Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread
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My vegan gluten free banana bread recipe yields the most sweet, moist, and fluffy loaf! It’s made in one bowl, uses simple ingredients, and tastes like ANY good banana bread out there.
Sometimes I’m craving banana bread, but I’ve just run out of flour or eggs. Other times, I need an allergy-friendly recipe to share with friends or my sister (who has celiac disease). Either way, it’s good to have a few secret recipes in my arsenal.
My vegan AND gluten-free banana bread recipe is just as light, fluffy, and sweet as classic banana bread, just made with diet-friendly ingredients. It also comes in a clutch whenever I have to bring something to a gathering or coffee date, and there are a few dietary restrictions within the mix.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Made in one bowl. So clean-up can be kept to a minimum.
- The perfect texture. Golden and firm on the outside, yet tender and soft on the inside, this banana bread recipe ticks all the boxes. Trust me, no one will know it’s GF and vegan.
- No quirky ingredients. No flax eggs or complicated egg replacements are needed. If you bake often, I’m willing to bet you have everything you’ll need already!
Ingredients needed
- Bananas. Mashed, overripe bananas are best, as they will yield a sweeter loaf.
- Vegan butter. Gives the banana bread a rich, buttery texture without needing oil. I’ve tested a bunch of vegan butter, and the Miyokos brand is my favorite (I found it at Whole Foods and Target). It bakes and tastes like real butter.
- Vanilla extract. A must for delicious baked goods!
- Milk. I prefer unsweetened almond milk, but soy milk or any dairy-free milk will work.
- Apple cider vinegar. Helps the bread rise without eggs.
- Gluten-free all-purpose flour. Don’t bother buying fancy gluten-free flour blends. Look for a short ingredient list that includes xanthan gum (or add ½ teaspoon to it).
- Sugar. I’ve tried this recipe with white sugar, brown sugar, coconut palm sugar, and sugar-free sweeteners, and they all turned out great, so use whichever you prefer.
- Baking soda. Helps the bread rise.
- Salt. Brings out the natural sweetness.
How to make vegan gluten free banana bread
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Step 2- Combine ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Once smooth, add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Step 4- Cool. Allow bread to cool in the pan completely before slicing.
What if I’m all out of ripe bananas?
If you only have unripe bananas, I have a hack that’ll soften them up in no time! Simply preheat the oven to 300F and place the unripe bananas (still in their peels) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes and peel once they’ve cooled.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Make it oil-free. Swap the melted vegan butter for applesauce, or if not strictly vegan, use regular butter.
- Avoid over-baking. The banana bread will continue to cook as it cools. As soon as a toothpick comes out clean, the bread is ready!
- Let the bread cool completely. If you try to slice it before it’s fully cooled, you’ll notice the bread is gummy and won’t hold its shape well.
- Add mix-ins. Elevate the texture and flavor of the banana bread by folding in chocolate chips, chopped pecans, nut butter, or a heavy dash of cinnamon.
Storage instructions
To store: If you intend to enjoy your banana bread within 2 days, it can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container. If you want to keep it fresher longer, keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
To freeze: Wrap the leftover slices in plastic wrap, place them in a freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 6 months. Let the bread thaw overnight in the fridge.
Frequently asked questions
I haven’t tested this recipe with other types of flour, so I can’t vouch for their quality. If you want to use other types of flour, try my almond flour banana bread or oat flour banana bread instead!
More banana bread recipes to try
- Blueberry banana bread
- Flourless banana bread
- Protein banana bread
- Want more vegan and gluten-free desserts? Try my vegan gluten free cupcakes, vegan blondies, and vegan cookie dough next.
Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups bananas mashed, approximately 4
- 1/2 cup vegan butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk any dairy free milk will work
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups gluten free flour Gluten free all purpose flour with xanthan gum added in
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 9 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mashed bananas, sugar, softened butter, and vanilla, and whisk until combined and smooth. Add the milk, apple cider vinegar, salt, gluten free flour, and baking soda, and mix until combined.
- Pour the mixture into the lined loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out the center clean.
- Allow banana bread to cool in the pan completely, before slicing up.
God send! Fail proof. My fussy little DF GF EF girls love this recipe. I mix in a small amount of DF choc-chips & sprinkle a little cinnamon/brown sugar mix over the top for extra appeal. THANK YOU!!
You are so welcome, Haley. I’m so glad your little ones enjoyed it (I believe they are the BEST critics for any recipe because they are honest!!).
Love those two additions, especially the topping. Thanks for taking the time to leave a lovely review and rating 🙂
I’ve tried this recipe twice and it comes out way to wet. I like it more stable. I left in in the pan until cool, but next time I might take it out so it can breathe after it’s cooled off. It could be the 1 to 1 flour that’s making it gummy. Or the bananas measurements. Not sure if the measurements for it automatically converted to metric. But they seem off. 1 1/2 cups is a lot more than the metric amount. Which one is right? I’d prefer the metric. But I don’t think it works well in this situation. Not sure if I try again at this point, but I might try less sugar too.
Hi Emily 🙂 When developing this recipe, to provide the metric measurements, we weighed them out for accuracy. Of course, bananas can be s tiny bit over or under, and I made sure there was room for error for that.
It sounds like its the brand of flour that caused it to be a little wet- if you let me know the brand you used, I can troubleshoot for you 🙂
The taste and texture are perfect. And to my surprise, and delight, it raised as high as a typical banana bread. I added 1/4 c dairy-free chocolate chips and half cup chopped walnuts. Thank you for this yummy recipe!
Finally a gluten free banana bread that is moist ! No dairy and no eggs too yay my tummy is so happy!! I added a tad bit of cinnamon in it and vegan Choc chip ! So darn delicious!!! Thank you so much !!!
How’s everyone store their banana bread to avoid it to dry out or get moldy too fast? I’m always in the constant battle of put it in a Tupperware or leave it in the baking pan with a tea towel on top, please someone solve this mystery for me haha!
This truly is the best vegan/gf banana bread I tried, and I tried many…. I can’t have egg and that makes baking sometimes tricky. Absolutely love the simplicity of the ingredients and how quick and easy it comes together. Been sharing the bread with family and friends and no one commented on any funny taste or what ever, everyone loved it and they didn’t even know it was gf/df and egg free.
100% my go to recipe now! Thank you!!!
Aw, Ute- this is such a lovely and warming comment, I appreciate you taking the time to leave it here.
I’m glad you find this bread simple and easy- when developing this recipe, it was super important for me to make it as easy as possible (In culinary school, we did a module on gluten free breads and baking, and I remember being shocked at the laundry list of ingredients expected to make one loaf!).
Thanks for sharing it with others, too, I appreciate it.
This is the BEST, by far, gluten free/vegan recipe for banana bread! Great flavor, moist, easy to make. I’ve tried several different recipes and this one is super yummy. Came out great. Kudos, and thank you for sharing!
Thanks for your lovely comment, Natalie. I’m so glad you enjoy this bread and found it easy to make 🙂
Hi. Can you add zucchini to this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Brandy! I don’t see why not. I recommend not going over half a cup of shredded zucchini, and ensure you squeeze out all the moisture first. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Will normal lactose free milk also work for this recipe? I don’t tolerate any others 🙂
Yes, absolutely- any milk is fine 🙂
This is the best banana bread I have ever made for my son who has soooo many food allergies. Thank you so much for sharing. I recently got some fresh strawberries and was wondering if there was any way to add strawberries to this recipes as well. What would I need to adjust?
Thanks for the lovely review and comment, Heather. I’m so glad you enjoyed this banana bread, and your son enjoyed it too 🙂
Yes, adding fresh strawberries should be fine. I recommend folding through a small amount 1/4 cup and then topping them with the remainder of them (no more than 1/2 cup total). This ensures they don’t add excess moisture to the batter which could result in a wet loaf.
can i use maply syrup instead of monk fruit. and if yes, how much maple syrup do you recommend.
thanks, plumeria
Hi Plumeria- I’d keep this bread using a granulated sweetener, as the maple syrup will affect the moisture of the bread, especially when working with a gluten-free flour. White sugar, brown sugar, and coconut sugar all work, if that’s an option for you.
Wow! I’m allergic to gluten and dairy, but also have friends who are allergic to eggs. I’ve made banana bread before but always with eggs!
This superseded my expectations! It’s wonderful!
My son who has no allergies loves it as well!
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Melissa. I’m so glad you enjoyed this bread and it exceeded your expectations. I was really strict when developing this recipe, because my #1 rule was that it had to look and taste like any good banana bread out there 🙂
Glad your son enjoyed it too.
I love this recipe!! Hands down the best gluten free vegan banana bread recipe I’ve tried. Delicious and such a simple recipe! I added some chopped walnuts as well, they made a great addition!
Love the addition of walnuts 🙂 Thank you for making this recipe and taking the time to leave a lovely review and rating. I really appreciate it.
Amazing recipe! Thank you so much! The bread is delicious and moist! However it doesn’t rise so much for me.. should it be only 225 gr of mashed bananas for one portion? Because the recipe says approximately 4 bananas which is around 400 gr. Could it be that the bread didn’t rise enough because I had more grams of bananas? It was still delicious but flat.. should I increase the baking soda next time? what would you recommend? Also, can I bake it using the fan ? Should the temperature be different in that case? Thank you in advance for the advice!
Hi Eva- If you open the oven door too much throughout the baking process, it can deflate. Everything else, I haven’t tried so feel free to experiment and see
I had really high hopes for this recipe. I followed the recipe except substituted unsweetened applesauce for butter. I used AP flour. It rose much more and browned darker on top than the picture. It only took 50 minutes to bake. It was dense and very chewy. I also found it overly sweet using 1 cup of white sugar. I would be willing to try again if I knew what I could have done wrong.
Hi Cate- I’m not surprised it didn’t turn out correctly when using regular flour. I developed this recipe specifically using gluten-free flour, which has a different baking structure. Because of this, the amount of butter, sugar, etc, all contribute to a successful loaf. I’d suggest sticking with the original recipe or making one of my other banana breads which call for regular flour 🙂
My kids and friends ask me to make this all the time. Friends don’t even know it’s Gluten and Dairy free!!
Love this so much!!