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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
Cinnamon Sugar Banana Pecan Bread with Raspberry Butter
Almond Coconut Banana Bread
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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.
I also made muffins. I used coconut granules as the sweetener. They were good but had a strong soda taste. I wonder if they would be ok with a little less baking soda?
Thanks for the recipe! I made it into muffins last week, baked them at 350 for 20 minutes and they were perfect. So happy to have banana bread back in our gluten/dairy free diet!
Oops! Forgot to mention, I used 3 medium bananas and added 1 tbsp of coconut milk.
I eat modified paleo as I don’t want to give up dairy and legumes. I’ve lost nearly 30lbs in 8 weeks and I feel better than I have in 10 years. There’s something to be said for detoxing off of sugar and eating real foods :)
I made this recipe tonight and was so excited, but somehow it turned it out quite dry, actually crumbly. I’m no novice in the kitchen and I followed the recipe. Not sure what happened. I also think 2 bananas would’ve been better for sweetness and moisture.
CALUM
Mine didn’t rise. Is it because I live in hot humid flat Florida?
It’s not going to rise that much, mine did but just a little. That’s why it’s baked in mini loaves, so you don’t end up with a huge, flat loaf. The humidity might have something to do with it, but don’t expect it to rise like a normal loaf would.
This came out very dry and crumbly. Based on other comments I added 2 bananas. It was still terribly dry so I added 3 oz of applesauce too, (and also cinnamon). I was skeptical because from what I’ve read about the absorption capacity of coconut flour, the amount of wet ingredients needs to be disproportionately high. There is really very little moisture in this recipe. The flavour is pretty good and I’ll eat it as crumbles, but I think this recipe needs some tweaking. :(
Kerry- sorry it didn’t turn out for you. I’ve made this recipe as it’s stated 4 times now, each with incredibly moist results. In fact, any time I’ve cooked with coconut flour, it’s always turned out moist. I make an almond flour/coconut flour bake for breakfast usually 3 times a week and it’s moist. I really have no idea why it’s not coming out that way for you especially if you used all the eggs it calls for.
I just cooked this banana bread tonight as I am starting to eat Paleo tomorrow. For me it was quite dry but I think I over cooked it. I was thinking of adding another banana to the recipe and another Tablespoon of maple syrup. However, after a couple weeks of Paleo eating this bread will probably seem plenty sweet. I sliced the bread and put it in the freezer for a quick breakfast or snack. I will eat a slice tomorrow and serve it with sliced bananas on top to give it more moisture and banana flavor. Thanks for the recipe.
Could you cook these in a muffin tin?
Probably. I haven’t tried it though to tell you for sure.
Hi Gina,
I’m a Hunter-Gatherer Apprentice who recently started the Paleo Diet, I can confirm that your recipe is Paleo. The only non Paleo food would be the salt but since it is just 1 tablespoon this is fine.
Great recipe that I will bake this weekend.
Hi, I stumbled on this recipe while looking for a better coconut flour bread recipe. I like the addition of yummy almond flour, and moist bananas, AND that it doesn’t have the 1/2 stick of butter that the other recipes had. PS- Sam’s Club currently has 3 lb bags of almonds for $13 for those who want to make their own almond flour.