Chocolate Banana Bread (gluten-free, dairy-free, xanthan-free)
The marriage of chocolate and bananas is truly divine. This bread is light, yet rich with chunks of sweet banana melting in your mouth with every bite. Have a slice with your breakfast smoothie or as a mid-afternoon snack, but our favorite is always fresh out of the oven! Or, try pairing a slice of this bread with a mug of Dairy-Free Hot Cocoa on a cold snowy day.
I use teff flour in this bread. If you have not figured it out already, you'll know I'm a big fan of teff! You can view all of my teff recipes on this blog if you'd like. I buy large paper bags of the flour for around $40 from Azure Standard. Before my friends and I started a buying club through Azure, I bought it directly from The Teff Company (Azure sells the same brand).
Chocolate Banana Bread
When you have a few bananas that have ripened too much, make banana bread! This recipe is moist and delicious and will satisfy any chocolate cravings! If you'd like more chocolate, add about a ½ cup of dark chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
To grind chia seeds, use the dry container of your Vitamix. A coffee grinder (not used for grinding coffee beans) will work too. I grind enough at once to use for one week. I store the ground seeds in a glass jar in my refrigerator to have on hand for different recipes. The ground chia helps to bind the ingredients together without the use of ingredients like xanthan gum.
Dry Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
Optional Additions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 4.5x8.5-inch bread pans with coconut oil or grapeseed oil.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In a separate mixing bowl add the ground chia and warm water; whisk together immediately so the chia doesn’t clump up. Then add the remaining wet ingredients and whisk together.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together using a large wooden spoon.
- Pour batter into the two bread pans. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Cool for about 20 minutes and then remove bread from pans and continue to cool on a wire rack.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
Email updates.
Add Comment
Comments
I’ve been getting feedback not to use coconut oil when cooking as it can contribute to heart disease?? What are your thoughts and what oil could I substitute??
Hi Carol,
Most people do fine with unrefined coconut products (though these foods may negatively affect a small number of people just like any food group can). Unrefined coconut oil can be part of a healthy Mediterranean diet and contribute to the prevention of heart disease for the majority of people, as long as it is part of a balanced diet rich in vegetables, fiber, and other healthy fats (like olive oil, walnuts, and fatty cold water fish). If you find that coconut oil doesn't work for you, then substitute it with avocado oil or olive oil for baking recipes.
Do you think these would bake well into muffins/cupcakes?
I just made this bread tonight and it was a hit however it had a very gritty texture. It feels like I'm chewing on sand. Is this how Teff flour normally tastes or do I need to find a better quality teff flour?
Can I replace cocoa for cacao powder?
Delicious! I need to make a double back next time.
Beautiful cake and photography.....i like it soooooooooo much........thanks
Thanks for this recipe. I just finished making it into muffins. It worked great! It's a wonderful recipe, one I'll keep and make again.
Do you know about the coconut sugar that Azure sells? The brand is Earth Circle Organic. I was wondering why you didn't use it since you order from them. Thanks for the link to the one from Amazon.
So glad to have found this blog! I have added your blog to the info at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LivingGlutenFree/
I have replaced teff flour with sorghum and buckwheat flours combine. For this recipe I would try 1 cup buckwheat flour and 3/4 cup sorghum flour.
Another beautiful recipe with perfect ingredients. Thank you Ali and family.
I recently acquired coconut sugar thanks to your posts about it and the use of it in your recipes. So far, I really enjoy it. Tastes like brown sugar.
this looks yummy! I love finding recipes that don't use lots of starch! thank you!
I've been trying to bake without xanthum gum lately and everything has been really crumbly and delicate. Do the chia seeds fix the crumble problem?
what is teff flour
Hi there
I love this recipe but was wanting to ask you your opinion. I noticed alot of the NT sites wont use chocalate or coffee as they believe it causes strain on the adrenals and lots of other issues. Have you got any thoughts on this? They particularly say not to give it to children
Thanks for the comments. :)
Mother of Three - I would replace the eggs with 2 "flax eggs" - omit the chia and add 1 teaspoon xanthan to the dry ingredients. Would love to hear how this works! :)
Laura - not sure, you can use maple sugar or cane sugar, or xylitol possibly. Don't know if that helps.
Melaina - I use Pyrex 4.5 x 8.5 glass pans.
Neely - Yep, of course muffins would work too. You would need to adjust baking time to about 25 minutes.
Ami - You could try a combo of sorghum and sweet rice flour. Maybe quinoa flour? I have only tested this with teff flour so don't know how another flour would work.
So thankful for this recipe. Hope you reach out to the lyme disease community where eating gluten and cane sugar is often a problem. Many of us are hungry for something hearty and sweet to sink our teeth into. LOVE your site.
What other flour can I substitute?...I don't have teff...
This bread looks fabulous, Ali! :-) I adore chocolate and banana together. The last treat I made was actually that combo, Dark Chocolate Banana Bites from Paleo Parents. I love adding chocolate banana recipes to my "to make" list--thanks!
Shirley
Do you think these could be made into cupcakes/muffins?
What size bread pans did you use? I have a standard 8 1/2 x 5 pan.. will that work? Can't wait to make this! I love banana bread and am a fan of Reggie flour as well.. how could this NOT be good?!
This looks AMAZING, and I can't wait to try it! Any suggestions to replace the coconut sugar? Applesauce? Agave? Thank you for yet another incredible recipe!
I can't do chia or eggs....daughter is allergic. I imagine I can
Sub applesauce for eggs. Instead of chia, could I just
use 1 tsp xanthum gum? Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe. This bread looks really good. I have been enjoying baking with teff flour lately and want to do more of it. I don't eat chocolate but I do love carob so I might have to give that a shot.