Gluten free and refined sugar free, this paleo banana bread still feels indulgent. With a great texture, it’s a tasty breakfast treat or snack.
I keep one and a half lists of recipe ideas at any given time. One and a half at the moment, but I’m slowly merging the two for simplicity’s sake. “Merging” the lists mainly means that I’m working through what’s left on one so I can go paperless for my recipe idea tracking. One of the items on my little paper list though, is a good gluten free banana bread. The more I thought about it though, the more I decided I had to make a paleo banana bread and not just a gluten free banana bread. First of all, I make some really good paleo baked goods, and second because why not? In my opinion, natural sweeteners make for a better banana bread anyway.
I’m actually really proud of this recipe. It’s moist, has a nice texture and gorgeous crumb, and isn’t super sweet. The banana shines through perfectly. Of course, you can always dress it up with a bit of dark chocolate or some nuts, but this is a great basic paleo banana bread recipe that gives you the option to get creative. Oh, it also freezes incredibly well once sliced.
There is a rather long baking time to get the best results, so plan ahead. After testing in a few different pans, I’d recommend a glass or metal loaf pan over stone. If you only have stone, you might want to double the parchment paper layer lining the pan to prevent excess browning. Gluten free baked goods tend to cook faster and brown much quicker than their gluten-containing counterparts, and after testing in all 3, I felt I got less excess browning in glass.
There are two tricks to getting the best paleo banana bread results. First, you don’t want to skip whipping the egg whites. You’ll want the extra air to help provide a nice lift to your bread and prevent it from being dense. Second, You’ll want to “tent” the loaf partway through baking to prevent excess browning. If you’ve ever baked a pie before, you’re familiar with this technique. Tenting is basically when you cover a baked good with aluminum foil part way through baking to allow the center of the dish to continue baking while preventing the top or edges from browning further. If you don’t tent, you’ll end up with a banana bread loaf that looks overdone up top, or you risk removing the loaf too early and having it sink in the center. I baked so many loaves testing different ingredient ratios and methods to avoid the dreaded sink, and tenting helped immensely.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! It’s rather wonderful any time of year, but it’s a nice treat to sneak into the holiday baking as a more wholesome sweet breakfast option. 😉
Paleo Banana Bread
Gluten free and refined sugar free, this paleo banana bread still feels indulgent. With a great texture, it's a tasty breakfast treat or snack.
Ingredients
- 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed, 300 g
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 eggs, separated
- 2 1/2 cups almond meal, 280 g
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup, 84 g
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (177 C/ mark 4) and line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside
- In a medium mixing bowl, whip the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, mash together the banana and lemon juice until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.
- Fold the egg whites into the banana batter and then pour into your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake the bread 50-55 minutes until the center springs back lightly when touched and a tester comes out clean. Tent with aluminum foil at the 35 minute mark to prevent excess browning.
Notes
I've made this recipe using both honey and maple syrup, my family preferred the version with the honey, but use what you have on hand.
