Banana Monster Bread, Vegan + Gluten-Free
On a snowy day last week, I was casually going about my business, baking banana bread and admiring my new mini loaf pan, when a couple of items from my pantry caught my eye. I made a game-time decision to throw in chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and mini vegan marshmallows….and OMG it was the best banana bread decision I’ve ever made!
Today I’m super excited to share my recipe for Vegan, Gluten-free Banana Monster Bread. It has all the best qualities of banana bread (creamy inside, crispy outside) plus tons of texture, flavor and crunch from all the fun add-ins.
This recipe will make 4 mini loaves or 1 regular size loaf. For a large loaf you’ll want to increase the cooking time by about 10-15 minutes.
Banana Monster Bread, Vegan + Gluten-Free
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Ilene Godofsky
Recipe type: bread, dessert
Cuisine: vegan, gluten-free
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 bananas, mashed
- ¼ cup coconut oil, softened
- 2 tbs maple syrup
- 2 tbs non-dairy milk
- handful of chocolate chips
- handful of vegan mini marshmallows (see link above)
- handful of chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Grease loaf pan(s).
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a small bowl, stir together banana, coconut oil, maple syrup and milk.
- Add contents of small bowl to large and stir throughly. Fold in chocolate chips, marshmallows and walnuts.
- Transfer batter to loaf pan(s) and fill to about 90%. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing.
I hope this works with coconut flour! This banana bread looks unreal!!
How did the coconut flour turn out?
I tried it with coconut flour and it didn’t work. Had to throw it away. It was crumbly and could not eat it. Next time I’ll use different flour.
Umm you do know most chocolate chips are not vegan? And marshmallows are NOT vegan. Not sure if you know this or not, most vegan recipes list the alternative items they use, and you didn’t so just wondering if you are aware and just pointing it out for other who may not be aware.
Yep, a lot of chocolate chips actually are vegan! You just gotta just the ingredients. And you’ll notice that I put a link to vegan marshmallows in the beginning of the post. Excited that we have vegan marshmallows now!
Chocolate is by nature, vegan. Of course many companies add in dairy (to make milk chocolate, specifically), but a number of brands are vegan–to include Enjoy Life (I love this brand because they’re completely allergen free–no cross-contamination in their facility). And in speciality grocers/high-end food stores like Whole Foods, there are vegan marshmallows 🙂
What kind of non-milk do you recommend?
I used homemade almond milk but really any kind will work! I find almond and coconut milk to be my favorites in baking because they are the creamiest. 🙂
I assume you meant dark chocolate chips and vegan marshmallows in this recipe??
It looks good though 🙂
Yep, you’ll notice that I put a link to the vegan marshmallows I used in the beginning of the post! 🙂
If not vegan would ingredients stay the same using AP flour?
I use the AP flour because it’s gluten-free. The flour isn’t the part that makes it vegan or not. If you’re looking for a substitute (and you don’t need it to be gluten-free) you can use regular old flour as well!
These are hands down THE BEST! I made muffins instead of loaves and they turned out amazing!!!! Thank You!!
Oh wow, a muffin version sounds amazing!! I’ll definitely be trying that next time. I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
I don’t have gluten free flour. Do you know what amount of all-purpose I could use?
Hey does this recipe work nut free?
Absolutely! The walnuts add a little crunch but you can definitely omit them and still have a great banana bread. 🙂
I feel like I’m missing something. When I made this recipe the “batter” turned out very thick, more like a cookie dough. Is the softened coconut oil supposed to be melted? I feel like there needs to be more liquid or I did something wrong lol. It really didn’t rise at all when I baked it. It tasted great but was very heavy and dense.
Hi Roxy, I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t turn out perfectly! I would say that it is a thicker batter but when I make the recipe it usually rises up nice and fluffy. The first thing I would look into is if your baking powder and baking soda are expired? Also, what kind of gluten-free flour did you use? I’ve only made it with Bob’s Red Mill brand. I hope we can get to the bottom of this! 🙂
Same exact thing happened to me. I used Pillsbury multi-purpose gluten free flour.
Hi Kristie,
Interesting, my guess is that it has to do with the flour. I haven’t tried that brand but if it contains a lot of rice flour maybe that’s where the problem is? I always Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free. I’ll have to start being more specific about what kind of flour I use!
So mine didn’t really rise, maybe it’s because I used oat flour instead? It still turned out really yummy! Do you know what I could do to make fluffier and rise more?
Thanks for the recipe tho so delicious!! 🙂
I’m happy you liked it even though it didn’t fluff up much! The first thing I always check is if the baking soda or powder are expired, that prevent baked goods from rising! I haven’t tried this recipe with oat flour but my guess is that could be the problem. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free flour and that worked wonderfully! 🙂
So good and filling! It’s the first time that I really like a vegan banana cake recipe. Very good texture. I didn’t put marshmallows. I used the Gluten free flour from Bulk Barn (similar to Red Mill). Thank you!
That’s great to hear!! I really love this recipe 🙂
Hi I was thinking of making g this but can I use. King Arthur flour 100% whole wheat flour?
I haven’t tried it but I have a feeling it will work out just fine! Let me know how it goes!
This looks so amazing and easy! Definitely trying this soon!