Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Nut Blondies
These Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Blondies are a super chewy vegan blondie, flavored with fresh bananas and stuffed with crunchy walnuts and dark chocolate chunks! They’re rich, chewy, and ready in just 30 minutes.
I think I’m a blondie-a-holic. Each time one of my blondie recipes disappears from the fridge, I start brainstorming a new blondie recipe that I can start testing to replenish the stash 😏
So after the last of my recent paleo + vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Blondies got eaten, I started dreaming up a something new to replace them in the fridge. One of my more popular recipes is these Paleo Banana Nut Muffins. It got me thinking that banana nut blondies would be even better.
Oh man, I was definitely right. The banana makes these vegan blondies extra chewy, which contrasts deliciously with the crunchy toasted walnuts. The pockets of melted dark chocolate chunks adds a deliciously gooey element. Swoooon.
These are one of those treats I know no one would suspect of being gluten-free, paleo, and vegan. They’re just too rich, decadent, and flavorful! The mashed ripe banana takes the place of the egg in this recipe. This makes them vegan, and adds a fruity flavor plus some moist chewiness.
What you need to make banana blondies:
- Nut Butter: Nut butter helps provide richness, structure, and flavor in this recipe. I opted for almond butter, because it’s pretty neutral with the almond flour, but you could use peanut butter for a delicious twist, or cashew butter to make it ultra-rich and add a little extra creamy sweetness.
- Coconut Oil: use refined for no coconut flavor, or substitute with your favorite dairy-free butter.
- Coconut Sugar: I found 1/2 cup to be just sweet enough, but if you have a big sweet tooth, you could go to 2/3 cup, or if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth or if you banana is super ripe, you can reduce it down to 1/3 cup.
- Mashed Banana: about 1 ripe banana works well for this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: always needed for flavor!
- Almond Flour: I always use blanched almond flour for the best texture.
- Coconut Flour: this helps absorb the extra moisture from the banana. If you’d like to skip it, use an extra 1/3 cup of almond flour in its place.
- Baking Soda: this gives the blondies lift and structure, keeping them from becoming too dense.
- Cinnamon & Salt: for warmth and flavor.
- Toasted Walnuts: to bring the “nut” to these banana nut blondies. You can skip if you’re anti-nuts in your baked goods, or use pecans if you prefer.
- Chocolate Chips: I love using dark chocolate chips or chunks. Skip for a more pure banana nut blondie.
Of course, with this combination of ingredients, they couldn’t turn out any way but delicious! These Chocolate Chunk Banana Nut Blondies are rich and chewy, with subtle banana flavor, crunch from the toasted walnuts, and gooeyness from the melted chocolate. Bet you won’t be able to have just one ;) enjoy!
More gluten-free blondie recipes:
- Paleo Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Raspberry Blondies
- Pumpkin Blondies
- Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Blondies
- Monster Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Sweet Potato Blondies with Chocolate Chips
- Apple Blondies with Caramel Glaze
Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Nut Blondies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 blondies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Blondies are a super chewy vegan blondie, flavored with fresh bananas and stuffed with crunchy walnuts and dark chocolate chunks! They’re rich, chewy, and ready in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- ½ cup creamy almond butter, or other smooth nut butter of choice
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted, use refined for no coconut flavor
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup mashed ripe banana, about 1 small banana
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (72g) almond flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8” square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, banana, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined. Stir in the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chunks.
- Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Cool completely, and then cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Keywords: banana blondies, banana nut blondies, chocolate chip banana bars
Would I be able to sub applesauce for the banana successfully? Thanks
Hi Patricia, yup that would work fine!
Hi Rachel!
I’m all out of coconut flour, do you know what I could substitute? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try this recipe!!! I have been dying to do it while on my whole 30 and now I finally can!
You can use 1 cup of almond flour instead. Hope you love them, and congrats on finishing your Whole30 Kristen!
love love love these made them 4 times each time getting better and better!!! mmmmmm mmmmmmm
★★★★★
That makes me so happy to hear!!! Thanks Kayla.
Hi Rachel!
I made these as per the recipe some time ago and they were delicious! I was wondering if I could sub the coconut sugar for honey or maple syrup?
★★★★★
Hi Alison, you could but it would mess with the liquid ratio so they might take longer to bake or turn out kind of mushy. I haven’t tried this way so not sure how it would work out – try at your own risk!!
I made your recipe without deviation, but found they don’t hold together like a brownie. They sort of fell apart. Any suggestions where I might have gone wrong? They tasted great.
★★★★★
Hi Traci, glad you’re enjoying them but sorry they’re falling apart on you! Are you sure they were cooked all the way through? I also find it helps to keep them chilled before cutting to make them firmest/easiest to cut. Try seeing if they firm up in the fridge – sometimes in hot weather treats made with coconut oil can get softer at room temp! Hope this helps :)
Hello! Could this be done only with coconut flour and if so how much?
Hi Ness, I haven’t tested it that way so no guarantees, but I’d guess about 1/2 cup would probably work. Enjoy :)
Do you use unsweetened chocolate?
Hi Ginny, no I used coconut sugar sweetened dark chocolate – either a chopped up bar or chips from Santa Barbara Chocolate. If you want to place an order with them, you can use the code BAKERITA for $10 off.
Hi,
I’ve just tried making a double batch of these but the mixture came out really dry with nothing binding it together. I followed the recipe to a tee just doubling everything so I’m not sure where I’ve gone wrong and why the mixture won’t bind. I’m hoping they come out the oven ok but can’t see them being gooey like the one I had in a cafe earlier! Any help welcome!
Hi Richard, if you used very thick almond butter that didn’t have a lot of oil or if your bananas weren’t very ripe, that could’ve been why it seemed dry. The batter is definitely thicker more than runny, but they should bake up okay! It’s hard for me to know without being in the kitchen with you or having any details.
Even better warmed up!
★★★★
So glad you’re loving them, Jessica!!
Turned out perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it!
THANK YOU for this recipe Rachel! I love how moist and gooey these are – I bake them for less to make sure they’re gooey and melt in your mouth. I’m a huge chocolate person but I didn’t even feel these needed chocolate as there was already so much flavour from the banana and peanut butter (which I used instead of almond butter).
I make it a bit lower carb by using a sugar free sweetener (stevia erythritol blend) instead of the coconut sugar – I reduced the amount to about 1/3 cup the first time I made it and 1/4 cup the second time and the batter was still sweet. The second time I made it I almost finished the whole pan in one day – very dangerous to have around!
★★★★★
Sounds fabulous, Sara!! I’m so so happy you’re enjoying these bars, and I appreciate your feedback about using different sweeteners too. Super helpful to other folks who may be wondering how that would work :)
Looks so good! Can I use einkorn AP flour in place of the almond flour and skip the coconut flour? I’m big on using ancient einkorn flour!
I haven’t ever tried einkorn flour in this recipe but it should work – if you’re skipping the coconut flour, increase the total amount of flour to 1 cup. Enjoy!