Soft and moist Paleo Banana Bread with a simple, chocolate-cinnamon swirl | Made a blend of coconut and almond flour and naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. | Gluten Free + Paleo
Originally published February 16, 2015 – Updated August 10, 2018
When life hands you overly ripe bananas…..it’s time to make banana bread! That’s how the saying goes, right?
Or in this case, buy as many bananas as you can carry and wait until they turn properly spotty so that you can bake to your hearts content. There’s just something so right about sitting down with a slice of banana bread and a cup of tea, ya know?
This particular paleo banana bread has been a favourite in our house for a very long time. In fact in was actually one of the first recipes I ever shared here on ASK. So of course the pictures weren’t exactly what you’d call appetising and the written recipe wasn’t all that descriptive.
So I guess it’s about time I went back to give this much-loved recipe a little more TLC along with some updated tips and pointers. Let’s get to it!
How to Make:Â Paleo Banana Bread
The base of this recipe is super simple – made in one bowl and can be prepped in under 10 minutes. Start out by whisking up your eggs until they’re fully whisked (as seen in photo 1).
From there you can begin adding your remaining liquid ingredients including the melted coconut oil, vanilla extract and honey (photo 2) followed by the mashed bananas (photo 3).
Finally, just start mixing in the dry ingredients: coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. You should end up with a thick, somewhat lumpy batter – look at photo 7 below if you need a visual example.
Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl – or other variations
So – to be honest the chocolate cinnamon swirl is kind of optional. You can absolutely leave it out and you will still end up with a totally delicious banana bread. You can also just throw in a few chocolate chips, maybe some raisins or mixed nuts and call it a day. All of those options would absolutely be easier and still good.
BUT if you’re a total sucker for all things cinnamon and swirly – the extra five minutes here will be worth it!
All you need to do is melt a little chocolate and then mix in some cinnamon + sugar (photo 5). Make sure that you melt the chocolate on it’s own before adding anything else so it doesn’t burn.
The final mixture will be a little bit grainy looking/feeling from the coconut sugar (photo 6) and that is no problem at all – no need to mix until it melts in or anything.
Putting it together
Start out by adding half of your prepared banana bread batter to your lined or greased loaf tin. Then, take small spoons of the chocolate cinnamon mix and dollop a few spoonfuls across the top of the batter. Leave space in between for your swirls. Take a knife or toothpick and drag it across the top to create swirly affects.
Then simply add the remaining batter and repeat this process with the remaining cinnamon mix and bake. Easy!
Frequently Asked Questions:
How should I store this paleo banana bread?
-
- This keeps best when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
How long does it last?
- Store in the fridge it can keep about 5-6 days.
Can you freeze it?
- Yes! Wrap it up as tightly as you can in plastic wrap, add it to a large ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to three months. To defrost just let it thaw out in the fridge over night.
Can I use different flours?
- I haven’t tried this particular recipe using any other flour blenders however I have had a lot of success recently using tapioca flour in place of almond flour in very similar recipes. I do think a 1:1 sub would work here but I don’t have any recommendations for subbing out the coconut flour.
Can I make this without the eggs?
- I don’t have any recommendations on how to make this particular recipe egg free. If you’re interested in an egg free banana bread you can try this Chickpea Flour Banana Bread (not paleo) or look to this paleo + vegan coconut flour cake for a general egg free cake.
And that’s it! Soft, moist, delicious banana bread. Time to get baking!
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Paleo Chocolate & Cinnamon Banana Bread
Soft and moist Paleo Banana Bread with a simple, chocolate-cinnamon swirl | Made a blend of coconut and almond flour and naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. | Gluten Free + PaleoÂ
Ingredients
Bread
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup honey, or maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 mashed ripe bananas, about 1 1/2 cups - the darker/spottier the better
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Chocolate Cinnamon
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
Banana Bread
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease or line a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
- Beat the eggs in a medium sized bowl. Add the vanilla, vinegar, honey and the oil to the eggs, mixing thoroughly. Stir in the mashed bananas.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, sifting to remove any clumps. Pour the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until well combined. Your batter may be a little lumpy from the bananas.
Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl
- Place the chocolate in a heat safe bowl and heat at 15 second increments to melt the chocolate - make sure to stir in between heating.
- Once melted stir in the coconut sugar, cinnamon and coconut oil until fully combined. The mixture may seem a little grainy thanks to the coconut sugar.
- Pour half of the batter into your prepared load tin. Dollop the melted chocolate + cinnamon mixture over the top of the batter. Use a knife to drag through the chocolate mixture to create swirl patters. Pour the remaining half of the batter over the chocolate swirl and repeat with the swirl process.
- Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until cooked through.
- Let cool about 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Variations:
- You can make this without the chocolate cinnamon swirl
- Add chocolate chunks
- Add mixed nuts
- Add raisins
F.A.Q's
How should I store it?
- This keeps best when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
How long does it last?
- Store in the fridge it can keep about 5-6 days.
Can you freeze it?
- Yes! Wrap it up as tightly as you can in plastic wrap, add it to a large ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to three months. To defrost just let it thaw out in the fridge over night.Â
Can I use different flours?
- I haven't tried this particular recipe using any other flour blenders however I have had a lot of success recently using tapioca flour in place of almond flour in very similar recipes. I do think a 1:1 sub would work here but I don't have any recommendations for subbing out the coconut flour.Â
Can I make this without the eggs?
- I don't have any recommendations on how to make this particular recipe egg free. If you're interested in an egg free banana bread you can try this Chickpea Flour Banana Bread (not paleo) or look to this paleo + vegan coconut flour cake for a general egg free cake.Â
Sarita says
Hello there, this looks lovely, but where is the acid to activate the baking soda? Or are you using baking powder? Don’t dare use it til I’m clear 🙂
Thanks
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Sarita! My mistake! I think I accidentally deleted the apple cider vinegar from the ingredient list at some point! It’s listed now – thank you so much for pointing that out to me!
Britt says
This was the best paleo banana bread I’ve ever made! My boyfriend who usually won’t touch anything made with banana finished half loaf on his own. Thanks for the recipe!
Sarah says
Thanks Britt! So glad you guys liked it!
Natalie says
I love banana bread! Yours looks so delicious and moist. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Sarah says
Thanks Natalie!
Macy says
I have tried this recipe twice now and my loaf will not rise?? (But it’s still delicious!!) Any suggestions how to make it less dense? I thought I was over mixing the first time but I made sure not to the second go around!
Sarah says
Hi Macy! Truth be told, it can be pretty tricky to get a rise out of coconut flour based baked goods because it’s such a dense and absorbent flour. One thing you could try for next time would be to use baking powder instead of baking soda – baking powder is better for rising in things like this. Another thing – I’ve made this a could of times mixing it all together in a blender. If you blend on high for about 20-30 seconds before baking it adds a lot of air to the batter which I’ve noticed has led to more rise. Hope that helps – glad you like the bread! This is one of out favourites 🙂
asaucykitchen says
Thanks, Patti! Glad you liked it 🙂 I like doing it will chocolate chips mixed in too sometimes because then I get a little chocolate mixed in to every bite