Ah, bananas. When you’ve got too many of them, you either start making a lot of smoothies, or you make banana bread (or maybe banana bread muffins, yum!). But how to do it grain-free? Enter almond flour, the hero of the grain-free/gluten-free/primal baking community.
This morning, I decided to experiment. I wanted to make almond flour banana bread. I’ve not baked with almond flour before, and I’ve certainly never made almond flour banana bread before. I decided to adapt my old banana bread recipe, and boy was I surprised! I made the most incredibly moist, perfectly crumbed, tasty banana bread I’ve ever eaten. That’s why I’m sharing this recipe for almond flour banana bread with you!
Almond Flour Banana Bread
The Players
- 4 C. almond flour (where to find almond flour)
- 2 C. coconut flakes (where to find coconut flakes)
- 1 C. dark chocolate chips (where to find chocolate chips & cacao nibs)
- 1 tsp. sea salt (where to find real sea salt)
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/4 C. honey (where to find raw honey)
- 1/2 C. coconut oil (where to find coconut oil)
- 6 eggs (from pastured hens)
- 2 tbs. vanilla (where to find vanilla)
- 2 1/2 C. mashed bananas (approximately 5 small bananas)
The How-To
1. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients — almond flour, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, salt, baking soda, & baking powder.
2. In a separate mixing blow, combine all wet ingredients — honey, coconut oil, eggs, vanilla, & bananas.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients thoroughly with a spoon. Transfer into two loaf pans or one bundt cake pan or 24 muffin tins. Cook at 350F. If using two loaf pans, cook for about 40 minutes. If using a bundt cake pan, cook for about 45-50 minutes. If using muffin tins, cook for about 25 minutes.
4. Remove cooking tins from oven, and let cool completely before removing from cooking tins and serving up this delicious almond flour banana bread to your family and friends. Freeze whatever you don’t think you’ll eat within a couple of days!
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Yummy! I love banana bread!
.-= jessica´s last blog post …Portabello Caprese Towers =-.
Me too, although I don’t eat very much of it. My kids usually eat up bananas long before I think about making banana bread.
This looks divine. I’ll have to skip out of the chocolate chips but this recipe looks great. I haven’t used almond flour with coconut flour before so I’m looking forward to this combo.
thanks!
.-= Sarah Schatz – menus for limited diets´s last blog post …Life before and after the GAPS diet =-.
Yeah, those chocolate chips were a special treat for my boys. I can see this going really well with some soaked walnuts or pecans instead of chocolate chips!
MMm. Delicious! This would go well with homemade vanilla ice cream!
http://mutritiousnuffins.blogspot.com/2010/06/homemade-french-vanilla-ice-cream.html
.-= Meagan´s last blog post …Basic Dressing =-.
Currently Browsing: Almond Flour Banana Bread | Food Renegade http://bit.ly/dzQh1v
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I love banana bread! I made some a while ago with coconut flour and pumpkin and with some walnuts. I will have to try this recipe!
.-= Primal Toad´s last blog post …Should We All Engage In Intermittent Fasting =-.
yum!! I will be making this for sure!
RT @FoodRenegade Almond Flour Banana Bread — SO YUMMY! http://bit.ly/935YqV #realfood #primal #recipe
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how timely! i have some black bananas sitting on my counter and was looking for a gluten free version! i also have a bunch of coconut flour so it’ll be perfect. i’m going to sub almond meal…hopefully it works well! thanks again.
.-= kami´s last blog post …essential oils =-.
If you have a food processor, you can always pulse your almond meal for a little bit to get a finer texture.
Yum! I make a similar banana bread, but haven’t tried it with coconut flour.
.-= Alisa – Frugal Foodie´s last blog post …Summer Reading Series of Giveaways Starts Now- =-.
I think the coconut flour is what contributed to the AWESOME texture of this bread.
All sound great ,but what if one need gluten free and can not eat all this because of pre diabetes ?
Does anyone know the effects of eating almond flour which is the same as eating nuts that aren’t soaked?
It’s my understanding that there are two main ways to eliminate the enzyme-inhibitors in nuts: soaking overnight in a salt water, or toasting/roasting them. Since the almond flour is cooked, I expect it’s fairly similar to toasting/roasting (or at least similar enough to not pose a problem for most people, although I can imagine some with *really* sensitive guts will still have an issue with it).
If it *does* still pose a problem for you, then you can soak, dry, toast, and grind the nuts into flour yourself pretty easily using a basic food processor.
Where do coconut and almond flours fall on the carb scale? The recipe looks wonderful … especially to someone who hasn’t had bread in a week! =-)
Cristie — Coconut flour is VERY low carb. It is mostly fiber. Almond flour is significantly lower carb than grains, and also contains more protein and fat. I don’t have numbers for you, but I know lots of low-carb eaters who use either one or both flours on those occasions when they want something bread-like.
Thank you for the great recipe. I have not tried almond flour or coconut flour yet. I wonder if we can get them at our local co-op store…must try!
I am loving our kombucha. My DH has made it with ginger and it tastes like ginger ale, only better!
Lisa — Yes, you should be able to find them locally. They’ll of course be cheaper if you buy them in bulk online, but if you’re only going to rarely use them (or you just want to try them to see if they’re worth buying more of), then you should be able to find them at most natural food stores.
Kristen, this sounds yummy! did you make your own almond flour?
We use homemade almond milk with some of the meat sometimes in scrambled eggs and even quiche, the texture is so much creamier than even dairy cream.
thank you for sharing.
carmen
.-= Carmen´s last blog post …Crustless Quiche =-.
“Almond flour: the hero of the grain-free/gluten-free/primal baking community” http://fb.me/EnVOKqO0
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Sounds like a winner. My abundance of bananas may get me going on this!
Wow. If that is an actual picture of your almond flour banana bread, something went terribly wrong with mine!
It is definitely a pic of my bread. I wonder what the difference could be? Altitude? Latitude? Maybe not enough/too many bananas? (That’s always been the tricky thing about banana bread to me — 3 small bananas can make as much mush as 1 big one. I’ve got enough experience now, though, that I just *know* how much is enough.)
This looks great! We use alot of almond flour for baked goods (we did SCD diet for a while) though I have never tried combining almond flour and coconut flour before.
.-= Lisa´s last blog post …Maple Sugar Madeleines GF =-.
Wow, they look delicious!
Quick question about almond flour, though. Is there any reason you chose to use it, other than to experiment? I.E. Is there some extra benefit to using almond flour, like an impact on the taste, etc. Or can I really just substitute it for some other type of flour with very similar results?
.-= Edmund´s last blog post …Blue Duck Tavern =-.
I chose to use it because I’m too lazy to prepare grains properly (through soaking or sprouting) and almond flour is easy and quick.
We made this last week in both loaf and muffin form. The muffins turned out a little dry, but the loaf was to die for. In fact, I’m a little sad that it’s almost gone! Next time though, I’ll probably halve the recipe since it did make so much (we love it, but don’t need that much all at once!).
.-= Nicole´s last blog post …Hello July 2010! =-.
The first time I made this I used a bundt cake pan! So, yes, it makes a lot. I’ve got enough little ones, though, that this recipe only lasts us a couple of days.
@aLaSophia Me too! Gluten free food is really pretty darn good. Speaking of which, you should try this in loaf form! http://bit.ly/935YqV
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I cut the recipe in half and the combined mixture was very before baking. More like a cookie dough than what I woud think of banana bread pre baking. Is this how it is supposed to be?
I added a little coconut milk – the kind from a carton. It turned out great.
Oh my I made these into muffins (I didn’t have any bread pans) and took some into work I used sugar free chocolate chips and agave as I can’t do honey. YUMMY everyone asked for “my” recipe. I gave them this website and took no credit. I didn’t have enough coconut flour and used 6 c almond flour from Honey Mills. Tori
I didn’t get it. The dough was like cookie dough, not like a muffin dough. They were dry and fell apart. The flavor was OK – but they were strange little things. I wouldn’t describe it as bread or muffins. I followed the directions and didn’t substitute anything.
I think it may be like the other commenter above — a discrepancy in bananas. I always use overripe bananas that turn into quite a liquidy mush. If the dough comes out too dry because the bananas are smaller or less ripe, I mush more banana to mix in. It’s something I eyeball. Try in next time with either more bananas or riper bananas to get your moisture content right.
I will certainly try this recipe. I used to have a recipe for a flour-less cake from a Czech friend but I lost it. I lost track of my friend as well.
I just pulled this out of the oven and it was very dry. I used a angle food cake pan. I double and triple checked the ingredients and I did it right. I am thinking the coconut flour just soaked up too much liquid for the ripeness of the banana. It tastes good so I will poor some cream over it! I’ll try again and report back with even more ripe bananas.
Thanks so much for this amazing recipe! I only have coconut flour on hand as well, so do I use 4 cups? Or do I still just use 2 cups and ignore the almond flour?
Thanks,
Katie
I made this last night, I was out of coconut oil so had to sub in grapeseed oil in its place. I cut the recipe in half, measured the mashed banana to get exactly what the recipe called for, and baked one loaf. I had a very dense, moist loaf that baked beautifully (I had to bake it an hour in my oven) and it tastes really good. My GF youngest said “Mmmmm” and finished her piece quickly. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this tonight in a bunt pan. I substituted grass fed butter for coconut oil (same amount) and used a little less coconut flour. It’s still came out drier than cookie dough. I added about one fourth cup (maybe more) almond milk. I also added one fourth cup Muscavado (brown) sugar. it tastes really great, definitely “healthy” tasting so I’ll be anxious to try it on the kids. It’s very filling and you don’t need more than a tiny slice. I was happy with the results and will make it again!
I followed the recipe, the dough was way too dry. I’m sure the coconut flour soaked up the liquid so I added one more banana, one more egg and 1/4 cup more honey. It still seemed dry but I baked it anyway. Mistake. I’m sure you have an eye for the dough as you stated, I’m new to working with coconut/almond flours so I wasn’t sure if this was normal. I’m wondering if you could make some type of comment after the recipe about this so people like me who don’t read the comments until afterwards can be forewarned.
Thank you so much!
i was so excited to try this recipe, got all the ingredients, welllll….i wish i would have tried only half. it’s currently in the over but the dough was very dry, added another egg and some milk… I’ll see what it tastes like and looks when it get out of the oven.
I love making Almond flour banana muffins! I use 2 c. almond flour and 1 c. coconut flour. I also use sweetleaf stevia for my sweetener…sooo good! Even my hubby who is a hard core junk food eater loves these muffins! I haven’t tried the choclate chips yet…might throw them in a few of the muffins for my hubby;) Also, I grind up my own almonds for my flour….it doesn’t get as fine as the store bought…but everyone who has tried these muffins likes that there is little pieces of the nuts!
I have Celiac and follow a Paleo diet. I found your website and love this recipe! It fits my dietary needs perfectly and the taste is amazing! The batter was the consistency of dough and I worried that the amount of coconut flour was much more than I had ever used in a recipe so I added a little more coconut oil. I also used a smidge more raw honey since my hubby likes his banana bread a bit sweeter. I made them into muffins and they turned out great! My picky non-Paleo hubby ate 3 of them right away. This one is definitely a keeper.
Hi there,
I just put this in the oven and it smells amazing.. I’m hoping it turns out as I’ve not had great luck with Paleo baking!!
Question should it be a liquidy texture or more solid? and will it rise at all or stay down ?? Hoping mine turns out!!
It should be like a batter, but not think like pancake batter. More like a brownie batter.
Waaaaah!! What did i do wrong!? The batter looks like cookie batter. So many eggs…how did this happen? I’m going to pop a couple muffins in and see how they do… wish me luck!
All the moisture in this comes from the eggs, bananas and coconut oil. So, if your eggs were smaller than mine, your bananas less overripe, or your coconut oil solid instead of melted, you’ll get a dough instead of a batter. If I were you, I’d add a little bit more of any of these wet ingredients to get the preferred consistency.
I too decided to half the recipe and omit the chips and instead through-in a handful of mixed nuts (toasted pine, pecans & hazelnuts) and yes the mix came out like cookie-dough….I sprayed my loaf pan with coconut oil and added a bunch of vanilla flax milk to get the consistency a little more like familar banana bread dough. It’s baking (smells good, will update when it comes out and taste (mais qui!)
Mine is in the oven now and I anxiously await the result. Mine too seemed dry according to the recipe as written…I nearly doubled the eggs (although the eggs I had were tiny “winter” eggs, so I am not surprised). Also, when baking with absorbant flours like coconut and almond, I recommend having a jar of homemade or organic commerical applesauce on hand to “tweak” the moisture levels. In small quantities, applesauce works nicely to make up the difference in a too small or too dry banana….although I don’t recommend using it to replace eggs or fat.
This recipe was excellent. I halfed the recipe, used all almond flour instead of a mix of coconut and almond…I also cut down on the chocolate chips and added some cocao nibs instead. At the end I added a splash of almond milk because it just seemed a smidge too dry. They baked up beautifullly and tasted AWESOME! My hubby and I are new to the primal/paleo lifestyle and this is the first “bread” we’ve eaten in 9 days. It was wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.
I wish I would have read ALL the comments before baking this recipe. I am always very careful to measure bananas when specific amounts (2 1/2 cups) are given. Five bananas was a bit shy, so I used 6. Two cups of coconut flour sounded like far too much to me considering the number of eggs and the lack of additional liquid other than honey and oil. I decided (sadly) to ignore my gut and give the recipe a chance as it stood.
PLEASE write some sort of comment up on the recipe itself to warn people before they waste tons of money on a recipe that might make very dry crumbly and not at all impressive banana bread. The flavor is good, but the texture is far from impressive. I think it would have been fine if I’d added coconut milk or left out one of the cups of coconut flour. My kids were commenting while I made it that it better turn out since I was using so much of my ingredients. It’s a good thing they actually like it, because I don’t, and the small loaves I made to give away will be eaten by my children instead.
I agree with Ruth, above! ^^ Please put a disclaimer at the top of this page! Way too many people have commented saying the recipe was a fail, and then others commented how to remedy the problem. With so many expensive ingredients, it would be really helpful if you would note these changes that should be made! I usually love your recipes, and certainly appreciate them, so it was a big bummer to have such a flop 🙁
This was a great way to make use of old bananas. I haven’t made banana bread in a while. Thanks Kristen
*bowl* 😉
Sorry! I always won proof-reading contests in elementary school and it just stuck with me! Great recipe! Thank you!
I followed this recipe and subbed the mashed bananas with mashed baked sweet potatoes. I also added 2TBS of Pumpkin Pie Spice as well as 1 TBS of cinnamon. Divine as a breakfast bread with a green smoothie….Yum!
Thank you for the inspiration.
Opps…meant to say that I omitted the chocolate chips in the Sweet Potato version.
Hi, are the coconut flakes called for In the recipe just simply ‘flaked coconut’ that comes in a bag in the baking section at the grocery store?? 2 cups seems like it would make the banana bread taste very coconuty. Or is it more like coconut flour?
This was the first recipe I added to my main cookbook several years ago. It’s my go-to banana bread recipe. It’s easy & delicious – just doesnt get any better than that!
I have the same question as sonja above. About to bake this bread and so confused about the coconut flakes vs coconut flour. PLEASE let me know what to use! Your recipe says “flakes” but every single commenter said “flour!” I purchased flakes and am so scared to put all this together now. Especially since it requires $20 worth of almond flour!!! Eeek!!
This looks amazing!!! Will certainly be trying this out this week! Thank you for sharing.
In reguards to your almond flour banana bread, do I use solid or liquid coconut oil?
This looks great! Can I make it without the coconut flakes or will that mess with the baking?
Why don’t you have a method to print your recipes? Trying to print the one above without editing takes 10 pages of paper – what a waste! Even leaving out the advertising, it still takes half that much paper for a simple recipe.