I've been making this delicious, moist, addictive recipe for years and only recently shared it in Little Food Lovers: Healthy Snackers (a free ebook). Since I've been home a lot more these days because Vienna is off school like everyone's kids I've been baking a LOT more. I made this the other week and realized that I haven't actually shared this recipe on the blog. Yet, it's a banana bread recipe I make more than my Buckwheat Banana Bread , Earl Grey Banana Bread and the Bountiful Banana bread combined.
The reason this recipe is so beloved is that it tastes exactly like white flour banana bread -- as in it's as moist, tasty, naturally sweet and as perfect as the less healthy version your grandma probably made you when you were a kid (bless all banana-bread making grandmothers!).
This banana bread is very deserving of the title: Best Ever Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Okay, I know this is high praise but I can't help myself but get excited when I make a totally gluten-free and nut-free, nourishing recipe that everyone in my family loves (even people who don't like healthy food, haha!).
Here's the recipe video so you can follow along and then the recipe card below. Most of my videos going forward will pretty much always have a special guest as long as Vienna is out of school due to the current pandemic.
This recipe is:
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Kid-friendly
- Rich in protein, fibre, iron, potassium, magnesium and B vitamins.
Here's the recipe card.
Desserts
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Print
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour*
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 bananas mashed**
- 1/4 cup real maple syrup***
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 eggs, whisked
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Topping: Sliced bananas, shredded coconut or chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a standard size loaf pan well or line with parchment paper.
- Combine the coconut flour, brown rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl and mix together.
- In a separate bowl combine the bananas, oil, maple syrup and eggs together. (Make sure the melted coconut oil isn’t too hot otherwise it will cook the egg when you combine everything.)
- Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and combine well. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour the mixture into loaf pan. Sprinkle with coconut and decorate with banana slices. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a fork inserted comes out clean. You may want to cover the bread the last 10 minutes with some tin foil to prevent it from burning.
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
*You can sub any other flour for the brown rice flour, except more coconut flour because then you have to change the liquid ingredients since coconut flour absorbs so much moisture.
**Can't eat bananas? You could sub 1/2 cup applesauce instead.
***You can omit the maple syrup, but add a non-dairy or water for liquid in place of the 1/4 cup syrup.
Now if you decide to add more chocolate chips than I have recommended in my recipe, no judgement here, you do you ;) It is also lovely with walnuts, but I wanted to create this as nut-free for all the kiddies who have nut allergies.
Stay healthy friends!
Joy xo
Hi Joy. Do you think I could use almond flour instead of the rice flour? If so, how much should I use? I really want to try this recipe. Thank you.
ReplyIt's a pretty different texture but you could try it out and see. I'm not 100% sure how much though because I haven't tried this. It may be much more dense. Let me know how it turns out!
Would flax eggs work? Looks amazing!
ReplyI'm always hesitant to say yes with a coconut flour based recipe. You can certainly try it out. If you do, let me know!
This is delicious. I used all purpose flour in place of brown rice flour. This will be a weekly treat. The biggest challenge is not to eat it too quickly.
ReplyI hear you! It lasts about 36 hours in our place :) Glad to hear you loved it!
Hi Joy, Thank you for this recipe. Just to give you a laugh, I appreciate the warning to not add the eggs after melting the coconut oil but I should have thought of not adding the coconut oil to frozen bananas 🤪Hope you’re staying calm and peaceful during this time! Be well, Helen
ReplyLOL! Very good point. Thanks for sharing Helen :)
I made this today with my daughter. Replaced the brown rice flour with all purpose flour because that’s what I had. Also added chopped pecans. It’s amazing. So moist and delicious. Definitely saving this recipe to make again.
ReplyGlad you loved it! Love the addition of the pecans.
Hi Joy, I see that in a lot of recipes you use Maple syrup. Is there a particular reason you use it ? (apart from being from Canada of course :-)) Here in NZ Maple syrup is pretty expensive and I was wondering if I could replace it with something without losing the benefit it brings? Would honey do? (Hubi is a beekeeper). Thank you for your help.
ReplyHi! Thanks for letting me know that. I tend to only use honey in recipes that aren't heated to reap the full benefits of the honey as they get destroyed when heated. But if that is the most affordable option, then go for honey. You could also try coconut palm sugar if that's affordable in NZ? You'll have to tweak the liquid though if you use coconut sugar because the maple syrup adds moisture to this recipe. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi joy . Can I replace coconut flour with buckwheat flour ?
ReplyYou can instead I would recommend a different recipe then you don't have to alter any other ingredients: https://www.joyoushealth.com/91-recipe-buckwheat-banana-bread
Can you use almond flour? Thank you. Pstsy
ReplyIt's a pretty different texture but you could try it out and see. I'm not 100% sure how much though because I haven't tried this. It may be much more dense. Let me know how it turns out!
Can I use gluten free flour blend instead of brown rice flour ?
ReplyYes that should work, enjoy!
Delish!! I tried this today :)
ReplyHappy to hear you love it!
Thank u soo much! I always get excited when I see an email from you:) I would love to do this wonderful recipe but 4 eggs is too much! I have an allergy to eggs.. can I add just 2 and substitute the other two with flax meal?! Thx again and God Bless!
ReplyHi Fatima, you can certainly try that. You might have better luck with this buckwheat banana bread because it's not as finicky as coconut flour: https://www.joyoushealth.com/91-recipe-buckwheat-banana-bread
Love this recipe! I used raisins instead of chocolate chips and it’s so moist and perfect! I’ll be making this for my school lunches, whenever that happens again! Thanks for the joy, and great recipes!
ReplySounds wonderful!
Hi Joy I made this loaf yesterday. Its delicious. I had to freeze half so as not to eat all of it. Thanks
ReplyThat's a brilliant idea. I need to do that too so I get to eat some. I made one today and it's more than half gone! hah!
Could I use just almond flour in this recipe?
ReplyYou can try but almond flour is a very different texture so I'm not sure 100% almond flour would work.
Made this banana bread and it is really amazing. Moist and not overly sweet which I am not a big fan of. Thank you.
ReplyYou're welcome, glad you loved this recipe Sarbani!
I love this recipe and have made it several times since the Little Food Lovers ebook came out! I have to cook mine for about 45 minutes, but my oven could be on its way out. My 5-yr old daughter loves watching the videos with Vienna helping. :)
ReplyThanks for letting me know yours cooks longer! Every oven is different but I will update the timing of the recipe. Glad to hear you love it!
WOW!! This is the best gluten free banana bread I've ever made! It was easy to make
ReplyGlad to hear you love it too! I made another loaf this afternoon!
This recipe is fantastic. I used tapioca flour and almond flour and it turned out amazing. It was light and moist. Amazing -Thanks! Marilyn
ReplyGlad to hear you made some successful subs Marilyn!
Just made this banana bread and it's delicious! Your Chocolate Chip Tahini cookies are another favourite in our home! Thanks for healthy but decadent recipes!
ReplyMmmm, yummy!! Glad you enjoyed this one and those cookies are heavenly too. Thanks for your comment?
Delicious banana bread! One of your best baked goods recipes. I prefer baking with a combination of brown rice flour and coconut flour rather than coconut flour alone. I added pecans as per reader’s suggestions. The only thing I regret is adding unsweetened chocolate chips vs sweetened chocolate chips. It was probably healthier but somehow did not blend as well with the other flavours. Thank you for this excellent recipe :)!
ReplyI agree, I like the combo of flours best too! Glad you love this recipe. Try it with blueberries, omg so yummy!!
This recipe is delicious and easy to make. I’ve made it twice and both times areas where there are bits of banana turned green the day after baking. I used aluminum free baking powder. I put the bread in the fridge so I can’t imagine mold could develop that quickly. Any explanation for the green areas?
ReplyI've heard of this happening but it's never happened to me and I don't know why it might happen. I've gotta research it and see but from what I remember it has to do with the baking powder. However, you mentioned you used aluminum-free, so I am stumped. Does it still taste good?
It still tastes delicious. Because I’d heard of the baking powder being a possible cause I checked my container again. It’s the brand I usually buy but it looks like this time I grabbed one that is not marked as aluminum-free. This would be a possible explanation then. I love this bread and definitely want to make it again. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyOh good, glad you figured it out. Well I hope it still tasted just as good!
Hi! What can I use instead of maple syrup? Honey? Should I use the same amount? Thanks!
ReplyIt's not really ideal to use honey but you could and yes it would be the same amount. Enjoy!
Joy I just wanted to say thank you for this wonderful recipe!! I make it weekly and my three boys love it. It never lasts long in our home. Yet another family favourite recipe from you.
ReplyGlad to hear you and your 3 boys love it -- success!!
I love this banana bread! I was wondering if I could use all brown rice flour instead of coconut flour? Thanks i truly enjoy all your recipes 😊
ReplyYes for sure but you'd definitely need to adjust the amounts because coconut flour is so absorbent so that it won't be a 1:1 ratio. Hope that helps!
Good am. I wanted to make this recipe today and I wanted to know if I could replace the choc chips with blueberries? Thanks so much.
ReplyYes absolutely! My hubby loves it when I make it with blueberries instead of chocolate chips too!
I made these into muffins and they were a hit with my granddaughter! Thank you!
ReplyPerfect idea!
Made this for the first time this weekend and it is delicious! Came out beautifully. I used Bob's 1:1 Gluten-free flour instead of brown rice flour.
ReplyGlad to hear it turned out great! Enjoy!
thanks,joy for the recent banana bread recipe.i will try it soon Merry Christmas.
ReplyYou're welcome, Enjoy!
This was the best banana bread I’ve ever had!! It’s sooo moist and soft it almost had the texture of a bread pudding the first time I tried it. I think the centre didn’t fully set, not sure why? The 2nd time I tried it it was more firm. Thanks for this recipe I’ll be making it again and love it!
ReplyGlad you loved it!!! Sounds like it might have needed to bake it a little longer. If your bananas are riper than mine, then it could take longer to cook because it's more liquidy. I also do not add 1/4 cup maple syrup anymore because I like it less sweet. I will update that in the recipe to put that it is optional for the maple syrup.
Could I make this into Muffins instead of loaf?
ReplyYes 100%!
100% my go to recipe for banana bread. I omit the chocolate chips, but it’s still 10/10!
ReplyYes! I love it too. I think it's just as yummy without the chocolate chips too. Have you tried it with blueberries? That's my go-to lately.
Oooh! No, I haven’t! I may need to give that a try! :D Do you use fresh or frozen blueberries?
When I use frozen I let them thaw fully first but both fresh or frozen work!
I've been experimenting with this recipe and I've hit on a perfect combo for me. I used almond flour instead of brown rice flour, half maple syrup and half full fat coconut milk for the liquid, raisins instead of chocolate chips and I added a touch of vanilla. It turned out moist and just the right amount of sweet for me AND my husband. I made a batch last week replacing all the maple syrup with coconut milk which was fine for me but I caught my husband sprinkling coconut sugar on a slice. ;)
ReplySounds fantastic! You sound like a seasoned baker, good on you for making it work to your liking! Love that!
Absolutely yummy! I love your recipes. So easy to meke - Thank you!
ReplyYay! happy to hear that!
Hi Joy, could I modify this recipe to make muffins instead of bread? What would you suggest? Thank you!
ReplyYes for sure! I would cut the baking time in half probably but you'll just have to watch it and see what time is best based on your oven.
This is the best banana bread EVER! I am shook. Thank you Joy
ReplyHah! Glad you love it as much as we do!
I made these into muffins for my kiddos! I used 2 frozen ripe bananas and omitted the maple syrup. I also used half whole wheat flour, replacing the rice. Baked for 30 min at 350 and they turned out beautifully! I also only had 3 eggs but it worked! :)
ReplyGlad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your substitutions and how you made it work for you!
This recipe is a family favourite! Delicious and easy to make every time! I have a picky 2yo and a 3yo and I feel great feeding them this knowing it’s made with great quality ingredients. I sub rice flour for almond flour and it comes out great. Also, love Joy and her content! Seeing her Instagram posts brings comfort and kindness and mindfulness to my day.
ReplyHi Andreea, thank you so much! I really appreciate and I'm glad you're enjoying my recipes and instagram content. Kids are not easy to please so I'm happy it's kid-approved. My daughter loves it too! Oddly enough, she likes it better with blueberries so I often swap out the chocolate chips for blueberries. Enjoy!
This is the best banana bread! Thanks for such a great recipe. I use walnuts instead of chocolate chips and it's so yummy!
ReplyOh yummy! I love the crunch of walnuts in this b-bread, that's a great addition!
Omg, it turned out so heavenly delicious! I actually had only 1 banana so I had to substitute with 1/4C apple sauce for the 2nd banana in the recipe. I used grape seed oil instead of coconut oil (just didn’t feel like melting the coconut and the grape seed oil says it is lower on saturated fats). I also added some chopped walnuts in the batter. Decorated with slices of frozen banana… lol (like I said I only had 1 fresh banana handy so I had to think outside the box). Thank you for the recipe! It will be a keeper.
ReplyGlad your substitutions worked out great and you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi Joy, Could I put 3 bananas instead of 2?
ReplyYou could do that but it may take much longer to bake or you can add more flour. Enjoy!
How long is it suppose to bake for? In your video you said 35 minutes but on the blog it says 50-60 mins
ReplyI have updated the blog timing because many people told them it took longer than when I bake it. It probably has to do with my small oven size and convection. Hope that helps!
I just made this banana bread for about the 100th time…it is our favourite! I actually haven’t made any other banana bread recipe in ages. Thanks for your great recipes and healthy advice!
ReplyMy pleasure Laureen! Glad you love it! It's a fave over here too :)
Yummy…How much blueberries if no Bananas?
Reply1 cup of wild blueberries. If using frozen, you'll need to thaw them and you may need to bake the bread a little longer since it will be wetter.
I wish there was a way to upload a picture. I was so excited to make this. I followed the recipe as written and set timer to bake for 50 minutes @ 350. Thank goodness I checked it at 35 minutes. It was brown on top and sides are very dark, almost burnt looking. I haven’t cut into it yet because I made it for Thanksgiving. It looks really dry but I’m hoping it looks better inside. Next time I’ll set time for 30 minutes and see how it looks! Smells good!
ReplyWow, that is indeed super fast!! Do you have a gas oven? Usually people comment it takes longer cause I often bake on convection, so I think this is a first! The other factor could be your bananas. Did the batter seem nice and moist, like easy to scoop in the pan?
Yes, the batter seemed fine. I have an electric oven that we've had for nine months. Next time I’ll use convection mode and see how that goes. Thank you for responding! Happy Thanksgiving!
Sounds good!
My family eats a lot of bananas and this is the perfect recipe to repurpose the ones that get bruised. I always double the recipe as well as triple the bananas and that fills a large rectangular cake pan plus a mini one to share. Flax or chia eggs both work great. I just learned that chia seeds are more bioavailable when soaked in ginger bug so I did that tonight and it's my new favorite. The ginger complements the other spices but it's very subtle and tastes extra clean. The chia seeds give it a more moist and fluffy texture, less grainy and dense like ground flax. Although I still love both versions. Tonight I switched the maple syrup with an equal amount of turbinado sugar as well as that same amount of water. The kids will love the sweetness but I prefer mine less sweet so I think I could have used half as much or possibly just omitted it. It was getting brown at the edges before it was done so I covered it with a cookie sheet for the last ~15 minutes and that was perfect! Total cook time was about an hour and the top has an even, beautiful golden color.
ReplyThanks for sharing all the additions you made! Sounds like it will be delicious!
Looks amazing! Im.making this today!
ReplyEnjoy!
How can I make this recipe without eggs for a vegan option? I tried it with egg replacer and it was not very moist. Any suggestions? Thank you!!
ReplyHave you tried it with applesauce or a flax egg? I think you will need to cook it a lot longer though. Have you scrolled through all the comments yet as often people will make a note when they tried it without eggs and it worked. I've definitely seen people post on IG when they've made it egg-free and it worked but I can't recall off the top of my head if they did a chia or flax-egg combo. Those are usually successful.