Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Taking a classic Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe and making it gluten-free, vegan, grain-free, nut-free, and naturally sweetened! You can bake this easy, anything-but-boring banana bread recipe any time and enjoy for a ready-made breakfast for days with the whole family!

Alright folks, we’re getting back to basics here. 1) We are currently quarantined at home with seemingly nothing to do but bake, or maybe you’re stress baking… so let’s take a classic but keep it healthy and allergy-friendly (and all you less healthy, non-allergy friendly eaters- I promise you’ll love this chocolate chip banana bread too!). 2) There’s a reason why we all turn to the classics during trying times… because they are comforting and they ease the mind, body, and soul. Banana bread definitely fits into the comforting food category. 3) It’s one of the easiest recipes to make, even when it’s gluten-free, vegan, grain-free, nut-free, etc… and it DOESN’T taste like cardboard or come out hard as a rock! That’s right, this banana bread is moist and delicious!

We are big banana lovers at my house. We use them a lot in baking to keep our baked goods moist while adding a bit of natural sweetness, we freeze them and use them in our morning smoothie, for making nice cream, or for making these Avocado Banana Matcha Creamsicles, we enjoy them just as a snack; especially my 1-year-old, she loves bananas. So we buy 2 bunches at a time. I, however, am not a fan of eating mushy bananas. Like, once they start to get speckly I just can’t. If we don’t take the overly ripe ones and freeze them, we use them in pancakes or banana bread!

If you’ve made it this far, I assure you this banana bread is scrumptious, like even I was surprised 🙂 So before I lose you let’s dive into the ingredients:
☆ gluten-free 1:1 baking flour or cassava flour
☆ banana flour
☆ baking powder
☆ baking soda
☆ chocolate chips
☆ cinnamon
☆ bananas
☆ maple syrup
☆ vanilla
☆ pumpkin puree
☆ peanut butter/sunflower seed butter (for nut-free, or you can use another nut butter)
☆ plant milk

You start by whisking together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and then you’ll combine the bananas, mashed, with all of the wet ingredients, and then pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stir, pour into your loaf pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes! Easy.

If you use cassava flour, make sure it’s a reputable brand, like Bob’s Red Mill or Let’s Do Organic from Edward and Sons. By using cassava and banana flour this recipe is not only gluten-free, but also grain-free. I have become quite obsessed with these two flours lately, I find them to be simple but yet a great 1:1 replacement for wheat flour. But you can always swap out the cassava flour for gluten-free 1:1 baking flour. Baking powder and soda allow this bread to rise, and the bananas, pumpkin puree, and peanut butter/ sunflower seed butter (if you have a nut/peanut allergy) acts as a binding replacement for eggs and also allows the bread to remain moist!

Now, sometimes with paleo, gluten-free, vegan banana bread, the middle of the loaf seems done, only to slice into it and it’s pure batter still. Crap. This actually happened to me the first time I baked it. So don’t mess with the flour ratios, and make sure you are patient and let it cool completely before slicing into the loaf. I know, I know… you want it now! I’m the queen of impatience when it comes to food. But I promise it’ll be worth the wait.

As if I need another reason to sell you on this banana bread, it stays moist for a few days, which means you have a ready-made-for-you breakfast. With two young children, this has been a lifesaver this week! We simply slice it, slightly warm it, slather some plant butter on, and devour! Wishing your family many healthy blessings in these unprecedented times, we will get through this together, banana bread in our ovens and in our bellies. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook with your Chocolate Chip Banana Bread creations!