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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Hi Michele ..I love your recipes!! I always end up on your website when it comes to any paleo baking ..can you please tell me which loaf pan you have used in this recipe ?
This bread has great flavor, but I also had the issue of it not getting done in the middle. I followed the recipe and used a metal loaf pan. It seemed gummy in the middle, and did not get any more done even though I kept adding on time, a total of 15 minutes.
I did let it sit and dry out, and it is edible and good. I will not make this again until I figure out what I need to change to make it turn out not so gummy.
Sometimes tapioca can create a slightly gummy texture, and it’s also possible one of the wet ingredients was slightly overmeasured, or the dry under-measured.
Truly amazing!! So flavorful!
Excellent recipe. Moist and hearty but not too dense.
This is hands down a family favorite! I have her cookbook full of incredible recipes (you need it!) but I just keep coming back for this one over and over again. My husband likes nuts in his bread so I do a topping of walnut pieces and it’s a great way to add a little crunch. So so good!
this was amazingg.
for anyone who cares, i did alter the sugar. i used granulated monk fruit g instead, put in half of her recommended amount, and still thought it was plenty sweet! so don’t be fearful of using less. my bananas were definitely on the pretty ripe side though, so that played a part. anyway, this is going to be a standby recipe for me, and i’m excited to play around with it more!
**monk fruit instead,
Can you sub a gluten-free flour blend for the almond and tapioca flours? Thanks!
Just starting the Paleo journey. Looking for breakfast and lunch options. Tried this receipe first – replaced maple sugar (allergy) with stevia and it turned out great!
Delicious! 5 stars in my book! Based on comments, I used an 8×8 pan and reduced the cooking time, checking at 30 minutes. I also added chopped pecans for texture. It is so yummy and moist. Keep the recipes coming! Many are staples in our house. I am sure this will become one too!
This looks delish, will be making it shortly. What is the substitution equivalent for maple syrup for maple sugar?
I would use 1/4 cup maple syrup, however you will need to increase the almond flour since you’re replacing a dry ingredient with wet. At least 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour, and up to 2 3/4 cups