This deliciously hearty yet soft and moist Paleo banana bread is made with no grains, dairy, and no added sugar. Β It’s gluten free, Paleo, sweetened only with bananas and perfect for breakfast or a snack with your favorite spread. Β Kid approved and easy to make!
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So…it’s not the first time I’ve posted a banana bread recipe on this site, that’s for sure. Β There’s the nut-free banana blueberry breakfast bread, almond butter chocolate chunk banana bread and cassava flour banana bread, to list just three. Β BUT, for whatever reason I always just assumed that to make banana bread truly what I wanted it to be, I had to add some sort of sweetener. Β The bananas couldn’t be enough, could they?
Well, as it turns out, banana-only sweetened banana bread can be just as delicious as any bread with added sweetener. Β My kids actually had no idea I did anything different with this bread and the two loaves I made were gone within a couple of days.
As usual, I had a few goals/rules in mind when approaching this bread. Β First, no added sweetener besides the bananas. Β Told you that one already, I know π Β Second, no nut butters. Β I LOVE nut butter and bananas together, and nut butters works really well in paleo breads, doing the job of eggs, oil, and even leavening in my opinion.
But, sometimes we need to let our nut butters rest, because let’s face it – using 1/2 or 3/4 cup of our precious (and pricy) nut butter on a banana bread isn’t always desirable. Β Almond flour is pricy enough, adding nut butters on and the loaf starts to seem…not worth it, perhaps.
With this recipe the ingredients are simple – way overripe bananas (the softer/browner the better for this one), coconut oil (refined or unrefined) a grain free flour mixture of almond and tapioca, cinnamon, salt, leavening agent. Β To get a bit of a better rise on this bread, I used a homemade paleo baking powder made of baking soda and cream of tartar, however feel free to use regular baking powder if you aren’t concerned with keeping this paleo in the strictest sense.
On the topic of rise, make sure you don’t make this bread (or any other quick bread) in a blender or with an electric mixer. Simply stir the dry ingredients into the wet until you get a lumpy batter with no flour spots – no need to try to make it smooth – in fact doing so will ensure you get a flat bread. Β The bread will have great texture and rise to it if you’re nice and lazy with your mixing π
I went totally “naked” with this bread with just the addition of a bit of cinnamon for flavor, but feel free to add any of your favorite mix-ins, including chopped nuts, chocolate chips, blueberries, cranberries, or anything else you can think of. Β It’s a great basic paleo banana bread recipes that’s quite forgiving, versatile, and always delicious!
It’s perfect toasted with a little butter or nut butter (oops, nut butter again) and good totally plain, too. Β I recommend storing it loosely covered at room temperature for the first day, and covered in the refrigerator after that. Β You can also freeze the loaf and defrost in the refrigerator once reader to eat.
I hope you guys are ready to bake something super easy, tasty and satisfying! Β Preheat your oven and peel your bananas! Β Let’s go!
Hearty Paleo Banana Bread {Banana Sweetened}
Hearty Paleo Banana Bread {Sweetened with Bananas Only!}
Ingredients
- 4 small/med very overripe bananas or 3 larger ones, mashed well
- 4 large eggs room temp
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1 3/4 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder or make your own paleo baking powder*
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
Instructions
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Whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a medium loaf pan with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and mashed bananas, then vanilla and coconut oil until well combined.
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Slowly stir the dry mixture into the wet (donβt use an electric mixer - you will overmix the batter and prevent it from rising properly) just until moistened and no visible flour remains.
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Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the loaf pan resting on a wire rack, then remove using the parchment paper to help you, slice and serve. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
*To make paleo-friendly (corn free) baking powder, mix 1 tsp baking soda with 2 tsp cream of tartarfollow. For this recipe, you will need just 1/2 tsp total of this mixture.
Nutrition
What I Used to Make My Paleo Banana Bread:
Want more delicious Paleo quick breads? Β Try One of These!
Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bread {Nut Free}
Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
Hearty Cinnamon Raisin Breakfast Bread
Simple Pumpkin Breakfast Bread
Double Chocolate Tahini Banana Muffins
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I have two internet rules: 1. Never read the comments, 2. unless itβs a recipe, then always read the comments. Glad I read the comments! This banana bread turned out delicious! It was so moist I almost thought it wasnβt fully cooked – but it was! It rose so nicely and turned a lovely golden. My husband liked it so much he went and promptly bought more bananas. I made it exactly to the recipe. We love our banana breads with peanut butter. ?
I followed the recipe and measured everything exactly. The flavor was fine but the bread remained βwetβ inside even though a toothpick came out clean. Is this the correct texture? I will try making it again, any suggestions to correct the amount of moisture?
I made this yesterday and just tried a slice right now to “really” test the bread (best way is to let sit overnight and taste after a few hours so you give quick breads a chance to settle in their flavors and textures). I am an experienced conventional baker but this was one of my first tries at paleo baking. Here are a few thoughts if it matters to anyone reading the comments (I read through pretty much all of them here to gain experience and learn from others):
1) Texture for me is great – thanks to another reviewer who commented on making sure that the batter is of a certain texture. I used a dinner fork to mix my wet & dry ingr and left the final batter VERY lumpy. I might try next time to make sure my batter is even a bit drier (or simply add 2 tbspns of coconut flour which should dry up the ultra moistness in the bread).
2) I spooned and leveled all my flours and am not sure if that is how its done with paleo flours (I always bake with weighed ingredients) – Michele, pls consider giving weights and measurements – this would make it so easy for bakers to get the correct consistency of all your baked goods.
3) My 8.5×4.5 pan baked for about 75-mins (of which the last 30-mins were tented). The top got a deep brown crisp and the middle was cooked through properly.
4) Sweetness is fine overall with using 3 large’ish bananas. I might add a small amount of added sugar if I am making for the family. My bananas were extremely ripe and mushy – the flavor is amazing!
5) I am def going to try other recipes from your blog Michele – you’re doing great work here. Thank you in advance and look forward to enjoying this bread and many others!
I made this last night using unsweetened applesauce instead of the eggs (about 3-4 tbsp per egg), and realized it needed way more baking time because of the extra liquid. I probably baked it total for about 1 hr 15 min until I got impatient π and took it out. At that time, the toothpick in the center came out almost clean. But when I went to cut a piece after it cooled, it was all still mushy inside. But really good! I’m calling it a “banana bread pudding” and eating it anyway! Next time I’m going to use much less applesauce or try the gelatin egg method, to cut down on the liquid. Thanks for the recipe!
Complete wonderful
I made this bread! I used gluten free flour instead of the tapioca because I couldnβt find that. It was delicious!!!
This was my favorite Paleo Banana bread recipe so far! No sweetener needed and it wasn’t flat like other’s I have made (it rose to the top of the pan! I added some walnuts and cinnamon on the top and it was delicious! Perfect post run treat!
That was soooooo good! Love it. I added chuncks of dark chocolate yum yum
I made this with 2 flax eggs and 2 regular eggs and it didnβt rise at all. It was maybe 2 inches tall- not like the photo at all! Iβve never had issues with flax eggs in baking before but it was the only change I made here and the end result definitely wasnβt as planned. (But still very tasty!)
My kids didnβt like. Too much egg. They actually said it tasted more like egg than bread.