This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This super tender almond flour banana bread recipe is made with the perfect combination of almond flour and coconut flour, three bananas and just enough added sweetness. Taste like the “real” thing, and it's naturally gluten free!
Why I love this recipe
- The perfect texture: With the right type of blanched almond flour and a bit of coconut starch, plus 3 eggs, this banana bread has a tender crumb that isn't crumbly or greasy.
- Just sweet enough: Ripe bananas are plenty sweet, so we only need to add a bit of pure maple syrup and less than 1/2 cup of sugar.
- Really satisfying: The richness of almond flour makes baked goods so filling without weighing you down—and filling you up just enough with one slice at a time. No carb hangover like can happen if you make banana bread with wheat flour!
- Tastes really “regular”: Even though it's not made with an all purpose flour, you still just taste tender, fragrant, flavorful banana bread.
Key ingredients & substitution suggestions
- Almond flour: the main component of this recipe, it must be the kind that has a fine texture made of almonds that have had their skins removed, or blanched. I really like these brands: Wellbee's, Blue Diamond, nuts.com, Costco's Kirkland brand
- Coconut flour: the fiber in coconut flour helps provide some structure and helps absorb some of the moisture in the almond flour. You can replace this with 1/2 cup (70 grams) tapioca starch/flour, but the bread will be more fragile.
- Bananas: use the ripest bananas you can find, and measure out 300 grams of peeled bananas to mash for sweetness, structure, moisture, and of course the flavor of banana bread.
- Eggs: provide structure, rise, and help bind the flours together. If you're egg-free, you can try using 3 “chia eggs” in place of 3 eggs (3 tablespoons ground white chia seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons lukewarm water), but I'm really not sure that would work. You can also try using flax eggs, if you're used to baking with them, although they'll add a competing flavor.
- Melted butter: adds moisture, richness, and flavor. If you're dairy-free, use virgin coconut oil.
- Baking powder: adds rise in this quick bread.
- Salt: brings out the other flavors and balances sweetness.
- Cinnamon: adds depth of flavor and aroma to the bread.
- Maple syrup or honey: adds sweetness, depth of flavor and extra moisture.
- Granulated sugar: adds sweetness, tenderness and helps the loaf brown in the oven.
How to make almond flour banana bread
Mix the wet ingredients and add the dry
Begin by mashing peeled ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter, eggs, maple syrup, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and coconut flour, and whisk to combine well. Then add the almond flour.
Transfer to a pan, and bake until firm
Mix in the almond flour to form a very soft dough. Scrape the dough into a greased and parchment paper-lined loaf pan, and smooth into an even layer. Bake for 50 minutes at 350°F or until the loaf feels firm to the touch on top. If needed, reduce the oven temperature to no more than 325°F to finish baking until done.
Recipe tips & tricks
Bake slowly
Almond flour has a tendency to burn if you bake it at high temperatures, in a dark pan, or for too long. If your oven has a tendency to run hot, like mine does, use a standalone oven thermometer, or just lower the temperature a bit so the bread doesn't burn on the outside before it bakes all the way through.
Line your baking pan
I have seen almond flour baked goods stick to even brand new nonstick baking pans, so be sure to lightly grease and line your loaf pan with parchment paper. Let the paper overhand the edges, too, so you can use them to lift the bread out of the pan.
Choose your almond flour carefully
There are a lot of brands of almond flour to choose from, but not all of them work consistently well or well at all. Make sure you are using a superfinely ground almond flour, not almond meal, and choose from one of a few really good brands. Unfortunately, Bob's Red Mill's superfine almond flour is really inconsistent in quality, so sometimes it works great, and other times, baked goods come out very oily. Here are the brands I like:
- Wellbee's superfine almond flour (I buy it on Amazon.com)
- Nuts.com super-fine almond flour
- Blue Diamond finely sifted almond flour (I find it at my local grocery store, or Amazon)
- Kirkland superfine blanched almond flour (Costco's house brand)
Frequently asked questions
This banana bread recipe is grain free, but it has butter, which is dairy, and refined white sugar. To make it Paleo, replace the granulated sugar with coconut palm sugar and the melted butter with melted virgin coconut oil.
No! Almond meal is much more coarsely ground than almond flour, and is made with almonds that haven't been blanched to remove the skins. It doesn't combine well or blend smoothly like almond flour.
I haven't tried to make muffins with this batter, but I think it would work. Just use a standard 12-cup muffin tin, lined with muffin tin liners, and fill each of the wells 3/4 of the way full. Bake them at 325°F for about 22 minutes, but it may take less time. Or, you could try use our recipe for almond flour banana muffins instead.
Did you use almond meal instead of almond flour or make other ingredient substitutions? If you didn't use a finely ground and/or sifted almond flour, the bread will be more fragile, and more oily. Otherwise, it may not have baked all the way through. Try slicing it, handling the individual slices carefully and placing them in the toaster oven at 325°F to finish baking until firmer.
Check the date of your baking powder. If it wasn't fresh, it won't provide the proper rise and almond flour tends to be heavy so it really needs fresh leaveners. Did you try to use an egg replacer and it didn't work. A lot of the rise comes from the eggs. If the bread rose in the oven and then sank as it cooled, your oven was probably too hot so the outside cooked before the inside had a chance to set all the way through.
Storage and refreshing
After you have baked and cooled the bread, you can store it in a sealed container, sliced or unsliced, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
For longer storage, wrap slices individually in freezer-safe wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and refresh in a 300°F toaster oven for a minute or two or just toast for a regular toasting cycle.
Almond Flour Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 (300 g) peeled small ripe bananas
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled briefly
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons (63 g) maple syrup, or honey
- ⅜ cup (75 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup (28 g) coconut flour
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) finely ground blanched almond flour, (not almond meal)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the bananas, and mash them fully with a fork.
- Add the melted butter, eggs, syrup or honey, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and coconut flour, and whisk to combine. The mixture will be relatively thin.
- Add the almond flour and mix to combine fully. The batter will be very soft.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it into an even layer. Score the raw loaf down the center with a butter knife or offset spatula.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the top is relatively firm to the touch and the loaf is golden brown all over.
- If the loaf still isn’t firm on top, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and continue to bake until done (usually about another 10 minutes). A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf may continue to come out seeming a bit tacky even when the loaf is done baking, but be sure the center feels firm to the touch.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the bread to cool undisturbed for about 10 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely, without the pan liner.
- Slice thickly, and serve. Store leftover slices in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- For longer storage, wrap slices individually in freezer-safe wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and refresh in the toaster oven for less than 1 minute.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you think we could add chopped walnuts to recipe without issue?
Hi, KQ, good question. I think that would work fine as long as they’re finely chopped, and you don’t add too many of them. Like maybe 4 ounces? It will make the bread a little less stable, but it shouldn’t be a real problem.
You are so good to Mare!! :) it looks yummy too!
So funny, Jennifer! :)