Blueberry Banana Bread

Light, fluffy, moist, and absolutely delicious... this blueberry banana bread is just what these chilly-greyish-wet-spring-is-almost-here days call for.

Super comforting (when is a sweet bread not, though?), and the smell of the bread baking is probably my favorite part of the deal here. Well, that and eating it of course!

To make this loaf I used my favorite standard muffins recipe as a basis. You can find it in these Pumpkin Molasses Muffins or this Applesauce Muffins recipe. I love using it as a base because it makes a darn good gluten-free banana bread (or any other bread) that's not going to crumble on you or taste like a bag of sand :P.

In this recipe the ingredient combo also makes a delish vegan banana bread that's oil-free. The result is a moist and fluffy sweet bread that's just perfect for a quick breakfast for the week or as a snack.

And speaking of muffins, of course this blueberry banana bread can be easily baked into muffins instead if you prefer.

Heads up: I used banana chips for the top of my loaf. Those are definitely not oil-free, nor refined sugar-free. I just had them on hand and they needed to be used up... so onto the bread they went.

They add a nice crunchy / chewy sweetness to the loaf which I like, but personally they're not a product I usually have around, so for future loaves I'd just use fresh banana slices (my usual go-to). So that's the refined sugar-free and oil-free banana bread alternative. Or you can skip them altogether if you like.

Another heads up: I clearly zonked out while baking this loaf initially and just added the frozen blueberries in and baked away... and as expected when you do that they tend to sink down to the bottom of the loaf more.

But once I added them to the batter it was too late to fix the mistake, so I just went with it and ended up with the loaf you see pictured. Basically a blueberry "jam" ripple through the loaf, rather than nicely spread out blueberries. I actually kind of liked it that way :) which is why I left it as is in the recipe below.

If you want more evenly spaced blueberries, the step I skipped while baking this recipe is tossing the berries in a bit of (gf) flour first. So if you're so inclined, that's how you do it.

Speaking of blueberries... I think this recipe is actually really lovely with some nuts or seeds added in for a bit of crunch as a variation. I left them out this time because I was going for a nut-free loaf, but you can certainly add in a ¼ cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, etc. for more "oomph" to the loaf.

Blueberry Banana Bread

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★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Audrey @ Unconventional Baker
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 12" loaf
• Category: Sweet Breads
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: Dessert

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Description

A delicious moist and fluffy gluten-free vegan blueberry banana bread (oil-free), topped with banana chips or banana slices.

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Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups quick oats (gluten-free)
• ¼ cup buckwheat flour*
• 2 tbsp potato starch**
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder (gluten-free)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ⅛ tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 2 medium ripe bananas (peeled)
• 1 small can of full fat coconut milk (160ml)***
• ¾ cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp unsulphured blackstrap molasses
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Fold-Ins:

• ½ cup frozen blueberries

Topping:

• banana chips or fresh banana slices****

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a bread load (I used a skinny narrow one that's 12" x 4.5" x 3", but a standard size loaf pan would work fine too) with parchment paper, or grease the tray well with a bit of oil or non-dairy butter instead if you prefer. Set aside.

2. Briefly process all dry ingredients in a food processor to combine into a flour.

3. Add wet ingredients and process again to combine the mixture into a batter.

4. Add the blueberries and pulse a few times briefly just to incorporate them into the batter (be careful not to process too much as you don’t want them to blend into the batter).

5. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Decorate with toppings.

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 1 hour and 5 mins (until a pick inserted in the center comes out dry). Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack, then enjoy!

Notes

*Can also use rice flour instead (as I’ve done in this muffin recipe). Other grain-based flours will likely work well as well.

**Can alternatively use tapioca starch, arrowroot, or corn starch.

***I recommend Thai Kitchen brand for best results.

****I used banana chips here spontaneously because I had them on hand. They add a nice sweet crunch to the bread, though of course they're not oil-free or refined sugar-free. You can just used fresh slices of banana instead for a fully oil-free & refined sugar-free version.