This is the best gluten free vegan banana bread you’ll ever make. It’s perfectly moist, soft and squishy, and it’s incredibly easy to make, no egg replacements needed. With gorgeous caramelised edges, a nicely domed top and a beautiful flavour with subtle caramel undertones, it’ll be a hit with everyone, even non-vegan and non-gluten free folks.
INGREDIENTS
● 3 medium bananas, finely mashed (about 350g peeled weight, 1½ cups mashed)
● 1 tbsp lemon juice
● 115 g (1 stick, ½ cup) vegan butter, melted and cooled until warm (I used the Stork vegan butter block that’s available in the UK. However, most firm vegan/dairy free butter blocks will work well.)
● 150 g (¾ cup) light brown sugar
● 40 g (3 tbsp) unsweetened plain or Greek-style vegan yoghurt, room temperature
● ½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
● 240 g (2 cups) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour that doesn’t have any xanthan gum added. You can also mix your own gluten free flour blend using this recipe. Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a kitchen scale for best results.)
● 2 tsp baking powder
● ¾ tsp baking soda
● ½ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan gum.)
● ½ tsp salt
● ½ tsp ground cinnamon
● ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
● 90-120 g (¾-1 cup) toasted pecans, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
1.Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line a 2lb/900g (9×5-inch/23x13cm) loaf baking tin with parchment/baking paper.
2.In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas with lemon juice, and then add the melted vegan butter, light brown sugar, vegan yoghurt and vanilla. Whisk everything together until well combined.
3.In a separate bowl, whisk together the plain gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4.Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk well until you get a smooth batter with no flour clumps (though you might have a few small banana pieces in there, depending on how well you mashed them).
5.Fold in the chopped toasted pecans until they’re evenly distributed in the batter.
Tip: You can reserve some of the chopped pecans for scattering on top of the batter before baking, if you wish.
6.Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth out the top. If you’ve set aside any chopped pecans, scatter them over the top.
7.Bake in the pre-heated oven at 375ºF (190ºC) for about 1 hour – 1 hour 10 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick/skewer/cake tester comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached.
If the banana bread starts browning too quickly, cover it with a sheet of aluminium foil (shiny side up) and continue baking until done. It’s best to cover it with aluminium foil when it starts becoming a deep golden colour.
8.Once baked, allow it to cool in the loaf tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer it out of the tin and onto a wire rack to cool.
9.The banana bread is best served warm or cooled completely to room temperature.
10.Storage: The gluten free vegan banana bread keeps well in a closed container in a cool dry place for 3-4 days.