

Bake the Banana Bread

After pouring the batter into a greased and lined loaf tin, it's into the oven with our gluten free banana bread! Because it's a fairy wet mixture it does need a relatively long bake time at 47 - 52 minutes. Test whether the banana bread is cooked by inserting a skewer or toothpick into the centre; if it comes out clean it's cooked. Double check by carefully touching the top to make sure it springs back. That will show that the crumb inside is set.

Gluten free banana bread sliced and sitting front on to the camera to show the texture inside. A dish of butter is visible in the background.

Ingredient Substitutions for this Super Easy Gluten Free Banana Bread

Almond Meal: almond meal helps gluten free cakes to retain moisture. If you need to avoid nuts you can replace the almond meal with the same weight of gluten free plain flour. Just be aware that your banana bread may come out slightly drier and last not quite as long.
Eggs: I haven't yet tested this recipe with any egg substitutes. If you happen to try a chia egg or similar please let me know how it goes!