10-Step Easy Gluten Free Chai-Spiced Banana Bread

Superstar fruit: the humble banana

In This Recipe

About This Recipe

If it really came down to it, I might just have to pick the banana as my favourite fruit. Sure, there are plenty more exotic fruits like mango, strawberry, papaya and dragon fruit which I get so incredibly excited about when they are in season and affordable.

However, the trusty banana is available pretty well year round and and can be made in to a one-ingredient ice cream (nicecream), replace eggs in baking, act as a natural sweetener in any dessert or, possibly best of all, be mashed and baked into a fresh loaf of banana bread.

It is this versatility in part that creates my love of bananas, along with their creamy texture and natural sweetening ablities.

Soft banana bread, with a chai-spiced twist

For all those other banana lovers out there, this is my perfected chai-spiced banana bread recipe of which I can never get enough. The added spices help twist the standard banana bread recipe to create a chai-spiced explosion. It's partially inspired by I Quit Sugar's banana bread recipe, but with a Sproutly twist.

For this recipe, you need to use bananas that are as ripe as possible (the blacker the better). Without this, bread will be lacking in that amazing banana-ey flavour and you will also probably find that it is not sweet enough, particularly since this is sugar free). When I use 3 over-ripe bananas I find that the cake is perfectly sweet and doesn't requires no sugar. Play around and taste the batter before you put your banana loaf in the oven and adjust the sweetness and spices to your liking.

A perfect, Sugar Free chai spiced banana bread

It took me a while to perfect a recipe that was oil free, sugar free, sweetener free (and gluten free and vegan as always) but I can guarantee it's is not lacking in flavour. It is ideally eaten fresh from the oven or toasted with a scoop of coconut yoghurt and some fresh strawberries or raspberries. It also works well baked as muffins (just halve the baking time). They make a perfect lunch box or on-the-go treat.

So, give this easy, no sugar banana bread recipe a go and let me know in the comments below - can you relate to my banana infatuation? What do you think is the best fruit?

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How To Make This Recipe

Chai Spiced Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas (the blacker the better!)
1 Tbsp tahini
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp cardamom
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup almond milk (Recipe Link)
1 flax egg (Recipe Link)
3/4 oats processed into a course flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Optional: 1/4 cup maple syrup (taste the mixture for sweetness - I usually find if the bananas are ripe enough I can go without any sweeteners)
1 tsp coconut oil to oil cake tin
1 extra banana, sliced lengthways, to push into batter in the tin

Takes 10 min prep, 50 min cook,serves 8.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).
Process oats into a course flour using your food processor.
Peel bananas and mash in a large bowl (leave one for topping).
Add tahini, almond milk, flax egg, salt, spices and baking powder. Mix until well combined.
Add oat and buckwheat flour and mix well.
Mix through coconut and chopped pecans.
Oil the cake tin and spoon batter inside.
Slice the remaining banana in half lengthways.
Smooth the top of the batter and then press each half of the banana into the mixture.
Bake for 50 - 60 minutes until golden on top and a wooden skewer comes out clean. NOTE: If you want you can make these as muffins, just halve the baking time and omit the banana on top.

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4 comments

Hi Michelle,

I’m so glad to hear the recipe worked out so well for you! I love the idea of using mixed spice as a simple substitute for the chai spices. Hope you give it a go again :)

Tamika.

I love finding recipes that aren’t loaded with cocounut oil and a bunch of exotic, expensive ingredients! I didn’t have all the spices you had suggested, so i subbed in just with a mixed spice and it worked nicely. I will definitely try again with the full chai spice range though because I would really love those ginger flavours to come through. I also tried your suggestion in the previous comments to replace buckwheat flour with coconut/corn flour and it worked well. Thanks!

Hi Georgia,

So glad you love the look of this recipe! It’s got to be one of my favourite classic recipes that I keep going back to :) Coconut flour would be really delicious but the issue with it is it doesn’t bind nearly as well as the other gluten free flours. I find that without eggs its really hard to get a good result using coconut flour alone. I would suggest either adding 1-2 organic eggs (if you eat them) or using half coconut flour, half another starchy gluten free flour (such as rice, corn or arrowroot). This will allow the bread to bind together better and prevent crumbling that I’ve experienced with coconut flour.

Let me know how you get on – I would love to hear of any successes you have!

All the best,
Tamika.

This recipe looks delicious! Can I replace the buckwheat flour with coconut flour?

About The Author - Tamika Woods

Tamika Woods | PCOS Author | Nourished Natural Health

Tamika Woods, Clinical Nutritionist (B.HS; B.Ed), Bestselling Author

For a decade, Tamika battled chronic acne, irregular cycles, mood swings, hair loss, painful periods, severe digestive issues and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). You name it - she's been there!

Tam was finally able to clear her skin, regulate her cycle, be free of period pain and fall pregnant naturally with her daughter in 2020. It took Tam 10 years and tens of thousands of dollars in tertiary education to get the answers she needed to get better.

She didn’t want other women to suffer as long as she did which is why she has dedicated her life to helping women in the same position as she was.

Tam helps women interpret what their bodies are trying to communicate through frustrating symptoms, and then develop a step-by-step roadmap to find balance again. She's here to help you get on track!

Tamika Woods is the author of the Amazon best seller PCOS Repair Protocol. She holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree (Nutritional Medicine) as well as a Bachelor of Education, graduating with Honours in both.

She is a certified Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) Educator and a certified member of the Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA).