Banana bread is an absolute staple in our house, whether it’s a quick snack with a cuppa, served with nut butter for breakfast, or a special piece of ‘cake’ for the toddler, it’s something that always needs to be in supply.

I love this recipe because it’s versatile, you can use whatever is in the cupboard, make it vegan and gluten free or not, and it’s always tasty. This is the gluten free version, however I’ve made it with regular wheat and wholemeal spelt flour and it’s been just as good. I generally use the Mayver’s cacao peanut butter, but any nut butter will do, tahini works great too. If there’s a nut allergy just substitute the nut butter for the same amount in coconut oil.

Up until recently I always made it with only 2 bananas, as that seems to be what we had on hand to spare, however I’ve been trialing 3 bananas and it’s freakin brilliant, sweeter with a stronger banana flavour and even softer while still firm enough to toast. What more could you ask for?

Banana Bread

WET INGREDIENTS

¾ cup of non-dairy milk
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup coconut oil
3 tbs rice malt syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 ripe bananas (2 bananas gives a milder flavour, but 3 will give that typical banana bread flavour)
2 tbs nut butter (tahini is also amazing instead)
3 fresh dates, seeds removed

DRY INGREDIENTS

1 cup brown rice flour
¾ cup besan (chickpea) flour
¼ cup cornflour (or arrowroot powder)
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp ginger powder

Method

Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Grease a loaf tin with coconut oil and set aside.
Place all the wet ingredients into a bowl and ‘cream’ together with a hand held mixer until smooth.
Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl, process and again process until smooth.
Pour batter into greased loaf tin. Bang it on the bench to remove any air bubbles, cover with foil and place in the middle of the oven. Bake at 150 degrees for approximately 1 hour, this will depend on your oven and the flour you use. I’ve found that the gluten free version takes around an hour, whereas spelt and wheat flours take more like an hour and a half.
You will need to keep an eye on this the first time you make it. If the top browns too quickly lower the heat. The banana bread is ready when it is brown on top, firm to touch and a skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool before turning it out of the loaf tin.

This will keep up to 5 days in the fridge or a few days on the bench. If we manage to not eat it in a day or so, I actually like it going a little stale as it toasts nice and crispy! However, this banana bread is still excellent for toasting.

If you have time and the ingredients, bake two loaves and slice one and freeze it, I love having a pre-sliced loaf in the freezer for when I don’t have any snacks for me and my toddler.