Why You Should Try This Recipe

• It’s a one-bowl recipe: as with most gluten-free recipes, there’s little worry about over-mixing and no need to use separate bowls. Less dishes needed.
• No eggs needed: bananas are a natural binding agent so there’s no need for eggs or an egg replacer like flax, making for a super simple quick bread with a very light crumb.
• It has a fantastic flavour: nutty buckwheat, peanut butter, and spices make for a more complex banana bread that’s great for an adult palate.

Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

It might seem like a lot of ingredients, but the only real difference when compared to a wheat flour banana bread recipe is that this one uses two flours and a little bit of arrowroot. These are my notes from testing and the full recipe card can be found below.

• Bananas: for the best banana bread, you should always use overripe bananas that are visibly brown and spotty. Heating them in the oven or microwave doesn’t work (they look ripe, but don’t sweeten) so you have to wait until they actually ripen at room temperature.
• Oat flour: pictured is store-bought ground oat flour. You can make it yourself simply by grinding rolls oats in a food processor until a very fine flour forms, or buy it. The loaf is a bit lighter and will hold together more effectively if the flour is very fine. Sift it if you’re making it yourself and it’s a bit gritty, but be sure to weigh the sifted amount to be accurate.
• Buckwheat flour: I’ve only ever used whole grain buckwheat flour and haven’t tested this recipe with sifted buckwheat flour. I’m sure it would be fine and the only difference would be a slightly lighter bread, in both taste and texture.
• Non-dairy milk: I use oat milk but any other refrigerated milk type will work (not canned coconut milk). In a pinch you can use water.
• Peanut butter: for a nut-free option, use sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. Alternatively, tahini is a great seed based option – and if you just want to change the nuts up, any runnier nut butter will work well. Avoid the dry bottom-of-the-jar stuff.
• Olive oil: the flavour isn’t really noticeable here, but feel free to use another light-tasting liquid oil. Melted and cooled coconut oil can be used but note that the bread will be denser when cooled.
• Maple syrup: runny honey can be subbed if the recipe doesn’t need to be fully vegan. I haven’t tested with other liquid sweeteners or with granulated sugar.
• Arrowroot: this improves the texture of the banana bread but can be omitted if you don’t mind a bit of crumbling. Substitute cornstarch in half the amount if preferred.

How to Make Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread

It’s easy to do, but there are a couple of tips that will make for the best banana bread the first time you make it, like blending the banana mixture instead of mashing.

Step 1: blend the bananas with the other liquid ingredients – this makes for the lightest texture – or mash the bananas with a fork and then mix in the other wet ingredients. I always use an immersion blender for this step.

Step 2: add the dry ingredients and stir to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips or chunks. You don’t need to worry much about over-mixing gluten free banana bread.

Step 3: transfer the batter to a lined loaf tin and optionally top with more chocolate (only do this if using baking chocolate, not a chopped chocolate bar, to avoid burning). The batter should be pretty runny.

Step 4: bake for about 50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Be sure to cool fully before slicing or the slices can crumble.

Expert Tips for the Best Banana Bread

• Don’t make unlisted substitutions: while both gluten free, almond flour and coconut flour can’t be subbed 1:1 for oat or buckwheat flours as they absorb liquid at different rates.
• Use weights if possible: if you have a kitchen scale, bring it out for this recipe. Gluten-free is a bit finicky, and although this recipe is pretty forgiving, you’ll still get the best results by weighing ingredients rather than using unreliable volume measurements.
• Check oven temperature: if you’re following recipes precisely as written and still not getting perfect results, it might be a problem with your oven temperature. Many ovens run at incorrect temperatures and a portable oven thermometer will help.

More Gluten Free Banana Recipes

Buckwheat Flour Banana Pancakes
Peanut Butter Banana Popsicles
Vegan Banana Milkshake
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies

If you make this Buckwheat Banana Bread recipe or any other snack recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.