Gluten-free double chocolate banana bread

Gluten-free double chocolate banana bread

double chocolate banana bread top

I made this double chocolate banana bread with my neighbour Suzie in mind. She is always happy to take any baked goods off my hands and loves chocolate and bananas. Her (cheeky 😉 ) passing comment about how my healthy banana muffins would benefit from some chocolate gave me an idea to combine both flavours into the next recipe 🙂 .

As expected, Suzie loved it! And so did we – the whole loaf disappeared in an embarrassingly short time.

Apart from being our cake taster in chief, Suzie is also the best cat rescuer there is. In the 2.5 years I’ve known her, she must have saved about 100 cats. Her house is purring with close to 20 cats (and two puppies to balance things out) that she saved and couldn’t part with.

Every time there is a cat emergency, Suzie is always happy to get involved, share her amazing experience and knowledge and, as you can imagine, plenty of funny cat stories too. In these difficult times full of hate and misery, let’s all be more like Suzie (minus her advanced chocolate addiction 😉 ). Being kind may be harder but it’s so much more rewarding…

double chocolate banana bread before baking

double chocolate banana bread top

double chocolate banana baked

double chocolate banana cut

double chocolate banana with coffee

makes
1 large loaf
PREP
20 min
COOKING
65 min
makes
1 large loaf
PREPARATION
20 min
COOKING
65 min
INGREDIENTS
WET INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tsp ground chia (or flax) (with 2 tbsp water)
  • 360 ml / 1½ cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
  • 120 ml / ½ cup any plant milk
  • 90 ml / ¼ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
  • 180 g / 1 scant cup sugar (I used demerara)
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup espresso or strong coffee*

DRY INGREDIENTS

  • 120 g / 1 cup buckwheat flour**
  • 35 g / ¼ cup rice flour
  • 25 g / scant ¼ cup cornflour / cornstarch
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 120 g / 1 heaped cup cacao (I used raw)
  • ¼ tsp fine sea salt
  • 100 g / 2/3 cup vegan chocolate chips or chocolate, diced small
  • chopped hazelnuts, for decoration
METHOD
  1. Mix ground chia seeds (or flax seeds) with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside for it to become gelatinous. Make an espresso or a cup of strong coffee.
  2. Place all of the dry ingredients (except for chocolate and hazelnuts) in a medium mixing bowl. Mix really well with a hand whisk.
  3. Place well mashed bananas, coconut milk, olive oil, sugar, cooled coffee and the chia egg in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Place a sieve over the large bowl and sift ¼ of the mixed dried ingredients into the wet ones. Mix them in after sifting and continue until you’ve used up all the dry ingredients (sifting helps getting rid of any lumps in cacao, for example).
  5. Heat up the oven to 175° C / 350° F and brush a loaf tin with a small amount of oil.
  6. Mix all the ingredients well together. As this is a gluten-free batter, you don’t need to worry about over mixing, but if you’ve used wheat flour instead, mix gently and be careful not to over mix. Stir chocolate chips or chunks into the batter.
  7. Transfer the batter to the loaf tin and sprinkle the top with hazelnuts.
  8. Bake in a pre-heated oven (on a shelf that’s one notch lower than the middle one) for about 65-70 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool before removing from the tin and slicing. Use a serrated knife to slice.

NOTES
* Sub coffee with almond milk, watered down coconut milk or even water if you cannot have / don’t like coffee, although the coffee flavour doesn’t come through, promise! It’s simply there to bring out more chocolate flavour.

** If you don’t care about making this bread gluten-free, skip buckwheat and rice flours, cornflour / cornstarch and chia / flax egg and use 180 g / 1½ cup regular white wheat flour instead. Be super careful not to overmix the batter as the cake will come out tough.

Dimensions of my loaf tin are 23 cm / 9 in x 9 cm / 3.5 in x 5.5 cm / 2 in. For a 2 lb / 900 g tin, use ¾ of this recipe and adjust baking time slightly.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
282
14%
sugars
24 g
26%
fats
12 g
17%
saturates
3 g
15%
proteins
5 g
10%
carbs
43 g
17%
*per serving
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5.0
4 reviews, 13 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Marta:
I made this several times, with and without coffee, changing type of milk and type of starch. I even made a marbled version...always good!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Marta, I am so pleased to hear that you made it so many times and so many variations and that it still came out so well. That's music to my ears - thank you for taking the time to let me know. x Ania
Fay Fernandes:
Thank you for your quick response. I guess I'll know soon and will write the result here :)
Fay:
Hi Ania,
I have a gluten free flour that already has 1.60% sodium bicarbonate and disodium pyrophosphate. Do i still need to add the baking powder and baking soda as your recipe says or add a tiny bit?
Please help
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Fay,
    I would love to help but I am not sure. Never came across this. Quick Google search reveals that 'disodium pyrophosphate' is a preserving agent rather than a raising agent so I would definitely add baking powder. As for baking soda, it's hard to say, maybe a tiny bit (0.25 tsp) just to be on the safe side or skip it this time and you'll know for the next time. Ania
Ines:
This is the best cake I've ever baked!!! Thank you so much! I am a big fan. Cheers from Portugal
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much, Ines! I'm so chuffed to hear that! Ania
Melani:
Can i use xanthan gum instead of chia seed and how many tsp would that be? Thanks
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Melani,
    I'm guessing (as I haven't tried it in this particular recipe) that it will be fine and I would use about 1 tsp. Hope that helps! Ania
Iwona:
Ania, does the recipe call for 1 or 2 eggs subs? Would you use aqua faba for this? Is so how many tbsp?
thanks
    Ania
    Ania:
    Cześć Iwona,
    Bananas are a great natural egg replacement in vegan recipes so you don't need to use aquafaba. I used a bit of chia eggs to ensure that the bread holds together despite gluten-free flour so if that's what you want to replace, you could use equivalent amount (2 tbsp) of reduced AF instead. Hope that helps! Ania
Kathryn:
This looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing : )
Kathryn
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Kathryn! :)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine:
O this sounds absolutely perfect!! Breakfast, snack, and dessert ;) I'd just eat the whole loaf in a day myself!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Rebecca! To be honest, if my partner wasn't here to stop me, I would too ;)
Katrin:
Ania! You are a mind-reading food-wizard! Chocolaty comfort food is just what the doctor ordered in a dark grey November after going through a few exceptionally difficult weeks. Will get cooking now!
    Ania
    Ania:
    So glad to hear :) Hope you'll make it and love it - just remember to measure things this time ;) !! Btw, I used the baking tin you gave me for this one, thanks so much!! x
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