Adulting is hard. Banana bread is easy. Nothing brings us back to the simple comfort of childhood like a perfect loaf of homemade banana bread — and all the friends we’ve gifted this cozy yet clean version from the ladies of Sweet Laurel Bakery agree.
Why would anyone want to mess with such a magically classic recipe? Because this healthy banana bread is actually, dare we say, better than any traditional version we’ve had. The recipe comes from The Sweet Laurel cookbook by Laurel Gallucci and Claire Thomas. Like all of their gut-friendly baked goods, this loaf is grain, gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free — but retains every bit of soul-nourishing goodness we’d expect.
Tasty and tender — with natural notes of caramel and bold banana flavor — this healthy banana bread is truly a dream come true. Most importantly, it all goes down in one bowl which means clean-up couldn’t be easier. The recipe below is good for two loaves; make one for yourself to enjoy immediately and freeze the other for later, or give it to someone you really really love.
Sweet Laurel’s “Fall In Love” Banana Bread
makes 2 loaves
Ingredients:
1 1/2 – 2 cups very ripe banana, mashed (approximately 4 – 6 bananas)
2 bananas, halved length-wise (for garnish)
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs (vegan optional: sub flax or chia eggs)
2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp pink salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix the mashed banana, coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl with a hand whisk. Add almond flour, baking soda and salt. Blend batter together and add chocolate chips. Pour into 2 greased 9 x 5″ loaf pans. Gently lay the halved banana slices on top of the batter (this step is optional but really pretty!). Bake about 30-35 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool.
Where can I find the recipe?
Found it – It hadn’t shown up when I asked
Can u use brown rice flour if I have that instead? Of almond flour
jennifer–you could, but you’d probably want to add a bit of water, as rice flour tends to soak up moisture. also, this recipe is paleo/grain-free, so that’s why they used almond flour. 🙂
would like to try this recipe and wondering about the size of the loaf pans. standard 9 x 5 ?
Has anyone tried baking banana bread with stevia or monk fruit? If so, any tips?
When I tried making this, the amount of batter seemed very small and definitely not enough to fill two standard-sized loaf pans. I baked it in one loaf pan, although this required increasing the baking time by about double. It was delicious, disappeared in less than a day in my house, and everyone was surprised that it was a GF recipe.
P.S. I also omitted the chocolate chips and reduced the amount of maple syrup. It still retained a lot of sweetness just from the bananas.
Decadent,moist, and sweet with a hint of coconut. I could have used one loaf pan as well.
I made the vegan version and used one loaf pan and while the taste was lovely the texture was super sadly wet and goopy. I recommend that vegans or those not eating eggs look elsewhere for a recipe. If it’s too late and you’re reading the comments after making it, I saved it by keeping it in the oven for a couple of hours at about 225. It’s now ok to eat though very dark on the outside and still quite wet inside (but was able to be sliced -thickly but sliced). I think that making this with eggs and/or in two loaf pans might have been a better plan for texture. Especially if you name it vegan stick with the two loaves per thge recipe!
For those asking about the size of the pans – the desserts at Sweet Laurel are on the smaller side. This bread is only about 1.5-2 inches tall. Hence it goes in two oaf pans but is only filled about 1/3 of the way up. Don’t like this it will bake in the correct amount of time. This recipe works well with regular or all purpose gluten free flour as well
Can you use regular all purpose flour? It’s quarantine time and that’s all I have :(.
I baked mine for 50 minutes and let them cool completely. Turned out and loaves fell apart they were so moist. No way you can slice this. I used just a bit less than the 1 1/2 cups it called for. Tastes good, but really disappointed at the presentation.
*Just a bit less banana than the recipe called for.
NM got some almond flour!
Hello! I just made this and I totally missed the fact that it had to be divided in 2 pans. Therefore I had to do it in one 9×9 pan. I baked it for 45 minutes and it was still bubbling inside, I added over 15 minutes and it’s very soft still. I already lost track of time and this bread is not fluffed either. I made it without eggs but that shouldn’t change much since I bake without eggs all the time (allergy in family)
Hello, I made 12 muffins instead of banana bread & baked them for 33 minutes Until the top is golden brown. They turned out really moist and delicious
I think this recipe needs to be retested. It is simply too moist! So either too much liquid or not enough dry ingredients. It really doesn’t work!
Did you use two 9×5 pans?
I just tried this recipe, but it is too moist and gooey… made it according to the recipe though…
Hm, too gooey for your taste or fell apart? Nut flours can sometimes be more moist – let us know if you tweak it successfully for those who like it more dry!
We baked it on n a cast iron pan for about an hour, and hen renamed it “Banana-almond-chocolate chip pudding cake.” The reviews were ecstatic! : )