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This gluten free banana bread is packed with banana flavor and delivers a soft, fork-tender crumb that stays light and moist. It’s quick to make in one bowl and flexible enough for whatever ripe bananas are on your counter.
Why this recipe works
Most gluten free banana breads fail because they have too much banana, too much liquid, or both. The result is a dense or gummy loaf that won’t bake through.
This recipe works with bananas at any stage of ripeness by preparing them differently. Mash very ripe bananas lightly so they don’t turn to liquid, and less ripe ones more fully into a textured paste that softens in the oven. Fold them in gently at the end to keep the crumb soft but intact.
Sour cream adds richness and acidity for a tender, flavorful crumb. It also provides moisture without weighing the bread down with too much liquid, so it bakes through evenly and doesn’t sink as it cools.
Ingredients explained
Here's what you need to make this recipe, plus a few words about the role each ingredient plays in the perfect banana bread. For full ingredient amounts, see the recipe card below:
- Gluten free flour blend – A well-balanced, high-quality gluten free flour blend, like Better Batter's original blend, Nicole's Best multipurpose, or Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 (the blue bag) adds structure to keep the bread together without the toughness that mixing a gluten-filled quickbread fully can create. If your flour is Nicole's Best, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum; Bob's has some xanthan gum but needs 1/2 teaspoon more.
- Bananas – Very ripe bananas will have more natural sugars that deepen the banana flavor, but any that are ripe enough to smell like bananas will work. Measure 200 grams peeled bananas by weight for consistent results. Mash the most ripe, very soft bananas minimally to maintain some texture, and less ripe bananas more so the oven can soften them fully during baking.
- Sour cream – Makes this recipe special by adding richness and acidity to create a uniquely moist and tender crumb. Be sure yours has some fat to enhance the bread's mouthfeel.
- Butter – Melted butter makes prep easier, and adds richness plus some gentle chew that's super satisfying.
- Eggs – Help bind the bread and provide structure to hold the rise as the bread cools, so there's no sunken top.
- Granulated sugar – Enhance the sweetness of the bananas and help keep the crumb tender. It also adds bulk, so even if your bananas are super sweet, don't reduce it further.
- Baking powder, baking soda & salt – The essentials that round out flavor, provide rise, and help the bread brown in the oven. Fun fact: baking soda reacts with bananas to create those brown flecks in the bread.
- Vanilla extract – Add depth through a complex blend of flavors, unlike artificial vanilla which only has one-note vanillin.
How to gluten free banana bread (step by step photos)
This is a visual overview of how to make this recipe in your own kitchen. I also explain the reasoning behind each step:
Combine dry
Start by whisking your dry ingredients, including gluten free flour with xanthan gum, baking powder, baking, salt, and sugar, together in a large bowl. This keeps the leaveners from clumping which creates bitter pockets and leads to an uneven rise.
Add wet
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients before adding the the melted butter, beaten eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Beating the eggs ahead of time ensures the yolk and white are fully integrated. Adding everything into a pocket in the dry mixture ensures that everything is fully combined.
Mash the bananas
If your bananas are super ripe, they'll be very soft. Mash them with a large fork very lightly so they maintain some texture. If they're less ripe, mash them into more of a lumpy paste.
Add bananas
Fold in the mashed bananas to the batter gently at the end so they're fully integrated but still maintains some of texture to avoid a gummy, dense bread. The batter should be thick but soft and easy to spread, not stiff.
Transfer and bake
Scrape the prepared batter into a greased and lined 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan. Lining with parchment helps the bread bake evenly without sliding around, and makes it easy to lift the prepared bread from the pan easily. Smooth the top with a spatula for even baking. Bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
Cool
Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes to finish baking and become stable enough to transfer. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing so the starches have time to become firmer and hold their moisture.
Expert tips
Use any ripe bananas
Yes, the riper your bananas are, the sweeter and more flavorful your loaf will be. But as long as your bananas are ripe enough to be at all fragrant, use what you have. To help them ripen more quickly, place them in a brown paper bag with an apple overnight. The riper your bananas are, the less you should mash them so they don't turn into a liquid, which will weigh down the bread and make it harder to bake through.
Use room temperature ingredients
Cold ingredients won't combine fully with one another. This is especially important with ingredients like eggs and sour cream that are stored in the refrigerator and meant to be used at room temperature in this recipe. To warm eggs, float them in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes. Microwave cold sour cream for about 20 seconds, then stir, but be careful not to cook it or it will separate.
Cool completely before slicing
Warm banana bread is tempting, but slicing too soon can make it gummy or crumbly. Waiting until the bread is completely cool before slicing makes it more stable, keeping it from drying out by releasing moisture as steam.
Freeze ripe bananas
Next time you have overripe bananas but no time to bake, peel and slice them, then freeze in a single layer before transferring to a bag. When you're ready to bake, measure out 200 grams as frozen, microwave briefly before mashing very lightly, and then include everything, including the leaked liquid in the batter.
Ingredient substitutions and add-ins
Here are my suggestions on how to replace additional allergens, or to add mix-ins:
Dairy free
Replace the butter with your favorite block-style vegan butter (like Miyoko’s or Melt). For sour cream, use any plain nondairy alternative, or strained plain nondairy yogurt until it resembles Greek-style.
Egg free
Swap each egg for a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon warm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
Mix-ins
Add up to 1 cup of extras like chopped walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips. Fold them in once the batter is mixed and ready for the pan. Add up to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients with or without other mix-ins, and try sprinkling about 2 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar on top of the raw bread right before baking for a warm, sweet crispy top.
Storage instructions
Let the banana bread cool completely, then wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
For longer storage, slice the loaf, wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap or Press'n Seal, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Defrost slices at room temperature, microwave for 20 seconds, or toast gently to refresh.
Gluten Free Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes for Recommendations)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 (100 g weighed out of shell) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (150 g) sour cream, at room temperature (avoid fat-free)
- 200 grams (2 medium-size bananas) peeled ripe bananas, the weight measurement is especially important here
- 1 small slightly less ripe banana, sliced thinly lengthwise, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the all purpose gluten free flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Whisk to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla, then the sour cream. Mix until just combined.
- If your bananas are very ripe and soft, mash them gently with a large fork, maintaining as much texture as possible. If your bananas are less ripe but still fragrant, mash with a fork until the mixture has texture but also some smoothness.
- Use a silicone spatula to fold the mashed bananas gently into the batter to avoid processing the bananas even further.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and smooth the top with a spatula dipped in water. If you're using the optional banana as a topping, place very thinly sliced bananas (cut lengthwise) on top of the smooth batter, sparingly.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven. Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Baking time will be about 50 minutes without the additional bananas on top, and about 1 hour with them. If the top is browning too quickly before the center is fully set, tent loosely with foil for the final 10–15 minutes.
- Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
Usually, that means your oven is running hot. The outside sets too fast, before the center can bake through. Use an oven thermometer to confirm your temp.
No—this recipe needs a structured blend. Try my almond flour banana bread instead. If you'd like an alternative flour but need to be nut-free, try our oat flour banana bread.
Yes! Try my gluten free banana muffins or divide the batter from this recipe into three 6×3-inch pans and bake for 25–30 minutes.
I am eager to try this bread and would like to substitute Earth Balance (which contains salt) for the unsalted butter in order to reduce the dairy content. Should I omit the 3/4 tsp. salt, or just reduce the amount?
I don’t recommend Earth Balance as it has much more moisture than butter. Please see the substitutions section for information on what I do recommend. Earth Balance is very salty, but I’m afraid I don’t know how much salt it has per tablespoon so I don’t know what to suggest. Sorry!
This is so moist and banana flavored! Better than my families regular recipe! I used miyoko butter substitute and forager non dairy sour cream, added walnuts (my fav) and this was absolutely moist and delicious! Had to stop eating it! Thank you Nicole!!
Love Miyoko’s vegan butter, Patty! So glad your dairy free subs worked so well.
Absolutely amazing banana bread! I made it exactly as written (using Better Batter)…weighed all the ingredients at room temperature, prepared it exactly as recommended, and baked in two small loaf pans instead of one big pan, added chopped walnuts to one loaf. The resulting bread was incredible! I made it for two friends who are gluten-free by choice for health issues, and they are not fans of store-bought GF breads nor of packaged GF baking mixes. I had told them of your website, which I just recently discovered, and I told them I would make the banana bread for them first to make sure they liked it. One loves walnuts and the other does not, thus the two small loaves. They each got their own loaf, and they could not believe this banana bread was GF! This couple does love to bake, and I gave them the recipe and your website address along with the bread. One other thing…I baked these loaves in my 1950’s Thermodore wall oven, and I always use an oven thermometer to be sure of the temp. Thank you for all you have researched, tested, created, and shared.
That’s so lovely of you to say, Julie! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and that you were able to share it. Thank you so much for the kind words, and I’m glad you found me! :)
I love this recipe! I didn’t have sour cream so I used plain yogurt and it turned out delicious. I also used Cup 4 Cup. One thing is for certain, this is a dense bread so I decided to put half of the batter in two bread pans and they turned out lighter and fluffier(a bit smaller but that’s ok).I also added 1 tsp cinnamon to the mix and also some crushed walnuts to the top. Thanks again!
So glad you enjoyed the banana bread. For the future, and for others’ benefit, plain yogurt of regular consistency is not a proper substitute for sour cream, Barbara. Greek yogurt is, which has significantly less moisture. That’s why your bread is dense. The recipe made as written isn’t particularly dense. If you don’t have Greek style plain yogurt, just strain regular plain yogurt until it’s the proper consistency.
This recipe is delicious. The bread came out moist even without the sour cream. I added some sugarfree condensed milk instead.
Very GOOD RX I found my-y oven was -25 degrees. Thanks for the tips.
Amazing, right? I feel like a separate oven thermometer should be sold with every new oven. :)
Well, I just put it in the oven! I had to use rice flour and cornstarch as I’m in the middle of nowhere right now. But it looks divine already. Thank you for the recipe :)
A simple mix of rice flour and cornstarch really isn’t an all purpose gluten free flour blend, so I wouldn’t recommend that! I do have a couple of recipes that use only rice flour, though. I’d try those!
I think the writer meant that she’s in an area where she doesn’t have immediate access to a store that sell gluten free ingredients. In our beautiful countries of Canada and the US there are lots of very small towns that are hours away from the typical stores found in bigger cities.
Sooo… I’m making this banana bread recipe today. Thanks for a recipe that’s going to make banana bread that has a beautiful crumb and great flavour.😊
This bread is delicious. I did not have sour cream so I used a 5 ounce container of vanilla greek yogurt. It is so moist.
Added vanilla flavor actually sounds nice, Donna. I normally don’t like baking with flavored yogurts at all, but the banana flavor in this bread is strong enough to handle it. So glad you loved it!
Anyone know if you can swap the granulated sugar for maple sugar? I’m assuming i would need to reduce the liquids…
If you’re referring to maple syrup, Steph, I’m afraid not. That would require a completely different recipe. And sugar is sugar!
Made this recipe w Cup4Cup Flour as 12 muffins…baked for 30 minutes and it came out perfectly. Topped six with chocolate chips and had to stop myself after I consumed 3. They were moist, flavorful but not too sweet…just as we like it. The recipe is a keeper and perfect when there are a couple of over ripe bananas. thank you!
Moist and flavorful, but not too sweet is a perfect description, Barbara! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.