Name: Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 94 g gluten-free oat flour; 74 g millet flour; 70 g sweet rice flour (also called "Mochiko", distinctly different from white rice or brown rice flour); 14 g Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves; 226 g mashed overripe bananas (from the counter, fridge, or freezer, 2 to 2½ large bananas, about 1 cup mashed ); 1/2 cup maple syrup; 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil or butter); 2 large eggs; 1/4 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy); 1/2 cup add-ins such as chocolate chips, toasted nuts, raisins, etc. (optional)

JUMP TO RECIPE

Healthy gluten-free banana bread sweetened only with maple syrup and overripe bananas. This loaf is both nut-free and dairy-free, and freezes well so you can have homemade banana bread on demand!

Slice of Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread Loaf

I have a disorder where I buy a bunch of bananas every week, thinking we'll eat them all before they get brown, but we don't. We never do. So at the end of each week, I peel and stick the extras in my freezer. Repeat. One would think the logical thing for me to do is just buy fewer bananas, but they'd be wrong. Because then I wouldn't always have ripe bananas on hand for unlimited loaves of this healthy gluten-free banana bread!

You might be asking - do we really need another banana bread recipe? I mean, there's already a killer gluten-free banana bread recipe here on Snixy Kitchen. But yes, yes we do.

Just like some people have shoes for different occasions, I have banana bread recipes for different purposes. Where the former recipe is a classic banana bread, boasting all the sugar and flavor of cake, this healthy gluten-free banana bread recipe is clean enough for school lunches while still so tender, moist, and rich in flavor. Gluten-free, nut-free, and refined-sugar-free!

Now when my freezer is overflowing with bananas, I just turn it into this heathy gluten-free banana bread for my kids to pack in their lunch or snack boxes. Which I also keep on hand in my freezer at all times for quick lunches, along side a bag of cheesy mochi waffles.

Overhead Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Why you'll love this healthy gluten-free banana bread

Refined sugar-free: That's right - this loaf is sweetened entirely with maple syrup and good ole overripe bananas.
Incredibly tender: Thanks to oat flour and bananas, this loaf bakes up super tender and fluffy, while still incredibly moist. The perfect texture.
Easy to freeze: This banana bread is perfect for freezing. We slice it up and separate each slice individually in an airtight bag for quick snacks and lunches.
School lunch safe: This recipe is gluten-free, nut-free, and refined sugar-free, so it's safe and healthy enough for school lunches.

Ingredients for Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread

I highly recommend overbuying bananas each week so you too have the problem of too many overripe bananas in your freezer at all times. Once you have that, you just need gluten-free flours and some pantry staples!

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Healthy Banana Bread

Here's everything you'll need to make this recipe:

Gluten-Free Oat Flour: Gives lightness and structure, with its warm and wholesome flavor.
Millet Flour: A neutral flour that's used almost as the mediator between the oat and sweet rice flour.
Sweet Rice Flour: The magic weapon for gluten-free baking as its stickiness helps to bind baked goods together and it lends to the chewiness of your loaf. Also called Mochiko, sweet rice flour is the same flour used to make mochi, and is distinctly different from brown rice flour or white rice flour. If it's not in the baking aisle, look in the Asian foods section of your supermarket or at an Asian supermarket.
Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour: Adds just a little more softness and loft to the crumb.
Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
Baking soda, baking powder, and salt
Overripe bananas: from the counter, fridge, or frozen
Pure maple syrup: Alternatively, use honey or a combination of both.
Oil or butter: Neutral vegetable oil (such as safflower, sunflower, or canola), refined coconut oil, or unsalted butter
Large eggs
Milk: Dairy or non-dairy work equally as well
Vanilla extract

Visit the recipe card for exact quantities! See below for flour and ingredient substitutions.

How to Make Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread

You can make this banana bread in just one bowl (save for sifting the flours), whether it's a mixing bowl or a stand mixer. I opt for a stand mixer because I'm lazy and like using it to mash my bananas, but using a potato masher or a fork to mash the bananas works just as well!

Sifting Dry Ingredients Gluten-Free Healthy Banana Bread

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

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, masher, or fork. Mash bananas until smooth with just a few small chunks remaining.

Wet Ingredients Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Add the oil or butter, maple syrup, maple syrup, and vanilla to the mashed bananas and mix until well combined.

Adding Dry Ingredients GF Banana Bread part 1

Mix in half of the dry ingredients.

Mix in the milk.

Adding Remaining Dry Ingredients Gluten-Free Healthy Banana Bread

Add the remaining dry ingredients.

Mix until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.

Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread Batter in Loaf Pan

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake!

Baked Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread in Loaf Pan

Hint: Let the loaf cool for at least an hour before slicing. This allows the crumb to finish cooking and set, so the inside is not gummy when sliced.

Loaf of Gluten-Free Healthy Banana Bread

Gluten-Free Flour Substitutions

For the fluffiest, most moist, and school-safe healthy gluten-free banana bread, I use a combination of gluten-free oat, millet, sweet rice, and tapioca flours.

If you're overwhelmed by buying four different flours, I understand. Here are nineteen gluten-free recipes you can make using oat, millet, sweet rice, and tapioca flours together. And a bunch more that use a combination of oat, sweet rice, and millet flours. These four flours are some of my most used gluten-free flours, and all freeze well for up to 6 months.

That being said, banana bread is so forgiving! If you don't have or cannot eat one of these flours, see below for my substitution recommendations.

Gluten-Free Oat Flour: You can make your own by grinding up gluten-free rolled oats in a food processor or blender, then sifting out any big pieces. Measure by weight as homemade gluten-free oat flour is less finely ground so the volume per weight will be different. You can also sub in by weight: Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, or a combination of sorghum flour and a tad more tapioca flour (Something like 76g sorghum flour and 18g more tapioca flour).
Millet Flour: You can sub in by weight: teff flour, brown or white rice flour, or Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. Alternatively, sub in just 16g coconut flour (coconut flour is much more absorbent, so you need less flour than millet). If you can tolerate nuts, you can also replace the millet flour with 98g super-fine blanched almond flour (almond flour is less absorbent and more moist than millet, so you need more flour than millet).
Sweet Rice Flour: Sweet rice flour is the most difficult flour to substitute in gluten-free baking. My best recommendation is to sub in by weight with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (which also contains sweet rice flour).
Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour: You can sub in by weight with arrowroot starch, potato starch, or equal parts more oat flour and sweet rice flour, by weight.

Can you Make Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Banana Bread

This banana bread is naturally dairy-free so long as you use oil rather than butter and dairy-free milk, such as oat milk!

Overhead Slices of Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Banana Bread

Recipe Variations

Banana bread is endlessly customizable. Consider it the kitchen sink cookies of loaf cakes. Here are a few ways we customize it:

Chocolate chips: milk, bittersweet, white chocolate. You name it. We love using mini chocolate chips so each bite has an even distribution of chocolate.
Nuts: Add toasted walnuts or pecans to the batter
Chocolate Banana Bread: Replace ¼ cup of millet flour with ⅓ cup cocoa powder for a chocolate-y healthy banana bread.

See this classic version of gluten-free banana bread on my website!

Maple Syrup Sweetened Gluten-Free Banana Bread Crumb

What kind of pan for gluten-free Banana bread?

This loaf works best in an 8.5x4.5 loaf pan, but it also bakes up well in a 9x5. If using a 9x5, start checking for doneness 10 minutes sooner, as your loaf will be much shorter and wider than pictured here and will thus bake up quicker. You can also make 1.33x the recipe and bake it in a 9x5, which I do often!

The type of pan you use for loaf bread can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. For this healthy banana bread, I recommend using metal loaf pans and steering clear of using a glass loaf pan. 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.

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.

How to store Gluten-free banana bread

Let the loaf cool completely before storing. Store it sliced or unsliced in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. If storing in the fridge, let it come to room temperature for optimal enjoyment.

If you're making it ahead for quick school lunches or can't eat it all at once, you can freeze banana bread just like you can cake. You can wrap up individual slices in foil or plastic wrap, or separate slices with parchment paper and freeze them in an airtight container or bag. Defrost once slice at a time room temperature.

Alternatively, freeze the whole loaf or an unsliced chunk of it in an airtight bag or container and let it come to room temperature on the counter before slicing and serving.

Packing for School Lunch Tip

I use up my banana stash by making two loaves at a time, and then storing slices in the freezer. When I pack my kids' lunches, I toss a frozen banana bread slice into the lunchbox and it's defrosted by lunchtime!

Picking bananas for banana bread

Banana bread tastes best with overripe bananas because they are sweeter, softer, and produce the best texture and flavor in banana bread. These can be just a bit past their ideal eating stage (left) , extremely brown and/or stored in the fridge (right), or overripe and frozen (middle).

I recommend buying bananas long before you need them! I like to get a big bunch at the beginning of the week and inevitably let a few go past their prime. I peel and store any leftover overripe bananas in a freezer bag in the freezer until ready to use. This way I always have a stash of overripe bananas on hand for the best healthy banana bread.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a review and rating to let me and others know how you liked it!

Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Bread