This Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Bread is moist, fragrant, and covered in a rich peanut butter frosting! It's easily customisable, refined sugar free and great for breakfast, brunch, a snack or dessert!
How sweet is this banana bread?
This is definitely a sweet banana bread - it's similar to a Banana Cake. To make a no added sugar banana bread, you can omit the maple syrup and omit the frosting.
Tips for what type of bananas to use
Banana bread is always best made using ripe bananas. This is because they're naturally sweeter and they're softer so easier to mash. However, if you don't have any ripe bananas, this recipe will still work with normal bananas too.
How to make the banana bread
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mash the bananas in a wide-bottomed bowl using a fork.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl - use a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.
- Transfer the mixture to a one-pound loaf tin.
Tip: Line the tin with greased baking paper to make it easier to remove the banana bread afterwards.
- Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before frosting.
How to make the peanut butter frosting
- Drain soaked cashews and place in a food processor with the maple syrup and almond milk.
- Whizz until completely smooth – you might need to mix it around a few times to make sure it blends evenly.
- Add the peanut butter.
Tip: The peanut butter needs to be added at this stage not at the beginning, as otherwise the mixture becomes very gloopy and hard to blend.
- Blend briefly until combined.
Tip: Be careful not to over-blend, as the mixture will become very greasy as the oil will be released from the peanut butter.
How to frost and decorate
- Spread the frosting over the loaf of banana bread.
- Sprinkle over chopped peanuts to decorate, if desired.
Basic substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of nut or seed butter: peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, pecan butter, tahini, sunflower seed butter.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can omit the sweetener and the frosting for a no added sugar banana bread.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
Things you can add to the batter
- You can omit the cinnamon.
- You can add a handful of chopped walnuts or some desiccated coconut.
- You can add fresh or frozen fruit like blueberries or raspberries.
- You can add some dried cranberries.
- You can swirl in some strawberry or raspberry jam for a peanut butter jelly flavour.
- You can add chocolate chips.
How long does this keep for?
Although this does taste best fresh, it does keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More banana recipes
- Banana Overnight Oats
- Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
- Vegan Banana Oatmeal
- Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Banana Muffins
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Ingredients
For the banana bread:
- 3 medium-sized ripe bananas
- 60 g (¼ cup) smooth peanut butter (or sub any other nut or seed butter)
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to taste (optional)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or sub any other plant-based milk)
For the peanut butter frosting:
- 50 g (⅓ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or sub any other plant-based milk)
- 60 g (¼ cup) smooth peanut butter (or sub any other nut or seed butter)
To decorate (optional):
- Roasted peanuts , roughly chopped
Instructions
For the banana bread:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Peel the bananas and place in a wide-bottomed bowl, then use a fork to mash until you get a smooth paste
- Place the peanut butter in a separate large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
- Once melted, add the maple syrup to the same bowl along with the vinegar, salt (and cinnamon if using) and ground almonds
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
- Add the mashed bananas, and mix well, adding the milk a small amount at a time until you get a loose batter. You may not need to use it all depending on how liquidy your bananas are - you may also need to add a little more milk if your bananas are dry
- Transfer the mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper - I used a one-pound loaf tin
- Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes until risen and golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean
- Once out the oven, transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before frosting
For the peanut butter frosting:
- Drain soaked cashews and place in a food processor with the maple syrup and almond milk
- Whizz until completely smooth – you might need to mix it around a few times to make sure it blends evenly
- Add the peanut butter – the peanut butter needs to be added at this stage not at the beginning, as otherwise the mixture becomes very gloopy and hard to blend
- Blend briefly until combined - be careful not to over-blend, as the mixture will become very greasy as the oil will be released from the peanut butter
To frost and decorate:
- Use a knife (or palette knife) to spread frosting over the top of the loaf
- Sprinkle over chopped peanuts to decorate, if desired
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Lynn
Can I use oat flour in this? Also, can cupcakes be made instead, since you say its cake like? The frosting sounds sooo good!
Rhian Williams
Yes you can use it to make cupcakes, you can use my banana cupcakes recipe for guidance for cooking times etc: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/banana-cupcakes/. You can use oat flour in place of the gluten-free flour, but the texture won't be as fluffy!
Mariana Van Wyk
Can I use regular sugar in this recipe? Or golen syrup diluted till maple syrup texture. Difficult with lockdown to get Maple syrup. Thanks Rhian. You know I am your nr1 bread dan😍
Rhian Williams
You can use regular sugar! Aw thank you so much!
Floranet
Stunning Writing!! Keep up the good work.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
Rashmi
Hi Rhian,
Lovely clean recipes! Will surely try this one. Could I ask, in the nutrition facts that you have added, how many grams is a single serve?
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! I don't know exactly how many grams it is, but this whole loaf makes 10 slices and 1 slice is a single serving in the nutrition facts. Hope that helps!
Kale Anna
It is information that helps me a lot, because of work I need to learn it.