A delicious twist on an old favorite – this chocolate banana bread is gluten free and refined sugar free! This rich chocolate loaf is easy to make, and it’s a dessert that everyone loves.
Banana bread is one of our favorite things to bake at our house. It’s simple to make, most people love it, and it’s easy to make it gluten free or vegan. If we’re travelling, I’ll often bake banana muffins or banana bread to take along with us – it makes a great breakfast or snack for the road!
This is a fun variation on the normal recipe, because it combines two delicious flavors – bananas and chocolate. You maybe surprised at how easy this chocolate banana bread is to make.
Top Tip
Another thing that helps this loaf turn out well is using a glass loaf pan lined with parchment paper. You won’t have trouble with this bread sticking if you use parchment paper.
Ingredient Notes
- Bananas – One of the secrets to this recipe is to use very ripe bananas – I’m talking over ripe bananas that have been stashed in the freezer and are now extra sweet. They’ll give this bread great flavor and keep it tender and moist.
- Coconut Sugar – I used coconut sugar, since it’s an unrefined sugar, but if you don’t love coconut sugar, you can go ahead and use regular sugar or a blend of regular sugar and brown sugar.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – Blends like Gluten Free 123 or Namaste Perfect Flour Blend should work well in this recipe. If you aren’t gluten free, this recipe should work just fine with regular flour or spelt flour. This recipe will not work with coconut flour.
Variations
- You can make muffins if you prefer, just shorten the baking time – 16-20 minutes should do it
- You can add chocolate chips or chocolate chunks if you want a little more sweetness
- You can add coconut flakes or seeds or nuts to the batter if you wish – be creative!
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Recipe
Chocolate Banana Bread (Gluten Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free).
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups gluten free flour blend
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup organic coconut oil measure when solid, then melt it in the microwave
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅜ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper so that there is an overhang on both sides.
- Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
- Place the bananas in a separate bowl and mash with a fork. Add the melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, and water. Stir well.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool completely in the pan before using the parchment paper to remove the loaf for slicing.
Stephanie
This recipe is amazing. I put the batter in miniature Muffin tin pan. And they came out like little cupcakes. I found that the batter very dry when I was mixing it up. So I added a couple table soon fulls of coconut milk. And the end result was super moist and totally amazing little miniature muffins. You’ll never know or suspect how healthy these really are. My 3 year old gobbled them right up. I have saved this recipe to my favorites file on pintrest. Thank you.
Kelly Roenicke
Yay, sounds so good! I love those variations! Thanks for sharing!
Jordyn
Hey there! Could I sub the flour for pat flour???? Looks delish
Kelly Roenicke
I’m not sure if you mean oat flour? If so, that may work, but I haven’t tried it!
bree
loooove this recipe !!! I’m a student and this is totally doable for my baking every week, I use normal sugar, but these turn out delish every time
Kelly Roenicke
So glad it works for you! Thanks for letting me know!
Lorena
Hi there! I tried this recipe using whole wheat flour and brown sugar because that was what I had, and turned out beautifully. Thanks for the recipe!
Kelly Roenicke
Yay! So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know!
Sharon
Can’t wait to make this delicious looking banana bread! Since bananas vary widely in size, could you give me an idea of the amount (cupwise) of mashed bananas you used. Thanks.
Kelly
I really haven’t measured it! I just use medium large size bananas. If your mixture seems too wet or dry, just add a little more flour or liquid.
jo
Hello! Your recipe sounds great. I just wanted to make a note about coconut sugar – it actually contains a lot of fructose therefore it might not be so wise to use a lot of it. http://www.drperlmutter.com/coconut-palm-sugar-whats-skinny/
Kelly
Thanks for your input!
Jolene
made this and it taste amazing and looks sooo good. I added peppermint to mine tho but it is still amazing!!
Kelly
So glad to hear it! :)
Kelly
Can I substitute coconut flour for the gluten free blend? If so, would it be a different amount?
Kelly
You would probably need to add more liquid. I’m not sure how it would turn out.
Julie Clark
What is coconut sugar, and where can I buy it in the uk please.
Kelly
Coconut sugar is a sugar that is from coconuts. I would check Amazon. If you can’t get it, you could use any sugar in its place.
Diane
I just made this today and I have to say it was one of the best g.free breads I’ve ever made, it is very moist and fudgy. I baked it in a 4.5 x 8.5 loaf pan instead of the larger size, it fit perfectly and baked beautifully. Next time I will add some chopped walnuts for added crunch and nutrition. Great recipe.
Kelly
Wonderful! So glad you liked it, thanks for letting me know~
Tanya
I only had half the gluten free flour so used coconut flour to make up the rest. Otherwise, followed the recipe and it turned out great. Absolutely delicious!
Kelly
So glad you liked it, thanks for letting me know!
Andrea
Thanks for the recipe! Everyone loved it. I used all-purpose flour instead of gluten-free and a teaspoon of lemon juice because I didn’t have apple cider vinegar but it was still perfect!
Kelly
So happy everyone loved it! Thanks for letting me know!
Serene
Brilliant I baked this for work today with a few adjustment and it was gone within the hour really tasty
Reem
Dear Kelly,
Thank you so much for sharing this perfect recipe! I was up last night and couldn’t go to sleep, so I decided to try out this recipe. I didn’t have coconut sugar so I used date sugar which worked perfectly. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten-free flour. It turned out so perfect!!! I still can’t believe it! And keep in mind I’m not an experienced baker at all!! Love this!!!
Practical Mama
I’ve just baked your recipe. The batter was too thick and I think the recipe needs more liquid. Melted coconut oil, water and vinegar were not enough to moist the flour and coconut. I actually baked them in little silicone muffin cups to give my kids as snack at school. Because the batter was not runny enough, mini cake muffins baked in weird shapes. Taste is wonderful though. Even though I used half the coconut sugar, they taste divine. Next time I’ll try adding coconut milk.
Kelly
It could depend oh how ripe the bananas were – mine were really really ripe. Glad your substitutions worked out! :)
Charlotte Cruse
Allergic to coconut also,can I use regular sugar and oil?
Kelly
Yes, you sure can!
Julia
Ugh I need that loaf in my face asap! I love that you use coconut oil and coconut sugar – I have everything I need to bake it already! I can taste the chocolatey banana flavor through the screen and I’d definitely eat slice after slice!
Kelly
It’s hard to stop!
Kristy @ Southern In Law
This looks AMAZING! Definitely need to save this recipe to make next time we have brown bananas… which we always do as my Dad ALWAYS buys a heap of bananas because he “needs” them and he rarely eats more than one :P
Not that I’m complaining. Banana baked goods are a-okay with me!
Kelly
I know, we always have tons of brown bananas! I hope you love this!
Bethany @ athletic avocado
Yes Please! The only thing better than banana bread is when you add chocolate to it!
Kelly
Agreed! :)
Strength and Sunshine
You are not the only one! I think I’m the only one who never has bananas in the house! We just don’t buy them and then I never get to make banana bread! Haha! It’s a problem :P
Kelly
You’d better get some bananas, girl! :)