I’ll be the first to admit that gluten-free baking is tougher than baking with flour. Instead of just wheat you have a hundred different varieties of flour and starches to work with and if you’ve never used them before you have no idea how they work in recipes. It’s a hassle.
I’m always drawn to making recipes that use just one type of flour because I don’t like to have to go out and buy 6 or 7 to make a single loaf of bread. This recipe only uses brown rice flour, which is a gluten-free whole grain flour that bakes well and doesn’t overpower any of the other flavors. You’ll have a hard time telling this bread is gluten-free.
I used Bob’s Red Mill’s brown rice flour for this recipe which is the least grainy I’ve found and has a great texture when baked. In baking, weight’s always the most reliable measure so if you can
Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Ingredients(Makes 1 loaf):
- 2 large bananas
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups(240 grams) brown rice flour
- 1/2 Tablespoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup water
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Mash the bananas until they’re completely smooth.
- In a large bowl, stir together the bananas, eggs, sugar, peanut butter, and oil until mixed.
- Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate chips and stir.
- Slowly add the water until the batter has a loose consistency.
- Grease a 9-inch loaf pan.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes until the center has set.
- Remove from the oven and let the loaf cool before cutting in.
I found my loaf got stale sitting on the counter after a day but microwaving a slice for 60 seconds between two paper towels made it taste fresh out of the oven.
I haven’t baked w/ brown rice flour in ages, thank you for the reminder to add this back into rotation. I’ve been using a mix of almond meal, flax seed meal & coconut flour lately. Smells delish. 🙂
Definitely saving this recipe for friends/future clients. I’ve talked to a lot of people with celiac who are so frustrated with how expensive it can be to make a single GF recipe (due to having to buy so many flours, etc.). It looks delicious!
Do you think this recipe could be baked as muffins instead of a loaf?? How would that affect cooking time do you think? Looks amazing!
I’m not sure if they would rise much in a muffin tin but you could definitely give it a shot! Maybe used baking powder instead and add a little more.
Totally made muffins! I subbed 1tbs of baking powder for the baking soda to get a good rise and applesauce for the oil and they were delicious.
I have young children who enjoy the banana bread and love to have it as a healthy snack for school. The only problem is that schools in my area are now peanut-free due to life-threatening allergies. Can the peanut butter be eliminated from the recipe? If so, how would it alter the consistency and cooking time. Could/should it be replaced with another ingredient?
You could use an almond butter or soynut butter instead.
Do you think regular butter/Earth balance could work instead of nut butter?
I do not think so since the nut butter adds a bit of structure to the bread once baked.
Could I use honey instead of sugar?
I think that that would be a fine substitution. You might want to use a couple tablespoons less water to account for the extra moisture though.
Whenever I use brown rice flour in bread baking the bread never gets done. It’s always gooey in the center, even with baking for a longer time
Thanks for this!
Ive altered it slightly with less sugar (120g instead of 170), another banana and no water. I’m diabetic and lactose intolerant so I substituted the chocolate for walnut pieces but its awesome!
Its slightly more savoury but i like it very much 🙂
Use ripper bananas and you don’t need sugar . I never use sugar .
Oh my gosh so goood. Sooo moist!