If you are looking for a gluten free / grain free banana bread that is also vegan, then try this recipe. You will not be disappointed! This banana bread is almost AIP too except it has sunflower seed butter. Sunflower seeds are however one of the first reintroductions and I encourage my clients to reintroduce all seeds 30 days after AIP elimination. So this is a recipe that most of you can try!
Last weekend I was making banana bread for my family and I wanted to make one for myself too! I have previously posted an AIP Banana bread recipe
But these days, I have started using sunflower seed butter a lot and I have been thinking that it could be a good replacement for eggs in baking. So I put it to test and 1 hour later, I was gorging on this delicious grain free and egg free banana bread! It is absolutely delicious! The texture of this banana bread is so good! It is unlike any grain free bread or cake that I have made! It tastes and looks like a regular banana bread! That is incredible!
What are the ingredients in this grain free banana bread?
Cassava Flour: Cassava flour is what makes this bread gluten free and grain free. I like this brand of cassava flour.
Tiger nut flour: Tiger nut flour is another grain free flour that is made from tiger nuts. Mind you, tiger nuts are not nuts but are a tuber that grows underground. I have added this in a small amount in this recipe to give it a slightly nutty flavor and it also helps to get the texture right. You can omit this if you can’t find it but the texture of the bread might become slightly gummy if you just use cassava flour. Again the brand I like to use is this.
Baking powder: I recommend using Aluminum free and corn starch free baking powder like this one. Or you can also make your own AIP baking powder using this recipe
Baking soda: Baking soda is additionally added to make the bread extra moist and soft. You can use any good quality baking soda.
Sea salt: I always add some salt to all my baking and sweet dishes as it enhances the sweetness and rounds out all the flavors better. You can use any good quality sea salt.
Fresh Ripe Bananas: Bananas are the star of this recipe. Use ripe bananas with yellow skin and some black dots. Do not use over ripe bananas that are shriveled as they will have a different taste. You can also use frozen bananas after thawing them in the microwave.
Sunflower seed butter: Sunbutter is the brand I like but make sure you get the ‘no sugar added’ one.
Maple syrup: Maple syrup is the sweetener I have used in this recipe. You can try another natural sweetener like coconut sugar however since maple syrup is liquid, if you replace it with a solid sweetener, you will need to add additional liquid in this recipe to get the same texture for the batter. I would recommend just adding additional coconut milk (or any non dairy milk)
Coconut Milk or non -dairy milk: I have tried this recipe with both coconut milk and cashew milk. You can use basically any non dairy milk that works for you! I love this brand of cashew milk.
Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract is added to add a delicious flavor to this banana bread. I like this brand of vanilla extract.
Walnuts (optional): You can add chopped walnuts or other nuts to this recipe. However that is totally optional and you can avoid them if you are sensitive to them.
Oh and one other thing about this banana bread is that soon after baking, you might see some green spots in them. The first time I saw these spots, I was really worried but I did some research and found out that the green spots were just a chemical reaction happening due to the cassava and the baking soda. And that even with the green spots, these were perfectly ok to be eaten. You can check out this article which also talks about the same reaction which happens while baking sweet potato bread. So do not get worried if you see those green spots! They are certainly not mold!
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 2 tbsps tiger nut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 ripe bananas
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 heaping tablespoons sunflower seed butter
- 2 tbsps lemon juice
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsps coconut milk (or any non dairy milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pre heat oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper,
- In a sheet of parchment paper, measure the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them using a spatula. Keep aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the bananas and mash them using a masher. To this add the maple syrup, sunflower seed butter, lemon juice. Stir to mix. Then add the flour mixture slowly into this and add the coconut milk(or non dairy milk) as well. Add the vanilla extract. The batter will be thick but should resemble a thick banana bread batter. If it feels too thick, you can add a little bit more of the non dairy milk.
- Drop the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Hello Julia, You can try using tiger nut butter. You can try this brand, Paleo Tiger which is available on amazon: https://amzn.to/3XGfPR6. Lmk how it turns out if you do try it!
This looks delicious, Indira! I will definitely keep it handy for when I reintroduce sunflower seeds, unless there’s an AIP friendly substitute you could recommend? Hope you’re doing well 🙂