One-Bowl Brown Sugar Gluten-Free Banana Bread

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.

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.

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 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.

Recipe

One-Bowl Brown Sugar Gluten-Free Banana Bread

yields: 10 slices, one 9x5 loaf

prep time: 10 minutes mins

cook time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

total time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Super moist and flavorful gluten-free banana bread loaded with walnuts. This loaf is soft and chewy banana bread is packed with banana flavor and comes together quickly with or without a mixer. The recipe has been tested with both nut-free or dairy-free substitutions to fit any diet!

5 from 5 reviews

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Ingredients

• ▢ 112 g (1 cup) super-fine blanched almond flour, see note for nut-free option
• ▢ 95 g (¾ cup + 2 tablespoons) gluten-free oat flour
• ▢ 90 g (½ cup + 1 tablespoon) sweet rice flour, also called mochiko - different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour"
• ▢ 14 g (2 tablespoons) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup (100 g) light or dark brown sugar, I recommend organic dark brown sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 large eggs, room temperature
• ▢ ⅓ cup (80 g) sour cream, room temperature
• ▢ 12 oz very ripe bananas, 3 to 3½ large bananas, 1½ cups mashed - see note if using frozen bananas
• ▢ 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ▢ ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted, plus more for garnish if desired (I recommend chopping or breaking the nuts into small pieces to make the loaf easier to slice)

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INSTRUCTIONS

• Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and line it with a sling of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl, sift together almond flour, oat flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
• Add the ripe bananas to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a medium mixing bowl with a hand mixer or masher. Use the mixer or masher to mash bananas until smooth with just a few small chunks remaining. If using a stand mixer, transfer mashed bananas to another bowl, but don't bother wiping out the bowl. Set aside.
• In the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar over medium-high speed together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each, followed by the sour cream, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. See note for option without stand or hand mixer.
• With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Fold in the toasted chopped nuts, if desired.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake on the middle rack for 70-75 minutes, until the center springs back when touched and a toothpick comes out of the center clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let cool at least an hour before slicing.
• Slice and serve warm or room temperature. Let cool completely before storing. Store extra slices in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Notes

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!

Without Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer

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!

Nut-Free Version

For a nut-free version, replace the almond flour with 85g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) gluten-free buckwheat flour and follow the recipe as written, leaving out the walnuts.

Frozen Bananas

You can use frozen bananas. Defrost the frozen bananas on the counter or in the microwave until soft, but not hot. Drain the bananas then measure the amount you need, adding it to the mixer to mash. Alternatively, you can use the juices, but your banana bread will be a bit more moist (very delicious, if that's how you like it!)