A rich, chocolaty, crave-worthy vegan chocolate banana bread that also happens to be gluten-free...and SO easy to make!
Have you tried my coconut raisin banana bread yet? If you haven't, I highly recommend that you make it. And don't let the fact that raisins are part of that recipe turn you off, they can be omitted (but why would you want to leave them out?!)
That recipe is one of my favourites on this site. It's so easy to make, it tastes amazing, and the best part? No one would ever guess it's vegan and gluten free. The same can be said for this gluten free vegan chocolate banana bread.
Are you new to vegan gluten-free baking? If so, be sure to read all of my vegan gluten-free baking tips!
My youngest is actually the reason why I first made this recipe. It was a Sunday morning and I was trying to decide what to make for school snacks for the upcoming week. It was her suggestion to make chocolate banana bread.
She'd never had it before but thought it sounded like a good idea. Smart child. Because chocolate + banana is a great combo. Almost as good a combo as my favourite chocolate + mint!
Another reason why it was a good idea is because of all the overripe bananas I had sitting in my freezer. The part of the freezer I keep them in was overflowing, so banana bread making was the perfect idea for that day.
It's not just me that stores loads of overripe bananas in the freezer for future baking, right?
Ever since making it that first time, it has become a keeper recipe and vegan chocolate banana bread has become one of the more requested recipes for me to make. The kids love, I love it, and I hope you will, too!
As mentioned above, a loaf of vegan chocolate banana bread is perfect to make on the weekends to enjoy for snacks during the week. You can even have it for breakfast or at a brunch, even though it's like dessert!
It's rich, decadent, not overly sweet, and filled with deep chocolate flavour that any chocolate lover will appreciate. It's also fluffy...but at the same time, a little dense. I think that has to do with all the chocolate chips!
I know that doesn't really make sense (fluffy but dense?), so you'll have to make it yourself to see what I mean!
If you love the chocolate/banana flavour combo, be sure to check out my Chocolate Banana Coconut Chia Pudding recipe, another breakfast or snack idea that tastes like dessert!
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And if you prefer muffins instead of a loaf, be sure to check out my vegan gluten-free chocolate banana muffins recipe.
Check out these others you may also like!
- Chocolate Banana Cake
- Vegan Banana Pancakes
- Gluten-Free Banana Zucchini Bread
- Banana Waffles
- Banana Oat Pancakes
- Banana Blueberry Muffins
If you make it, please show me a picture on Instagram, I want to see! I'm @delightfuladventures over there!
Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
Suggested Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend **see important note about flour below**
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅔ cup coconut sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 ¾ cups pureed bananas (approximately 4 large bananas or 5 small)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease a 5" x 9" (1.5 quart) loaf pan.
- Prepare your flax eggs by whisking together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside to thicken.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- In a small bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, pureed bananas, vanilla, and flax mixture together.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour into greased loaf pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean. See note.
Recipe Notes:
- Baking times will vary slightly depending on your oven and the type of bakeware you use. I use a glass loaf dish when making this recipe and it takes 50 minutes. Start checking around the 50 minute mark and don't over bake.
- It's important to know that different gluten-free flour blends use different ingredients and ratios, so results will always vary if you substitute. I have never used any other brand of flour to make this recipe, other than Bob's Red Mill in the red bag, NOT the blue bag, so please know that your results may not be the same as mine if ingredients are substituted.
- This recipe will NOT work with coconut flour.
- Nutrition info listed below is for 1 of 12 slices of the recipe made as written and is only to be used as a rough guide. Click here for more info on how nutrition info on this website is determined.
Linsey says
Just made this today for breakfast. SO SO good! Definitely dense yet fluffy. I can’t believe how well it rose being G/F and vegan! Normally G/F vegan breads are pretty solid and don’t rise, so I was pleasantly surprised! It is 4 year old approved also. I don’t like things as sweet so I did 5 small bananas with only 1/3 cup of coconut sugar and it still turned out great! Yum! You haven’t failed us on a recipe yet.
Gwen Leron says
Getting approval from the little ones is a pretty important thing 🙂 I'm glad everyone loved it, Linsey! I also love hearing that you've liked everything you've tried so far, this makes me so happy. Thanks so much for taking the time to write your note!
Julie says
Good evening!
I just found your recipes and am so looking forward to trying this in addition to your applesauce! Both of which sound so incredibly yummy! I love delicious, gluten free snacks, treats and meals. For those who expressed using palm oil - please DO NOT use palm oil under any circumstances. Never Ever. There are so many other options. The demand for palm oil has become so horrifically destructive of so much land around the world in addition of so many lives of so many various and innocent wildlife animals. This might sound harsh. Unfortunately, the repercussion if human actions isn't very kind a lot of the time. Environmentally and in other ways
Gwen Leron says
Glad you found my website, Julie. Many people don't know about the effects of palm oil use, so thank you for sharing this!
Sherri says
What could I use instead of coconut oil? Palm oil?
Thanks!
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Sherri, any neutral flavoured oil will work to replace the coconut oil. I hope you like the recipe! 🙂
Vera says
Wow this is so good! I made it last night for my husband and can't stop eating it haha. He actually ate so much he couldn't eat dinner. 🙂 It's even better the second day - it's like all the flavor starts really developing and it gets thicker.
I'm not GF, so I don't mind using regular flour, but I used half rice flour and half unbleached all purpose for this and it came out amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Thank you, Vera! So, so happy to hear you and your husband like it! I *may* have run into that problem (being too full to eat dinner) because of some of my recipes 😉 And good to know that it worked well with your flour mix. Thanks for your note! 🙂
Anje says
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
You're very welcome!
Tina says
Hello,
this recipe looks amazing! thanks for sharing. I was wondering, can I use spelt flour for this?
Thank you
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Tina! I just published a recipe for spelt rolls (you can see it on the homepage) and I learned a lot about spelt flour while testing that recipe. You can make this recipe with spelt flour, but you will need to make some adjustments to the liquids, since spelt flour recipes need less liquid than regular recipes. I did test this one with all purpose flour, and it was perfect, but I have not tested it with spelt, so I am not 100% sure what the liquid measurements would have to be adjusted to. If you do try, come back and let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Jennie says
IHello,
I was wondering what chocolate chips you use? Are they dairy free? I have been looking for a vegan recipe like this for a while now...
Thanks
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Jennie, I use a couple dairy-free brands brands but the one I think that is most accessible and will be the easiest for you to find is by a brand call Enjoy Life. They make several types of chocolate to bake with (dark chocolate chips (what I use in this recipe), mini chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks). All of their products are dairy-free 🙂 You can find more info on their site here: https://enjoylifefoods.com/our-food/baking-chocolate/chocolate-for-baking-dark-chocolate-morsels/