This gluten free and paleo zucchini banana bread is soft and tender, moist, cake-like and has just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect for breakfast toasted and slathered with almond butter or for an afternoon snack. Experiment with adding your favorite mix-ins to this simple grain free, dairy free quick bread!
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A good easy quick bread might just be my favorite thing to bake. Or maybe chocolate chip cookies? I admit it’s hard to choose.
But no matter what your favorite thing is, I’m sure you’ll agree baking an easy bread at home is something special. Especially when it involves banana. Or zucchini! And we are lucking out today because (as suggested in the title ;)) this one has both!
I’ve been meaning to bake a zucchini banana bread all summer. After all, they’re amazing separately and probably even better together! The banana adds moisture, sweetness, and flavor to your typical zucchini bread.
I added some maple sugar to sweeten it more (you can use coconut sugar as well) giving it an almost cake-like flavor. So simple and delicious! A thick slices toasted and slathered with almond butter is absolute heaven.
But let’s back up and talk ingredients. I used a combination of blanched almond and tapioca flour to get the texture of the bread just right. The bread rises just like a traditional quick bread and gets extra tenderness and “chew” from the tapioca.
Since we’re using both bananas and zucchini, barely any oil is needed. I used just 2 Tbsp of coconut oil to give the bread extra moistness. That plus eggs, vanilla, and the bananas are the only wet ingredients needed.
One tip for great results with any zucchini bread is to make sure the shredded zucchini is well drained. I always squeeze it between a double layer of paper towel before beginning, and let it air dry until adding it in to get rid of as much moisture as possible.
Even after getting the water out, the zucchini adds just enough moisture to the bread to make it perfect. I decided not to add any mix-ins, BUT this bread would be perfect with some chopped nuts, dark chocolate chunks, or both!
I CANNOT wait for you to try this zucchini banana bread for yourself! Tough to believe it’s gluten free, dairy free, paleo, and made with fruits and veggies (!!) Get that zucchini shredded and start mashing your bananas because it’s time to bake – let’s go!
Zucchini Banana Bread {Paleo, GF, DF}
Zucchini Banana Bread {Paleo, GF, DF}
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed bananas 2 large or 3 small
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/3 cup maple sugar
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil refined, melted
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder see note to make homemade paleo baking powder, if desired
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini squeezed between two paper towels to remove excess water (drain before measuring)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350° F and line an 8.5” x 4.5” (or similar sizloaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on each side for easy removal.
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Make sure your zucchini is shredded and drained before beginning. In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana with the eggs, maple sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla.
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In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, cinnamon, baking powder (see notbaking soda, and salt. Stir the dry mixture into the wet until fully combined. Fold in the drained zucchini to evenly distribute.
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Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 50 minutes, or until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center of the loaf comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
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Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then use the parchment paper to remove the loaf from the pan and continue to cool to room temp on a wire rack. Store loosely covered for the first day, then cover and refrigerate to keep longer. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Note: To make paleo friendly (corn free) baking powder, mix 1 tsp baking soda with 2 tsp cream of tartar. For this recipe, you’ll need 1 tsp total of this mixture.
Nutrition
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Want More Paleo Quick Bread Recipes? Try One of These!
Hearty Paleo Banana Bread {Sweetened with Bananas Only}
Double Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Paleo Banana Bread with Almond Butter
Cinnamon Raisin Banana Muffins
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread {Nut Free}
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Have you made this in silicon muffin tins? I don’t have a bread pan. Thanks
I LOVE all of your recipes by the way
Can you use cassava flour in this recipe?
I’ve made this 3 times and it won’t cook in the middle. Using a glass loaf pan.
#1 frozen bananas and maple syrup, added tons of time but still wet.
#2 fresh bananas and maple syrup, added tons of time but still wet inside
#3 fresh bananas and serve sweetener, added over 50 minutes extra amd it’s still wet inside
Squeezed zucchini out extremely well the last time. Batter seems fine. Rises well, golden brown on top but wet, wet inside. I love the ingredients and flavor but we can’t eat soggy bread.
Please help!
Hi Michelle. I think the issue could be partially the glass pan, but mostly due to the fact that you are using a liquid sweetener when the recipe calls for a granulated sweetener. Coconut sugar would work as the alternative to maple sugar she uses in the recipe. I’m not sure how the low-carb sweeteners like Swerve would act in a recipe like this because I don’t use them. Go for the granulated sugar and see if that works!
I haven’t tried this in a glass loaf pan so it might need a different temperature or longer time, I’m not sure.
It does say to use maple sugar not maple syrup. That may be why it’s too moist
Another great recipe! I cooked mine for 8 minutes longer than recommended. It still didn’t look quite done, but by the time it cooled and I went to cut it it looked perfectly fine. Great texture and it tasted delicious!
The best recipe! I will never use another recipe ever again besides this one! My family loved it, too!
any chance i can sub eggs for flax eggs??
Hi Michelle. I think the issue could be partially the glass pan, but mostly due to the fact that you are using a liquid sweetener when the recipe calls for a granulated sweetener. Coconut sugar would work as the alternative to maple sugar she uses in the recipe. I’m not sure how the low-carb sweeteners like Swerve would act in a recipe like this because I don’t use them. Go for the granulated sugar and see if that works!
Made this today working from home while in corona times and it’s really good. Will make it again. I did dry the zucchini quite well. Substituted butter for the coconut oil as mine was expired and wasn’t the refined kind. It is moist in the middle, but not wet. Looking forward to toasting a slice and eating with a little butter! Mmm.
I absolutely love this bread! It was delicious and a huge hit in my house! I want to make it again but we are running low on eggs. I have apple sauce and whole flax seeds. Would either of these be acceptable as an egg replacement? Thanks!
Can I leave out the sugar all together?
It is a perfect recipe, you don’t miss any f the bad stuff. I use coconut sugar for the maple sugar and add walnuts to the top. The bread rises as if you’re using wheat flour and white refined sugar. This reminds me of the Starbucks zucchini bread, but better! Thanks for the awesome recipe!