Super moist and tender gluten-free banana bread made with brown sugar and studded with walnuts. This easy one-bowl recipe is a quick way to use up your ripe bananas. With tested dairy-free and nut-free versions, this loaf is easily adaptable!

We're really into homemade holiday gifts in our family. With food as my love language, this most often means homemade baked gifts. This year I'm thinking loaves of this gluten-free banana nut bread. 

After sharing a test slice with my neighbor a couple of months ago, she added this banana bread to her list of "A+ Will Ask for the Recipe Early" recipes. Now we've got a running deal: drop off 3 overripe bananas and the baking fairy will exchange them for half a loaf of banana bread. 

Good bananas are the key.

Choosing Bananas for the Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe

Your banana bread will only be as sweet and flavorful as the bananas you're working with. When picking bananas for banana bread, the riper the better. If they've got a lot of brown spots on them, they're ready for baking. In fact, the best bananas for gluten-free banana bread are so ripe they're mushy and blackened.

Underripe or perfectly ripe bananas are not as sweet or flavorful, and bread made with them will be similarly disappointing. If all you've got are pristinely yellow bananas, leave them on the counter until they're overripe and ready to go. 

Tip: Ask your grocer if they've got any overripe brown bananas in the back. At my market, they sell the overripe bananas in bags for a fraction of the price. 

Can I use Frozen Bananas for Banana Bread?

Frozen bananas work too!

If, like me, your craving for banana bread seems to strike at random, keep a stash of peeled overripe bananas in your freezer. When you want to bake, defrost frozen bananas on the counter and drain any juices before measuring them for banana bread. 

How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Bread

To make this gluten-free banana loaf:

• Sift together the dry ingredients.
• Mash bananas until almost smooth and set aside. 
• Cream the butter and sugar.
• Mix in the eggs, sour cream, and mashed bananas.
• Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and fold in the nuts.
• Pour it into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and cooked all the way through. 

How to make one-bowl banana bread

If you don't have a stand mixer or hand mixer, you can make the banana bread in a bowl with just a whisk and spatula. Combine the softened butter and sugar together with a spatula. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the sour cream, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Fold in the dry ingredients with the spatula followed by the walnuts.

The result will be slightly less tender than when the butter and sugar are creamed, but still very delicious!

What size pan should I use for this recipe?

This recipe has been tested in a 9 x 5 loaf pan (measured by the inside of the top opening), but banana bread is forgiving and it should also work in any size loaf pan you've got.

Adjust the baking time accordingly: the smaller pan will bake a taller loaf and will need more baking time, while the larger pan has a shorter loaf that will need a few minutes less baking time.  

SHOULD I USE A GLASS OR METAL LOAF PAN?

I recommend using metal loaf pans and steering clear of using a glass loaf pan for this gluten-free banana bread. Because this loaf bakes for over an hour, the more insulating glass pan is more likely to create a much crisper and darker crust, potentially to the point of burning. 

And one thing I've learned: Every single one of my neighbors has a couple of metal loaf pans of varying sizes. If a glass pan is all you've got, hopefully, you've also got neighbors like mine who will lend you a pan in exchange for a couple of slices of banana bread.

If you do opt for a glass loaf pan, decrease the temperature by 25°F and bake for about 10 minutes longer. If you notice the top starting to get too dark with the longer bake time, cover it lightly with foil. 

Gluten-Free Banana Bread with Almond Flour

The flour blend for this gluten-free banana bread starts with almond flour. Almond flour adds a subtle sweet nuttiness and lots of moisture. 

Just like my gluten-free lemon drizzle cake, this banana bread combines almond flour with oat flour, sweet rice flour, and tapioca flour to create a crumb that is fluffy, moist, and chewy. 

Gluten-Free Flour Substitutions 

Almond Flour: Almond flour adds protein and moisture to the loaf. 

• Substitution: You can substitute the almond flour with a comparable flour, such as hazelnut flour or chestnut flour by weight. If you cannot tolerate nuts, scroll down for the nut-free variation that uses buckwheat flour!

Gluten-Free Oat Flour: Oat flour adds lightness and structure to create a fluffy crumb. It keeps the banana bread sponge super moist, without being dense. 

• Substitution: If you don't have oat flour, you can make your own by grinding gluten-free rolled oats in a blender or food processor until fine, then sifting out any larger pieces. While I have not tested it, my next best recommendation would be to use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour by weight, or subbing out the oat flour by weight with a combination of sorghum flour and a tad more tapioca flour (Something like 100g sorghum flour and 21g more tapioca flour).

Sweet Rice Flour: Sweet rice flour is necessary for the chewy texture of this loaf. Sweet rice flour is distinctively different than white rice or brown rice flour. The same flour used to make mochi, its stickiness helps to bind the crumb together, creating chewiness like a classic banana bread recipe. It’s gluten-free baking’s secret weapon. 

• Substitution: I do not recommend substituting the sweet rice flour in this recipe, but if you must, my next best recommendation would be to use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour by weight.

Tapioca flour: Tapioca flour adds just a little more softness and loft to the crumb.

• Substitution: If you need to sub it out, I would recommend arrowroot starch, potato starch, or using equal parts more oat flour and sweet rice flour, by weight.

Nut-Free Gluten-Free Banana Bread

If you can't tolerate nuts, you can still make delicious gluten-free banana bread. Replace the almond flour with 85g buckwheat flour (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) gluten-free buckwheat flour and follow the recipe as written, leaving out the walnuts.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread Add-ins and Substitutions 

Customize this banana bread recipe with your favorite add-ins!

• Nuts: switch things up with toasted pecans, salted peanuts, or even sliced almonds
• Chocolate chips: fold in a cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• Halved banana on top: decorate the loaf by laying a banana sliced lengthwise over the top of the batter. 

Can I make gluten-free dairy-free banana bread?

To make this recipe dairy-free, sub out the sour cream for plant-based yogurt and the butter for plant-based butter. I also recommend adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to replace the tang of the sour cream. The result will be just as delicious!

How to store banana bread

Let the banana bread cool completely before storing. Store banana bread, sliced or unsliced in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Can you freeze banana bread?

If you can't eat it all at once or just want to make it ahead, you can freeze banana bread just like you can cake. Either freeze the whole loaf or an unsliced chunk of it in an airtight bag or container. Alternatively, you can wrap up individual slices in foil and freeze them in an airtight container. 

Defrost the loaf or slices on the counter before enjoying.