Morning friends! After a few nights of after midnight bedtimes plus 5:20 wakeup calls don’t make the best combination in the world. Even so, it feels good to be back on a somewhat normal schedule. I mean, that’s what extra cups of coffee is for, right?
Besides coffee being a crutch for sleepless nights, I crave comfort foods when this happens. Banana bread, soups, anything of those sorts. I’ve had a few unsuccessful trials with the banana bread route. It’s tough to make a banana bread allergen free and have it come out both tasty and in tact. Finally, after much patience and practice I have the perfect recipe.
{ vegan buckwheat bake with strawberries and peanut flour frosting }
These is a super fab banana bread recipe. Not only is it sugar free, it’s gluten-free, vegan, and tastes like banana bread should. No, it may not be your classic banana bread filled with butter, white flour, and sugar, but I prefer the healthier alternatives:) and when I can make them healthier, I usually do.
Everytime I make a loaf of banana bread, I can hardly keep it in my kitchen for more than a few days. My family happens to love this as well, which is a major plus since they’re not always too keen on my healthy creations;)
For the recipe, I wanted to get the most bang for my buck and combine 3 flours. This way there are more nutrients added between the different flours, and I love creating unique textures, tastes, and nutrition profiles that each flour contains.
Banana Pumpkin Bread (gluten-free, vegan)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup oat flour* (I used gluten free)
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/4 cup protein powder (I used sun warrior, I recommend a vegan protein powder – it does best in baked recipes)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (this may sound like a lot, but it’s a must for vegan and gluten-free baking)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chia seed (grind the chia seed into chia seed powder, using a coffee grinder or replace with flax seed)
- 3 tablespoons warm water
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (this helps the bread rise, so it won’t come out flat)
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 large bananas)
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 full dropper of vanilla stevia + 1 teaspoon stevia
* alternatively, you could use a mix of flour that equals 1 1/2 cups.
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix your ground chia seeds with the 3 tablespoons of warm water and set aside for ~5 mintes until it thickens up into an “egg like” texture.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.
3. Mash banana, melt the coconut oil (separately), and add the rest of the wet ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
5. Once the batter is all combined and smooth, place the mixture into a lightly greased or tinfoil covered loaf pan.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. When fully cooked, allow bread to sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Best when served warm, with creamy almond butter slowly melting over a slice. This bread is moist, dense, and best of all delicious!
This banana bread exceeded my expectations and make the perfect snack, dessert, or Breakfast when combined with some healthy fats. After the first bite, I was slowly reminded of the times I’d come home from school and have a warm piece of banana bread straight from the oven. Total nostalgia….and just a tad bit healthier.
What’s your favorite type of quick bread?
What’s a meal or food that reminds you of your childhood?
What have you been baking lately?
Have a wonderful Tuesday, friends!
About Lisa
Oh YUMM! That sounds delicious, I LOVE banana bread – thank you for sharing this!
Mmm I love me some banana bread!
Yummy! I have been looking for a healthier banana bread recipe and this looks like just the thing. I wish I lived at your house!
Cannot go wrong with any sort of banana bread! I haven’t done any baking the last couple of weeks, but I’ve got cupcakes planned for easter that I’m excited to make!
I’ve had a lot of blueberries to use up. So far I have made blueberry pancakes, cookies and muffins. My boyfriends very happy, but I have frozen some to heat up when the mood strikes!
Thanks so much for this great recipe! I always appreciate vegan baking recipes, as I am not very good at making my favorite baking recipes dairy-free. I’ll leave that one to creative people like you!
I am also really love the addition of pumpkin, too. Yum 
.
YUM! Banana bread is theee best
I will have to give this a try! I am always looking for new gf bread recipes because they can be tricky.
There is something about a good banana bread which satisfies any craving for me. I don’t know why but I just love banana baked goods. I haven’t baked anything lately because my parents went to Philly and got some baked goods from bakeries/terminal market/etc. but I really want to try baking some cinnamon rolls. We shall see haha!
Sleepless nights always have me craving comfort food… I’ve had a few late nights lately, and I’m getting real tired of it (Haha-pun!).
Banana bread is definitely my favorite quick bread, and also a food that reminds me of my childhood. I remember always begging my mom to make banana bread, but she’d always say that we didn’t have any good bananas yet. I’d look at our bananas and think she was lying, buuuuuut now I definitely know the importance of using ripe bananas in baking. Thankfully, mom would always try to appease me by baking up chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, which are another nostalgic baked goodie for me
this is my all time fav bread. I have never thought of combining different flours to get nutrition from each one- very creative
I made some chocolate chip cookie bread not too long ago- basically crumbling stale cookies and adding mashed banana ad whole flour with some baking basics 
its yum and very nostalgic
I am the same way with comfort food when I’m super busy/tired. I need to try out buckwheat flour – all of youe creations always look delish!
I’ve been on a chilhood recreation kick lately – the spaghetti squash pie and microwave carrot cake I recently posted were both childood comforts, transformed.
YUM YUM YUM!!! Awesome recipe!
Ahhh YUM! I’m such a sucker for homemade breads. Definitely bookmarking this recipe! <3
banana bread is my favorite… with lots of cinnamon!!
I’ll def be making this this weekend!
Hmm, never heard of grinding the chia seeds before…does it really make a difference versus using them whole? The bread sounds great! Looks like it has a nice crisp crust to it!
Banana nut bread is definitely my favorite quick bread. And cinnamon toast will ALWAYS remind me of my childhood! That was my afternoon snack of choice most days…either that or cereal…Ha, not much has changed over the years!