Banana bread, you either love it or you hate it. It’s just one of those polarizing things. But if you love it, well, you’re going to love this recipe (and what are you even doing here if you hate it?). Naturally dairy free my banana bread base is soft and moist. But with the addition of chocolate chips? My Gluten Free Choc Chip Banana Bread is a whole other decadent experience that I’ll guarantee you’ll enjoy.
Well here we are, at the tail end of #isolation baking and I finally admitted defeat. I’ve baked an extraordinary amount of gluten free baked goodies whilst in lock down but I refused to jump on the banana bread bake off (don’t ask me why, I just wasn’t feeling it). I had too many other amazing things to do, right? Finally I decided to give in, I mean it’s been forever since I’ve had an amazing slice of gluten free banana bread. But I wanted to take it to another level, to just make it that little bit more, well, me…… naturally this meant chocolate.
Gluten Free Choc Chip Banana Bread for the win
But hey I mean if you don’t want chocolate, feel free to leave it out. This recipe works beautifully either way. You can also add dairy free chocolate to make the whole thing entirely dairy free! Which I know you guys are going to love. I’ve been getting asked for a lot more gluten and dairy free recipes lately. So here I am, stepping it up for you all!
The really wonderful thing is this recipe was written during the great gluten free flour shortage of 2020 (as we will come to know it as from now!). So I’ve absolutely ensured you can use just about any brand of basic supermarket gluten free flour blend here. I’ve made it both with Well and Good and Aldi’s brand and it works beautifully. If you’re not sure what I mean by a basic blend, then check out this blog post I wrote here for everything you need to know about buying gluten free flour blends.
No Crumbling Here
One of the biggest problems you can find baking gluten free is that the lack of gluten proteins can mean your bake gets extra crumbly. Having a beautifully moist base using ripened mashed bananas certainly helps you here. But the real key? Adding an extra egg white!
Egg whites are a fantastic way to emulsify your ingredients, that is hold them all together and reduce crumbling! So adding in that egg white really made a difference to this bake and held it all together. You really do get a beautiful gluten free choc chip banana bread.
Make It Yours
I just know I’m going to get asked about customizing this recipe. So let me beat you to the punch. You can make this decadent treat truly yours in so many ways! Bake it without the chocolate chips and add frosting with a classic cream cheese icing for more of a dessert feel. Swap the chocolate chips for walnuts or pecans or really any type of nut you fancy! The sky is pretty much the limit and you really can impress you gluten and dairy free friends here.
The absolutely most important factor in any banana bread, gluten free or not, is the bananas of course! You must use extra ripe bananas, so be sure to let them get nice and black before giving this recipe a shot. (I literally had to hide 3 from my son so they had a chance to over-ripen!). Not only does this make them a lot easier to mash but the riper the banana the more sugar it contains. This recipe really does need the sweetness from the bananas.
The last important part is to weigh your bananas (out of their skins). A lot of the moisture comes from this. Using 3 large bananas will pretty much do the trick, but always double check before you start mashing them. Not having enough could mean a dry and crumbly gluten free banana bread and nobody wants that!
Now get into it folks and whip up my Gluten Free Choc Chip Banana Bread this weekend!
Don’t forget to share your baking with me over on Instagram by tagging @champagneandgumboots #champagneandgumbootsbakes
Gluten Free Choc Chip Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 (330g) Ripe Bananas, mashed +1 Extra banana for top
- 2 large Eggs + 1 Extra Egg White
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 260 grams Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
- 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate Soda
- 180 grams Dark Chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180° Celsius and line a loaf pan with baking paper, leave some sticking out the sides as it makes it a breeze to remove later.
- In a large bowl weigh out your over ripe bananas (remember the riper they are the sweeter and easier to mash they'll be), mash them until a fairly smooth consistency, a few lumps won't matter much.
- To the mashed banana add all of the remaining wet ingredients. Add in the eggs plus extra egg white, brown sugar, vanilla and oil and using a fork whisk together until well incorporated.
- Weigh in self raising flour (any brand will work), add bicarb soda and whisk together until no flour is visible. Add in chopped chocolate or nuts of choice and stir to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. If you'd like to add a little detail to the top, skin your extra banana and cut in half length ways. Place one half on top of the mix into the loaf pan.
- Pop your banana bread straight into the oven for 50 minutes – 1 hour or until banana bread is a deep golden brown, appears set on top and a skewer inserted into middle comes out clean.
- Once baked remove from the oven and allow to cool in its pan for a good 10 minutes to ensure it's set. Then using your overhanging baking paper strips, remove carefully and allow to cool fully on a wire rack. Enjoy fresh, toasted or slathered in butter any time of the day!
- It will keep really well in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- The base recipe is naturally dairy free so you can easily add some of your favourite dairy free dark chocolate to it. My favourite is definitely Green and Black’s dark chocolate.
- You can absolutely make this without the chocolate chips for a classic gluten free banana bread.
- Any basic Supermarket brand gluten free flour blend works well here. I’ve used both Well and Good and the Aldi brand with equally good results. If you’d like to learn more about gluten free flour blends check out my post here.
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