This paleo almond coconut banana bread is incredibly moist and just slightly sweet without any traditional flours or sweetener.

I didn’t title it as such, but this is a paleo bread. At least I think it is.

Can we discuss this whole paleo thing for a moment? So, the premise is to eat “like a caveman would”. Ok, I get that. But I have a really hard time distinguishing between eating the foods a caveman would’ve been able to eat versus the methods a caveman would’ve had at his disposal.

Baking just seems completely counterintuitive to the whole paleo thing. I mean, did cavemen have ovens? Baking soda? No.

And then there’s the whole bean thing. Beans were definitely around back then, why aren’t they included on the “ok” list?

So, no beans, but bread’s ok.

Almond coconut banana bread

Um, I can’t be the only one confused by this.

And let me just disclose that I’m totally no paleo expert (as if that weren’t already apparent). I’ve done a bit of online browsing and read a decent amount of other people’s posts on the diet. That’s it.

What I’ve basically realized after wasting my time reading far too many articles about it is that maple syrup falls in the (quite large) gray area.

This almond coconut banana bread has a tablespoon of it. I’ll leave the determination up to you.

Paleo almond coconut banana bread

I had no intention of specifically making a paleo bread, I just wanted a higher protein one with no traditional flours or sweetener.

Had I judged the outcome based on what the dough looked like, this would’ve been inedible. The dough was incredibly thick and I didn’t think there was any way it would rise at all or turn out to be anything other than rock hard.

Paleo coconut banana bread

I was totally wrong. One of the few times in life I’m happy about that.

It’s just perfectly sweet enough from the banana and it’s so incredibly moist. If I could describe my perfect bread texture, this would be it.

I was floored.

Coconut banana bread

Maybe those cavemen were on to something. You know, with their ovens and all.

But not that jelly! That’s just me being controversial.

Looking for more banana bread recipes? Try one of these:

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Banana Zucchini Muffins

Cinnamon Sugar Banana Pecan Bread with Raspberry Butter

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5 from 1 vote

Almond Coconut Banana Bread

Servings: 10 servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
This paleo almond coconut banana bread is incredibly moist and just slightly sweet without any traditional flours or sweetener.

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup flax seed meal
  • 11/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large ripe banana, mashed

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 small loaf pans (5 3/4" x 3 1/2").
  • Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
  • Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.
  • Pour wet into dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
  • Divide evenly (dough will be thick) into loaf pans and smooth the tops.
  • Bake for about 35 minutes.
  • Remove loaves from oven, let cool in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Nutrition

Serving: 1SERVINGCalories: 176kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 6gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 874mgPotassium: 104mgFiber: 5gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 103IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Baked Goods
Cuisine: American
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Founder and Writer at Running to the Kitchen | About

Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.

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115 Comments

  1. cavemen are extinct for a reason. evolution is good and inevitable. i love wheat bread. that is all.

    1. haha. good one cat.

      I don’t get the whole non grain thing either. because I think if I was a caveman, I would have figured out theirs grains around. kind of like finding out about plant food. but i don’t knock it. if it works for someone than it fits their style. ;)

      Gina – bread looks delicious. love how a banana can make the bread just right.

      1. Ummmm Cat….you do know that Cavemen didn’t become extinct…they evolved. That’s where we came from.

    2. As Cassandra said, caveman didn’t become extinct, they invented things and became, well, us. I’m a paleo dieter and it changed my life. The idea is that you don’t consume anything that didn’t exist before the agricultural revolution. Grains are in that category and are the main reason behind today’s obesity epidemic and the diseases that are associated with it. Our bodies have not adapted in the relatively short amount of time to process carbohydrates from grains. Evolution doesn’t work that fast.
      BTW, the paleo bread is great. I worked both with coconut and almond flour before and it takes practice. Coconut flour is very dense in fiber and you will need extra moisture to compensate otherwise your recipe will be dry.

    3. Cavemen aren’t extinct because they didn’t eat wheat bread. And it’s all actually all down to the fact that our digestive tracts haven’t evolved. Wheat, among other grains, is a cheap, low-nutrient source of energy. That is all.

  2. I couldn’t agree more with everything you said about the paleo diet. Paleo-friendly baked goods do give me a good laugh, but I admit, I make them somewhat frequently…mostly for the same reason you made this awesome bread – because they’re high in protein, contain no cane sugar and the sugars they do have are good for the body. It can be fun to mix things up in the oven and try out different flours and flavors, but you’re right – no one can kid themselves to think that a caveman ever baked a bread like the one you made, although I’m sure it would have delighted him to do so :)

  3. I don’t really understand the whole paleo diet either but it’s fair to say that I haven’t made much effort to try either as as soon as there are foods which are ‘banned’, I can’t think about eating anything other than them. It definitely doesn’t mean, however, that there’s not room in all of our diets for tasty and healthy snacks like this. It looks like it has such a great texture and I love the use of almond and coconut flours.

  4. I love the idea of a bunch of cavemen sitting around eating banana bread :-)

    Looks great!

  5. Sounds/looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it, as banana bread is currently having a moment in my life right now. I’m not sure where I stand on the paleo diet. I think aspects of it are great, but it seems like so.much.effort. With too many ‘rules’ to keep track of.

  6. If I went 100% paleo, my family would make me sleep outside. They’d have no idea what to do with me. They already think that just because I don’t care for meat and love veggies, that I’m some weird alien. It’s a total lifestyle, not just a diet… so it’s a tough one, for sure!
    I haven’t tried coconut flour yet, I need too! This looks delicious!

  7. I never understood the paleo thing. I’m not going to knock it cause I don’t know enough about it but I just don’t think I could ever cut out some of the stuff you have to cut out. Jason’s old roommate did it and he was Asian and couldn’t stand not having rice after about 2 weeks so he quit haha..I really love your continual use of coconut flour..and almond flour! That’s so interesting. You find the most interesting flour. I love how moist banana makes breads..it’s so perfect!

  8. This sounds amazing – I don’t know if I can give up a whole cup of almond flour though, it’s expensive! ;)

    1. I know, it kinda made me cringe while doing it and I ended up using up the last of my bag. BUT! I had a ton of whole almonds on hand, ground them up really fine in the food processor and made my own almond flour. I used it in cookies yesterday and it worked fine! Much cheaper than buying the bags of almond flour with hardly anything in them.

      1. That’s a great idea! I grind up oats for flour quite often but have never tried almonds…