Spotted or not spotted, that is the question. For me, bananas are best consumed when they have a couple spots on them. Not quite dalmatian-style, but enough to indicate that the banana has lost most of its starchy texture. I have friends who prefer bananas with a bit of green on the skin. I think they’re crazy. But when I have bananas that look like this, I know it’s time for a baking session:
Initially, I wanted to make a cinnamon chocolate swirl for the banana bread. A few weeks ago, I fell in love with Joanne’s recipe for chewy cinnamon white chocolate chip coconut cookies at Eats Well With Others. The recipe called for cinnamon chips, something I had never heard of. I was on a quest for them last week, but alas, none of the supermarkets I frequent carried these cinnamon morsels.
When it came time to baking, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I added a cinnamon chocolate swirl to the bread?! Cinnamon + chocolate perfectly co-existing. I was sold on the idea, so I melted a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and added a tablespoon of ground cinnamon to the sauce. Next, the moment of truth—the taste test. The verdict: a disappointment. The cinnamon flavors were muted by the semi-sweet chocolate chips. The chocolate certainly tasted different, but not enough for me to detect cinnamon in it.
I made a fresh batch of chocolate sauce for my banana bread, using chocolate chips only and added it onto the banana bread batter. To make the chocolate swirl on the bread, I poured the banana batter into a greased loaf pan first. Then, I added dollops of the chocolate sauce and, with a butter knife, swirled the batter and chocolate together.
If you want more layers of chocolate inside the banana bread, add half of the banana bread into the loaf pan and top it with a few dollops of chocolate sauce. Next, add the remaining banana mixture and top it with the chocolate. Then, use a butter knife to create a swirl.
Even though the cinnamon chocolate experiment wasn’t a success, the final version was wonderful! Oh, and did I mention that it is gluten-free?
Gluten-Free Banana Bread with Chocolate Swirl
Ingredients
- Natural cooking spray or regular oil for greasing pan
- 3 overripe bananas, mashed
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 TBS non-fat greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup rolled oats, ground (or a bit over a cup of oat flour)
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1 TBS ground psyllium husk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º F (180º C). Either grease a loaf pan directly with cooking spray or oil, or line the pan with parchment paper and then spray the insides. Be sure to have at least half an inch of parchment paper above the loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas, oil, coconut sugar, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla together.
- In another bowl, mix together the ground rolled oats (or oat flour), brown rice flour, psyllium husk, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. I like to add the flour mixture in three batches.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips. Set the microwave for about a minute and then check the chocolate. Be careful with hot bowls! If the chocolate has barely melted, continue microwaving at 15-second increments until the chips are partially melted and very soft. The chocolate doesn’t need to be saucy–just melted enough so that you can stir the chips together into a creamy consistency.
- Pour the banana batter into the loaf pan. Add dollops of the chocolate sauce on top of the batter.
- Using a butter knife, swirl the chocolate around so that you create a nice psychedelic swirl pattern.
- Bake the bread for about 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when you pierce through the banana bread portions. Try not to test the bread by sticking the toothpick in the chocolate portions, as the toothpick will always come out with gooey melted chocolate.
- Let the bread cool for at least 45 to 50 minutes before taking it out of the pan for slicing.
- Store any leftovers in sealable container. Refrigerate any bread that you haven’t finished in several days.
Notes
FUN BANANA FACTS
- The word “banana” comes from the Spanish and Portuguese words banana (for the fruit) or banano (for the tree).
- Until the late 19th century, bananas were considered to be luxuries in America. Now, they’re less than a dollar for a pound (at least for now)!
- The most common variety of banana that we see in supermarkets are from the Cavendish subgroup. There are increasing news reports suggesting that the global production of Cavendish bananas could be at risk because of a fungus, also known as the Panama disease. The cause: lack of genetic diversity in the crop. What will I do without bananas??
Angie (@angiesrecipess) says
This looks scrumptious! Love the beautiful chocolate swirls.
What kind of psyllium husk did you use, whole or powder?
Lisa says
Thanks, Angie! I used the powdered form of pysillium husk.
Kate says
Hi Lisa,
I made this today and it’s lovely! I had to substitute a few ingredients, and I potentially put in too much chocolate, but it tastes great.
Looking forward to trying more of your recipes 🙂
Xxx
Lisa says
Thanks, Kate! Glad you liked it! And there’s never too much chocolate in my book. Feel free to send me a quick message with any recipes you want me to feature on here!
Becky @ Fun Fresh Feast says
This looks so delicious! And I love the banana facts –I learned something new today!
Lisa says
Thanks, Becky! Glad you liked the facts, too!
Fairytalesandfitness says
I would love to make this but I have never heard of coconut sugar or psyllium Husk. Is there a substitution for these ingredients? Thanks for linking up with us.
Lisa says
Yes, absolutely! I would use regular cane sugar instead of coconut sugar and just leave out the psyllium husk. I included it in the recipe to ensure that the bread came out sturdier. Let me know how it turns out if you try this!
Michele @ A Pace of Balance says
Oh wow, this looks amazing! I love banana bread! Love that it’s gluten free…and has chocolate. This wouldn’t last long at my house. Visiting from the Tasty Tuesday Linkup!
Lisa says
Thanks for stopping buy Michele! Let me know if you try this recipe!
gracie says
This bread looks delicious but I do not have celiac disease so gluten free serves no real nutiritional purpose. Would it possible to just use regular flour or even whole wheat flour and skip the the psyllium husk? Thanks!
Lisa says
Absolutely, Gracie! You could use either all-purpose or whole wheat flour or blend them both together. Skip the psyllium husk, too.
Beev says
Hi! thanks for the recipe. looks delectable 🙂 can we substitute the yogurt with something else? I am also dairy free here. thanks!
Lisa says
Thanks, Beev! You can just substitute it with some applesauce. It’s there mainly for extra moisture in the bread. Let me know how it goes!
Beev says
I did!! It was fantastic! Not overly sweet, and btw better the next day. I loved the pockets of chocolate, but I am going to try just adding the chips next time. thank you so much for the recipe.
Lisa says
Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you, Beev!! Yes, the swirl is a bit more work. Let me know how it turns out when you try it with just the chips!
GregorC says
THE best banana bread .I doubled the recipe and made 2 loaves.Had some the next day and it was still lovely and moist.Will make this often!
Lisa says
Gregor, thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out! So glad you enjoyed it!
Zainab says
Hi, how do I store this over night? Planning on making it today.
Lisa says
Hi Zainab! I usually just cover the entire loaf with foil and put it in a sealed plastic bag for the first day or two, then I’ll move it into the fridge if I haven’t finished the loaf by then. Let me know how it goes!
Zainab says
Also, I remember seeing gluten free baking powder. Does this b.p have to be gluten free too or any normal one will do? Thanks
Lisa says
You’re right, there are some gluten free baking powders. I usually use rumford or clabber girls baking powder, which are gf. If you’re okay with the possibility that the bp might not be gf, then any normal one should do. Hope this helps!
Kim says
This looks FABULOUS! Im curious if you could remove the rice flour and replace it with something else? I can’t seem to find it here. I’m truly drooling looking at this photo!!!
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Kim! You can replace the rice flour with any gluten-free all purpose blend, or, if you’re not gluten-free, just use regular flour. Hope that helps!
KNgo says
I made this last night. While I used a cast iron dutch oven instead of a loaf pan, I did everything else as the recipe says. The cooking vessel shouldn’t have taken away from the flavor; even using 3 bananas, the banana taste wasn’t very strong. It was okay, but there may have been so many strong flavors coming through, the banana was masked (kept tasting chocolate and smelling cinnamon). It wasn’t bad, but not what I was looking for. 🙁
Lisa Lin says
Hi KNgo, thanks for trying out the recipe! Please feel free to adjust the recipe to your taste. If you thought that the cinnamon was too overpowering, you can just leave it out completely. You can also use less chocolate, too. Thanks for leaving your feedback!