Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread + The Best Vegan Butter Substitute

If you were to have gone gluten-free 10 years ago, it may have meant swearing off delicious baked goods forever *gasp*. Thank goodness times have changed. Now we have so many glutenless flours to choose from - we're talking almond, buckwheat, cassava, brown rice, amaranth, oat, and the list goes on. Not only can these options deliver the promise of a fully GF outcome, but an actually tasty one to boot. 

Banana bread is classic comfort food - just sweet enough to feel like we're treating ourselves to something decadent and cake-like, yet if made with healthier ingredients, we can feel good about eating a thick slice for breakfast or a snack. This recipe is perfect for that purpose as it isn't overly sweet - most of the sugar is from the bananas themselves with only a splash of extra maple syrup. It's also super quick to throw together, and aside from being gluten-free, it's totally vegan. Having a good banana bread recipe comes in very handy when you have a handful of overripe bananas just threatening to turn into compost right before your eyes. Having spotty, very ripe bananas is crucial for the perfect banana bread. 

This recipe also utilizes stone ground whole coconut butter in place of normal dairy butter. This is definitely one of the best vegan baking hacks out there, especially if you like to avoid using more processed products like some of those vegan butters and margarines on the market. Coconut butter can be used as a dairy substitute in recipes of all kinds from cookies and brownies to muffins and bread. Unlike coconut oil, coconut butter is made from the entire meat of the coconut, ground down to create a creamy nut butter. It is quite solid at room temperature (just like coconut oil) but will melt down (just like dairy butter) as it heats up in your recipes, lending its richness and sweet coconut flavor to treats of all kinds. 

The Recipe  

Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread 

Dry ingredients 

1 1/4 cup Supernova blanched almond flour 

1 1/4 cup sprouted brown rice flour 

1 1/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats

1/2 cup coconut sugar

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet ingredients 

4 medium bananas (make sure they're very ripe and spotty)

3/4 cup plant milk (we used almond)

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 flax egg (mix 1 tbsp finely ground golden flax with 3 tbsp water to form an "egg"

3 Tbsp Dastony whole coconut butter, melted 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and "butter" a 4x8-inch loaf pan with some coconut oil. Alternatively, you can line your pan with parchment paper. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix well. 

3. Add your dry ingredients to your bowl of wet ingredients and mix well. 

4. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F (175°C), or until you can insert a fork and it comes out clean.

5. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan entirely and let cool for at least a half hour. Slice and serve as is or with a drizzle of almond butter and raw honey. (Using a serrated bread knife helps to make cleaner, less crumbly slices).