This Maple Pecan Gluten Free Banana Bread recipe has no refined sugar, getting it’s sweetness from bananas and maple syrup. It’s super moist and a healthy alternative to regular banana bread. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee on a cool day!
Banana bread is great – for breakfast, as a dessert, or just to tide you over until your next meal.
I really wanted a refined sugar free banana bread, one that had more of a subtle sweetness. With fall in full swing, I decided to incorporate some fall flavors. And out of that grew this maple pecan gluten free banana bread.
Why you’ll love this gluten free banana bread
- It combines the classic banana bread goodness with cozy fall flavors.
- The sweet pecan topping provides some crunchy texture along with the softness of the bread.
- There’s no refined sugar used – it’s just naturally sweetened with maple syrup and bananas.
Ingredients
- Bananas – you’ll want them to be bordering on overly ripe as this makes them sweeter. If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, check out this post on how to ripen bananas from Culinary Hill.
- Maple syrup – pure maple syrup is best in this recipe.
- Butter – I like to use unsalted, but if you only have salted just cut out the other salt in the recipe.
- Gluten free flour – Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 flour is what I used for this recipe.
- Baking soda & baking powder – for both of these you want to make sure they’re fresh, otherwise they won’t work as well in the recipe.
- Salt – just table salt here is fine.
- Eggs – make sure your eggs haven’t got bad by reading this post from Epicurious.
- Maple extract – this will give the bread that great maple flavor as the maple syrup alone isn’t enough.
- Milk – I used coconut milk in this recipe. You could also use whole milk instead.
- Pecans – you can buy prechopped or chop them yourself.
I used this recipe as a base, as I like it when I want something sweeter. However, for this version I used only maple syrup and the bananas as sweetener. The pecans add a nice crunch, especially in the topping.
The pecans are best if you use a food processor, or in my case, a mini food processor, to chop them up. You can do it by hand, but it takes longer and you don’t get as uniform of pieces. Plus, I’m lazy and like appliances to do the work for me.
The trick to this banana bread is waiting until it’s pretty well cooked before adding the topping, otherwise the very middle stays a little gooey. It still tastes good, just doesn’t have a typical banana bread texture. But you do want to cook it long enough to let the pecans get nice and toasted.
Once it’s done, enjoy it on a crisp fall morning with your favorite warm beverage. Or a cold fall night after dinner. Or, you know, when you get home from work and are starving before dinner is made. No judgment here.
FAQ
You can, but the bread won’t have the same sweetness. You may have clumps of unsweetened banana in your bread as unripe bananas are harder to mash up. I recommend using very ripe bananas or ripening the ones you have.
Let the bread cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then lift it out using the parchment paper and let it finish on a cooling rack.
Your banana bread is done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean – no batter sticks to it.
Recipe tips & substitutions
- It’s best to warm your eggs to room temperature before adding them. You can do this quickly by putting them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before using them in the recipe.
- You can replace the butter with coconut oil to make this recipe dairy free.
- If you don’t have pecans you could use walnuts instead.
Pin this Gluten Free Banana Bread with maple syrup for later!
Try one of these other gluten free fall recipes:
- Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup (GF, DF, Paleo, Whole30)
- Baked Apples with Ginger, Dates, and Pecans (GF, DF, Paleo, Whole30)
- Gluten Free Apple Crisp (GF w/ DF option)
- Kabocha Squash Soup (GF, DF, Paleo, Whole30)
Or check out one of these other gluten free baked goods:
- Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
- Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
Maple Pecan Banana Bread (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
For the Bread
- 3 medium bananas 1.5 cups mashed
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup 1 stick of butter, softened
- 2 cups gluten free flour I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 blend
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp maple extract
- 2 tbsp coconut milk cow’s milk will also work
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
For the Topping
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the inside of the loaf pan and place it inside the pan. Set aside.
- Mash the bananas in a container with a fork or masher. Set aside.
- Place 1/3 cup of maple syrup and the softened butter in bowl and stir with a hand mixer, or use a stand mixer, until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Stir the bananas, eggs, maple extract, and coconut milk into the maple syrup & butter mixture until well combined. Pour half of the flour mixture into the banana mixture, stirring until just combined. Add the second half and do the same.
- Pour the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans into the mixture and stir until just combined and there are no pockets of dry flour in the mixture.
- Pour the bread mixture into the loaf pan with the parchment paper in it. Level it out across the pan with a spoon or spatula. Place the loaf pan into the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.
- While the bread is cooking, chop the remaining 1 cup of pecans finely (or you can use a food processor). Place the chopped pecans in a bowl and add the 2 tbsp remaining maple syrup. Combine with a spoon or spatula until all pecan pieces are covered with maple syrup.
- Once the bread cooks for the first 30 minutes, take it out of the oven and spread the pecan & maple syrup mixture onto the top with a spoon or spatula, making sure the bread is evenly covered.
- Place the loaf pan back in the oven and cook for another 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Once cooked, take the bread out of the loaf pan and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- It’s best to warm your eggs to room temperature before adding them. You can do this quickly by putting them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before using them in the recipe.
- You can replace the butter with coconut oil to make this recipe dairy free.
- If you don’t have pecans you could use walnuts instead.
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