Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Bread (Sugar-Free, Lectin-Free)

This is the best banana bread I’ve ever had. It’s refined sugar-free, gluten-free, lectin-free, and dairy-free. It can also easily be made nut-free. This gluten-free chocolate banana cake is made with green bananas, and it is sweetened with dates and inulin powder.

One day my husband and I went to a health shop here in Aarhus, Denmark. It’s called NYMA; it’s where we now buy pastured chicken and a lot of other specialty items. My husband ordered a sandwich on sourdough bread and then wanted a slice of banana bread that looked divine.

Of course, I had to taste it, I was curious because it looked really good. My reaction was exactly that: this is the best banana bread I’ve ever had!

The inspiration for this chocolate banana bread recipe

We checked their website, and luckily, the recipe for this banana bread was on there. I know using so many dates in a dessert is borderline plant paradox compliant (a diet program I’m on that limits fruits, especially dried fruits).

I mean, to be honest, when I think one date has about 16 grams of sugar, it’s kind of a lot. I know that! So technically, this banana bread is not sugar-free but refined sugar-free, or with no added sugar. But I think it is so good, it’s worth it.

Also, I think this recipe is great to make a point: ‘healthy’ is a relative term when it comes to sugar, whatever the source. If you eat this cake occasionally in the right context, it could be healthy for you, as it is nutritionally dense.

There are a few ways to minimize a glucose spike after eating something that has some sugar in it, even if from a natural source:

• drink a glass of water with one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar before having the cake
• eat the cake after you have eaten some fiber (like a salad) and/or some protein
• don’t eat it when you are hungry, on an empty stomach

Check out this article about my sugar-free journey:

• How I Quit Sugar 5 Years Ago. And I Still Eat the Cake

Anyone would love this banana bread and will have no idea it is a healthier dessert. It’s so easy to make, it makes a perfect potluck dessert, and kids and adults will love it. You can make a bigger batch and freeze it.

The original recipe had double the amount of dates I used and also had quite a lot of sugar and wheat flour. It also had hazelnut flour, which I know is one of the reasons it tasted so good, but at the moment, hazelnuts are on my intolerance list, so I avoid them.

For the recipe I am sharing with you, I used organic almond flour and tigernut flour. I also made this banana bread with another gluten-free flour blend of chestnut flour and almond flour.

Possible flour combinations you can use for this gluten-free banana bread

• Only hazelnut flour
• Only almond flour
• Almond + tigernut flour (which is what I used for this one)
• Almond + chestnut flour (I made it with this combination too and I loved it)
• Tigernut + cassava if you want a nut-free version

If you want a nut-free version, I would advise against using only tigernut (you know tigernut are not nuts, despite the name, right?), as it can have too much of a gritty texture, or only cassava, as we need a little bit of nuttiness and natural sweetness, which tigernut can provide.

If hazelnuts were not off-limits for me at the moment, I would use a mix of hazelnut flour with any of the other flours.

Why use green bananas?

Green bananas’ nutritional profile is quite different than that of a ripe banana. While a ripe banana is mainly sugar, a green banana is mainly resistant starch.

I use them for pancakes, smoothies, for ice cream, or anything you would use a ripe banana for. When you mix it in a blender, you won’t even notice the difference (just slightly less sweet, obviously).

Ingredients for gluten-free chocolate banana bread

Blender ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 medium green bananas (260 grams)
• 3 pastured eggs
• 100 grams dates, chopped (about 5 big Medjool dates)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon orange extract (optional, or you can use orange zest)
• 1/4 teaspoon coffee extract
• 2 tablespoons inulin powder

Optional: for a double chocolate banana bread, you can add some raw cacao powder to the batter.

Dry ingredients:

• 1/2 cup tigernut flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour (packed) – see post for flour substitutes
• 4 tablespoons tapioca flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Add-ons:

• 60 grams chopped dark chocolate (90%)
• Optional: feel free to add some dark chocolate chips on top

How to make sugar-free and gluten-free chocolate banana bread:

You just have to mix the blender ingredients in a high-powered blender, then add them to the dry ingredients and combine it with a spatula.

Incorporate the chocolate, and that’s it. Pour it into the pan and bake at 180C / 350F for about 55 minutes. Let it come to room temperature before slicing it.

You can bake this in a full-size loaf pan or two smaller loaf pans.

Let this gluten-free chocolate banana bread cool completely before you slice it and eat it. I actually prefer to slice it after it has spent a couple of hours in the fridge. The slices will be moister and the flavors will intensify.

Since this is such an easy bread to make, you can make a bigger batch in advance, slice it, separate the slices with parchment paper and freeze it. You will have a delicious and nutritious healthy sweet treat on hand, anytime.

If you are intrigued about using green bananas in baking, you might also want to check out this recipe: Green Banana Teff Flour Muffins.

More sugar-free dessert recipes

This recipe is part of our 30+ Healthy Sugar-Free Dessert Recipes round-up. Check it out for a selection of my favorite sugar-free sweet treats that are also gluten-free and lectin-free.

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