Chocolate Chip Vegan Banana Bread (Gluten Free)
This Chocolate Chip Vegan Banana Bread is so easy to make in just one bowl and it’s absolutely delicious! This vegan banana bread is also gluten-free and refined sugar-free – it makes the perfect easy breakfast, snack, or dessert. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.

I’ve been dreaming of a vegan banana bread for ages. But, I could never seem to get the recipe quite right. I’d test, use up all of my ripe bananas, and give up until the next time I had a bunch of extra ripe bananas on the counter.
That makes for a relatively slooooww testing process. But finally, last week, I HAD TO HAVE IT. So I bought a ridiculous amount of bananas and impatiently waited for them to get ripe enough. The first test was good, but it could be better. It tasted good, but it was a little dense and a little gummy.

So I tested three more times, and thought I got sooo close with the third try. But, I gave it one more try and I’m glad I did because helloooo banana bread perfection! This banana bread was up against some tough competition – my paleo chocolate chip banana bread, and I’d say it’s a solid competitor.
It’s nice and fluffy, full of the flavors of banana, cinnamon, and chocolate, super filling, and of course – absolutely delicious.

The recipe is pretty quick + simple to make too, because who wants to spend a whole bunch of time making banana bread? No one, that’s who. It takes long enough to bake, no need to add any extra steps to make it take LONGER to get to your hungry mouth.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, meet mouth.
The recipe uses a little nut butter to help keep things super soft – I used peanut butter, but any nut or seed butter will work. You can’t really taste it so it doesn’t matter too much! It’s also sweetened just 1/3 cup of coconut sugar – if your bananas are SUPER ripe and sweet, you can reduce this amount to your liking.

It uses a combo of oat and almond flour. I found half of each creates the best texture that’s not too gummy or dense. Both are from my favorite flour brand, Bob’s Red Mill. I was actually out of oat flour by the time I got to this loaf though. Thankfully, it’s super easy to make your own. To make your own oat flour, put some BRM’s rolled oats in the Vitamix (or another blender or food processor) and blend until it’s flour. So easy in a pinch! Bob’s also sells premade oat flour and either will work wonders here.
I also like to dump a whole bunch of cinnamon into my banana bread. It’s a personal preference, so feel free to jack up the amount in the recipe, like I tend to do, or use less if your tastes prefer.

I hope you’ll love this banana bread as much as I do! It’s pretty irresistible if I do say so myself. My dinner last night consisted of a slice slathered in peanut butter and I regret nothing. Hope you enjoy!


Chocolate Chip Vegan Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 70 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Chocolate Chip Vegan Banana Bread is so easy to make in just one bowl and it’s absolutely delicious! This vegan banana bread is also gluten-free and refined sugar-free – it makes the perfect easy breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups overripe bananas, mashed, about 3 medium bananas, mine weighed ~375g
- ¼ cup almond milk, or other dairy-free milk or choice
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup (64g) nut or seed butter of choice, I used peanut butter
- ¼ cup (50g) coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons flax meal
- 1 cup (120g) gluten-free oat flour, I made my own – see Notes for details!
- 1 cup (96g) almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅔ cup (4 oz.) chocolate chunks or chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 8.5” x 4.5″ loaf pan (you can also use a 9×5” pan) with coconut oil and/or line with parchment paper.
- Place bananas in a large mixing bowl. Use a potato masher or fork to mash them well. Add almond milk, coconut sugar, nut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and flax meal, stirring to combine.
- Add oat flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Fold in chocolate chunks.
- Pour into loaf pan. Add a sliced banana and/or more chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a knife comes out clean. If your loaf looks like it’s getting too brown, tent with tin foil on top after 50 minutes. If you’re using a 9×5” pan, check on the banana bread after 40-45 minutes.
- Once done, let cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
- Store leftovers tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, foil, or in a sealed container on the counter for up to three days, or store in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. I like to slice it and then freeze and heat a piece in the microwave when I want it!
Notes
I made my own oat flour for this recipe from Bob’s Red Mill GF Rolled Oats. To make, put the oats into a blender or food processor and process for about a minute, until it’s flour.

Literally drooling!! I love how you combined oat and almond flours to get the perfect texture! Seriously cannot wait to have ripe bananas to make this :)
Thanks so much for the love Brittany!! :) Hope you love it!
What would you substitute for the oil? Have some very ripe bananas and really want to make this!!! Thanks!
Deb
Hi Deb, I only tested as is, so I can’t make any guarantees when you start making substitutions. You can try subbing with applesauce or more banana, though. Hope it turns out well!
I use applesauce in place of oil all the time, only thing it doesn’t Work in is waffles, they break apart in waffle iron. I usually add 1/4 cup ground flax seed, 1/4 ground hemp seed and oat bran in place of some of the flour.
Thanks for sharing your tips, Shirley!
Hi, can you use another flour that is not oatmeal? because here in Argentina where I am living now they don´t have gluten free oatmeal and the regular does not do me good.
Hi Maria, I’ve only tested this recipe as written so I can’t guarantee any changes you make will work well. You can feel free to experiment, maybe with all almond flour or subbing in another GF flour for the oat flour, and let me know if your substitutions work! Sorry, I can’t be more help!
Made these into healthy ‘cupcakes’ and topped them with cacao avocado icing. Such a hit! Thanks for recipes I feel great about eating!
Love that idea so very much! So glad you’re enjoying them, Tanya :) thanks for sharing!
Hi! Amazing recipe, can’t wait to try it but I don’t have flax meal :( can I substitute it or don’t use at all?
Thanks Julia! You could use ground chia seeds if you have them, or just try leaving them out entirely. I’d love to hear your feedback if you try either of those ways :) Enjoy!
I have some peanut butter that has flax and chia mixed into it (Trader Joes brand) that I was hoping to use. Do you think I should lessen the amount of flax meal the recipe calls for at all if I use it?
Hi CC, that will be fine to use but no, I would keep everything the same in terms of flax amounts. Enjoy!
This looks delicious! I don’t have almond flour on had, do you think regular whole wheat flour would work in this recipe?
Hi Cheryl, I haven’t baked with whole wheat flour in a while and it wasn’t tested that way so I’m not entirely positive, but it should work!
Is it really gluten free if it contains oat flour?
Just wondering if i could give this that is alergic to gluten.
Great recipe.
Hi Ana! I should have specified gluten-free oat flour, because while oats are inherently gluten-free, many times they’re processed in the same facilities of wheat, which can cause cross-contamination. I’ve updated the post to specify that. If the oat flour you used is GF, it’s fine to share with those with gluten allergies.
I just made this this morning and it turned out so good! Would definitely recommend to anyone who’s new to vegan baking as it’s so easy to make-I also topped it with a little bit of a coconut butter glaze and was delicious :)
Thanks so much for the love, Emily! A coconut butter glaze soups super delicious :)
This looks amazing! Do you think i could leave out the almond flour and only use all oats flour instead? Thank you! :)
Hi Rachel, it would affect the texture, making it a little denser, but should bake up just fine.
I just made this and omg it’s so good. It’s taking everything in me not to eat the whole thing. I tried eating a slice after letting it cool a bit right out of the oven and it was a little crumbly, so I put it in the fridge overnight and it was moist and perfect in the morning! I also only used 1/4 cup sugar and still found it was sweet enough but chocolate chunks are a must! Thank you!
Absolutely love this recipe!
I have made it a lot of times. I have tried oat flour, spelt flour, and gluten free flour mix (to sub for oat flour) and every time it came out delicious !
I appreciate how clean and simple this recipe is and best of all it’s so delicious even though it is vegan and refined sugar free. Defiantly a recipe I will be heading back to countless more times.
So thrilled to hear you’re loving it! Thanks so much for your feedback :)
Hi! If I wanted to use this recipe but use eggs – how many eggs would you use? Thank you
Hi Harleen – this recipe was specifically developed to be vegan. If you want to use eggs, I would recommend following this banana bread recipe.
Thank you for your swift response! I have tried both your recipes and they are just delicious. I actually prefer the flavor of your vegan one but found it a little bit more crumbly for my toddler and since I make them plain the sweetness is just perfect whereas the paleo version is a bit more of a bread. Thank you though
The other day when I made these for a party I overheard someone say, “Ya know when you eat something healthy and it just doesn’t taste good? Well these are so good and healthy!” I use this recipe at least monthly and enjoy experiementing with modifications just about each time, e.g. maple syrup instead of granulated sugar. Today I made a double batch and subbed some of the almond flour for cassava root and white rice flours and filled a few with blueberries and they turned out very nicely! Thanks for your inspiration!
That makes me so happy to hear, Sarah! Thanks so much for the feedback. So glad you’ve been able to have fun experimenting with this recipe and it’s worked out well!
My wife and I just made this since our banana tree just dropped a TON of apple bananas for us.
I must say, as a vegan, wheat and yeast free, it has been near impossible to bake anything…
Decided to try this recipe and, HOLY COW~!!
Dense, moist, scrumptious and PERFECT!!!
It could not have been any better.
THANK YOU x 1 MILLION!
I’m SO thrilled that you love this recipe, Samuel! It’s one of my favorites, too :) jealous of your banana tree! Thanks so much for the feedback!
Do you have any suggestions for subbing the nut butter for someone who is nut free?
Hi Gina, absolutely! You can use sunflower seed butter (but it may turn the bread green on the inside – just a chemical reaction, nothing harmful), pumpkin seed butter, or tahini instead of the nut butter. Hope this helps!
Hi Rachel,
Another question…..What brand/kind of chocolate chips/chunks? It’s extremely hard to find vegan ones that are refind sugar free. Only ines i find are the enjoy life brand and that has cane sugar!
Hi Gina! My favorite brand of chocolate is Hu Kitchen – the chocolate bars and baking gems are both great and naturally sweetened. I also love Santa Barbara coconut sugar-sweetened chocolate chips, but they only come in a big 3 lb bag. With either brand, the code BAKERITA will get you some $$$ off. Hope this helps! :)
My 4.5 year old daughter made this recipe almost all by herself. She’s allergic to eggs and gluten and I had nearly given up on attempting any baking because the baked goods just never seem to set. This was by far the best we’ve come across! And higher in protein, too! We used tahini for the nut/seed butter (it’s one of the only one’s she can have). I’d like to try to reduce the sugar a bit and see how it turns out (but 1/3 cup is much less than a lot of other recipees). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It really made our day!
I’m so happy to hear that, Molly! Thanks so much for your feedback and I’m so glad to hear that your daughter was able to make and enjoy this bread!
I made this today, and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, Helen! Thanks for the feedback.
This is the BEST banana bread i’ve ever tried. I skipped the almond flour but is still DELICIOUS. I’ve made this recipe three times.
This banana loaf is amazing!! The texture and flavours were great!! I don’t have a large loaf pan so I made cupcakes instead by reducing the cook time. I also only used 1/4 of coconut sugar and sprinkled the top with shredded coconut YUM!!
So glad you loved it, Jess!!
This might be my favorite gluten free banana bread recipe! It is perfectly sweet, not at all dry, and just what I was looking for. I love that it doesn’t use too much almond flour – adding the oat flour (I made my own in the blender) was a nice mix. Thanks!
So glad you loved it, thanks Kara!!
this is the best gluten-free vegan banana bread I’ve ever made! I doubled it and made half into a loaf and half into mini donuts. so yummy!
So happy you enjoyed it!!
Super yummy! I’ve made 3 times in the last 3 weeks! It doesn’t last long in my house!
So glad you’re loving it!!
Absolutely delicious! I’ve made your recipe twice and everybody went bananas over it!
So thrilled you’re loving it, Eileen!