Coconut Banana Bread (GAPS, Paleo, Grain-free)
I think my kids are getting sick of bananas.
They used to eat them up non-stop, but not lately. No interest at all. Whole bunches used to disappear in a day or two, but now all my bananas are sad, neglected and brown. But that means I get the chance to give them a new life as banana bread, so really, I’m not complaining. I just think it’s weird. I mean, who gets sick of bananas? They are awesome.
Well actually, you know what? I vaguely remember my mom telling me that I used to love bananas as a child and then I refused to eat them again until I was like 19. So.. maybe they were doomed from the start? Oh, and I also hated coconut forever and always, until like 3 years ago when it became my BFF. If you asked my pre-2010-self to eat this bread, I would have definitely said no.
If you asked me to eat this bread right now, I stop you mid-question and help myself.
This banana bread is like a coconut triple threat- coconut oil, coconut flour and shredded coconut all in one place. Drink it with a glass of coconut milk, slathered with coconut butter and you might explode. Or you can just be a normal person and eat it plain. Or toasted with some yummy grass-fed butter. Do what you want, no one’s watchin’!
Are you guys fans of baking with coconut flour? It took some getting used to for me, but now it’s my go-to flour. I love that a little goes a REALLY long way. I mean.. that stuff can suck up some liquid!
Wait! Before you go, this thought just hit me- this bread would be great for cutting into cubes, toasting and then making a parfait with coconut whipped cream, and maybe some fresh pineapple or mango? How great does that sound? I will definitely be looking into that for you ASAP. I want that in my belly now.
Anyone else have an inspired banana-bread-related idea? I’m all ears.
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (ghee can be used here as well)
- ½ cup raw honey
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 eggs (room temperature is best)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract (optional)
- ¾ cup coconut flour
- 2 bananas, mashed
- 2 tablespoons shredded or desiccated coconut
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a standard loaf pan with coconut oil.
- In a small bowl, combine the coconut oil and honey.
- In a large bowl, whisk the salt, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whisk in the coconut oil and honey mixture. Next, whisk in the coconut flour until completely combined with no lumps. Lastly, stir in the mashed bananas.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with the shredded coconut.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If your coconut topping is browning fast, tent some aluminum foil on top to prevent burning.
- Let cool completely (or as long as you can wait!) before removing from the loaf pan and serving. Keep refrigerated.
Have I told you lately that you are an amazing…daughter, wife, mother, cook and friend???
I added chopped pear. Delish!
Yum- that’s a great idea!
My sister told me about your blog, so I checked u out and have to say I made the Coconut Banana Bread and thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband liked it too, still getting used to the Paleo way of cooking as they use so many eggs. I have read many comments of food tasting eggy. But I found this not to be the case with this recipe in fact the honey was the dominate flavour for me. Toasting it sounds delish and serving with organic butter…and the pear added sounds like a great idea too …..will be looking forward to testing out your recipes!
Glad you enjoyed it- I love that bread toasted!
Is the density right for french toast? If my 3 boys don’t devour the loaf, I will try that idea.
PS. Your breakfast coffee cake is my current favorite because it comes so close to my pre-paleo recipe.
Is there anything I could sub for the honey? We are doing low-sugar, low-carb paleo right now. Maybe another banana? Stevia?
you need the honey for the liquid component- you could try some stevia drops plus 1/2 cup pureed squash? you could try an extra 1/2 cup banana but i can’t guarantee the outcome since I haven’t tried it 🙂 you might also try coconut milk? just brainstorming..
You could substitute Maple syrup for the honey. My daughter is on a low FODMAP diet and if I used pure maple syrup in place of the honey, it suits her diet perfectly (can’t add the optional almond products).
Or maybe rice malt syrup? Not paleo, but Fructose-free.
I’m looking forward to making this banana bread, thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve made the bread with puréed dates instead of honey. Was delish!
I don’t use honey at all to keep my carbs low. I use coconut nectar
http://amzn.com/B003XB9EFK its amazing!!
I used 1/2 cup of milk instead. Cake came out perfect!
Sub honey with rice malt syrup. It is a little less sweet but still sweet enough and is fructose free (the type of sugar converted to fat) 🙂
Squash and applesauce mix tends to work nicely for a honey sub.
Why does it have to be refrigerated? Is that a coconut flour thing? Sorry if that’s a dumb question! I’m brand new to this paleo/gf/alternative baking thing.
It doesn’t have to be refrigerated, I just think it gets a little soggy if left out. Putting it into the fridge keeps it firm and easy to slice.
Wonderful! We will be making it again!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, How long will it last in the fridge?
I would say up to a week.
Just baked this wonderful Banana Bread which I’ve now decided to name ‘Coconana bread’…It’s pleasantly sweet, not too overpowering and its all natural I love it! My non Paleo family love it too!
Also I couldn’t help sticking my head in the oven a few times whilst it was baking to smell the gorgeous flavour!
Thank you for posting this recipe!
Emily
Glad you like it!
I used 1/2 honey 1/2 organic applesauce.. was delicious!
I made this few days ago and All gone already. Making it again today one for home and one for Potluck Party at my Crossfit Gym. Thank you Natalie! 🙂 It’s so yummy!!! I think this time I will try Jack Fruit in it 🙂 and Ripe Mango ….
Mango would be great- I’ll have to try that!
I am new to Paleo/Primal and really need to spice up my breakfast food selection. Love the ease of hard boiled eggs but they were quickly becoming boring. Your bread is yummy and very satisfying. I added walnuts—-delish!!! Thanks Natalie 🙂 Looking forward to your coffee cake.
soooooo good! My daughter and I made this up as a treat and were so pleasantly surprised at its yumminess! It is really filling and overall, not a guilt-heavy treat. Definitely making this again, and again (and again).
that sounds great ! love the fact you didn’t add any almond flour.
I’m thinking of throwing some raw chopped 100% cacao inside 🙂
thanks!
I just made two batches–a loaf and muffins. The loaf is still in the oven and I’ve already eaten a muffin. OMG! This is the best, fluffiest muffin I’ve ever had. Literally unbelievable that it is not only gluten free but also paleo!!! I was a little worried since a lot of other coco flour recipes I saw seemed to have less liquid.
I did add a 1/2 tsp of baking soda per batch (and some spices–nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves) just to make sure they would be nice and fluffy. Also, I didn’t want to use a whole cup of my expensive raw honey (remember–2 batches), so I used 1/2 maple syrup and 1/2 agave.
The muffins baked about 30 minutes, and the loaf was still very wet in the center at 45. I ended up leaving it in over an hour and fifteen minutes! I really need to get an oven thermometer. Anyway, the only change I will make next time is more spices and less almond extract–it’s pretty overpowering.
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
This bread is absolutely delicious! I have tried a lot of other “paleo” type banana breads and are always disappointed – I knew if I had faith and kept trying I would find THE ONE someday. Well, this is my keeper! I added 1/4th cup honey and 1/4th maple syrup instead of the 1/2 cup honey – and on the top added a bit more coconut with the coconut chips too that toasted up beautifully. Thank you for posting this 🙂
Will try it with added pear next time as that sounds AMAZING TOO! And I bet the good life coconut chips would taste great too added in 🙂
Will Almond flour work instead of Coconut Flour?
I haven’t tried it with almond flour, but you would need a lot more AF than CF – CF soaks up liquid more than AF.. so I would increase the amount if you try it.
You get a (10) star for this recipe!!!
Love is so moist and delicious:-)
Love love love this bread! I made it earlier in the week and it was gone very quickly, so making another one tonight 🙂 Banana and coconut, a match made in heaven! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for giving it a try, I love it, too!
Excellent! This is my new banana bread recipe. I added pecans to the batter as well as on top with the coconut. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
It would be really awesome if you would put share buttons on your website. Makes it tedious to tweet your wonderful recipes.
I loved this recipe! We replaced the 3/4C Coconut flour for 1-1/4C Almond flour and used mini muffin pans for kid-friendly muffins. Baked at 350-degrees for 15min. They were moist and delicious!
Good to know you can substitute almond flour in a pinch!
We made muffins last night using the recipe, plus 1/2 teas. baking soda, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. DELICIOUS and tender, moist muffins. We love them and are so grateful to get a winning recipe to add to our Paleo diet. We are going to try adding chopped apricot in the next batch. (soaked first so they are moist). Thank you for the recipe!!
That’s great, I will have to try it as muffins!
Absolutely loved it! Just what I’ve been looking for!!
awesome, thanks!
I made this with an added teaspoon of cream of tartar for a 17 yr old girl with recent severe allergies.
The whole family said it was great !
What did you use the cream of tartar for, if you don’t mind me asking?
OH MY GOSH. This banana bread is so good I can’t stop making it. The best paleo recipe that I’ve found… and I have looked a lot. My boyfriend who isn’t so in to the Paleo lifestyle is in love and begs me to make this all the time. This weekend I had a few parties to go to so I doubled this recipe and put the bread in muffin tins for single servings (only needed to cook for 30 minutes this way) and they were a hit! People who didn’t even know that they were “healthy” were loving on them. Bravo!
so glad that you enjoyed it! we love it here, too 🙂
Mine came out quite spongey and overly moist. Is it meant to be like this? My bananas were very large so maybe that was it. Flavour is beautiful though. Will try again.
big bananas might have been the culprit, but this bread tends to be a little more moist in general. Try baking a little longer or using muffin tins, that might help!
WOW…is all I have to say! I’m in the process of trying to switch my three young boys over to a more natural diet…but as kids do, they still want cake and treats! This is their new absolute favourite thing! I can’t make enough!
AMAZING
Made this for the 4th time this week. I didn’t use any honey instead I put milk. Came out perfect! I feed this to my 9 month bub as her treat 🙂
I made this tonight, and I was surprised how tasty it was, especially since this was my first recipe using coconut flour and coconut oil. I made them in to muffins and made a crumb topping for it out of coconut sugar, shredded coconut, and melted coconut oil, it was very tasty. My daughter(7) ate some and liked it which for me is surprising because she can be picky on flavors and mouthfeel of foods. I just wanted to say thank you!!
In one word: EXCELLENT!!! I was glad I had the almond extract on hand too as that gave it a nice added touch of flavor.
wondering about the carb and calorie counts? my mother-in-law is a diabetic and loves coconut…wants to know how much she can eat….lol…
Sorry, I haven’t gotten that figured out. Maybe you can find a website that you can enter the ingredients into that will give you the information!
Hate this recipe inside never cooked, top burnt quickly, awful.
Sorry it didn’t work out for you!
Brilliant recipe and results. Make it for one of my sons who eats extremely healthily and follows the paleo diet pretty much. It is his go to treat. Having said that the rest if the family love it too and given the chance it is gone in a flash! Shame the coconut oil and flour is so expensive over here in the UK .
Thank you sooooo much for the recipe! I was looking for something sweet, not too dry and found it here.
I only had 4 eggs and still tasted amazingly delicious and my kids loved it!
Simply Amazing!! Thank You so much for sharing!!
Simply Amazing!!
Made this minus coconut plus dark chocolate chunks. Yummm! 🙂
I just made these in a silicone mini-muffin pan. Still learning how to cook with the silicone so don’t think I needed to coat with coconut oil as it made them pretty moist. But they were delicious little morsels! I didn’t really track how long I cooked them for but each one was slightly bigger than those 2-bite brownies you can purchase in the little bag.
I used to be really anxious about cooking times but realize that over time you learn to ‘smell when they’re done’ … know what I mean? My oven is SO old. It’s called “The Kelvinator”.
Really moist and really coconutty with banana essence. Yum! Would make again.
Hi, Can you freeze this cake?
Yep!
I was very pleased with this, tasted fantastic. we are going to be starting on the GAPS diet soon and I am testing some recipes. No complaints from the kids they had three pieces one after the other, I had to tell them they coudn’t have anymore!
Made this for my paleo friend for her birthday. I made it as muffins and added in cocoa nibs and replaced the honey with puréed dates. She raved and I agreed. Of course now it seems I have to make them on a weekly basis. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this tonight with a couple of minor adjustments.. I left out the almond essence, and added coconut flakes to the mashed banana before stirring it through the batter. I added a minuscule 2g of organic baking powder to provide the smallest amount of lightness, I also made a topping of coconut flakes, butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, cinnamon and salt which I heated up before sprinkling on top of the batter. WOW!
My partner returned home from work (he manages a paleo inspired cafe in Melbourne, Australia) and was so impressed they want to stock it in the cafe. Well done on this recipe- so beautiful and moist – it smells/tastes like heaven !! x
WOW!! We try paleo baked recipes (especially banana bread types) a LOT! whether it’s experimenting, a cookbook or google. How have I missed this blog!? THis is by far the best banana bread ( I made muffins) I’ve had ever. You would swear there was wheat. Perfectly moist, can’t tell it’s coconut flour. Wow. These are perfect. THANK YOU!!!! I used maple syrup because I was out of honey and added cinnamon and 1/2 tsp baking soda +1/2 tsp acv. So fluffy and moist.. I will try the recipe without the additions next time.
For my first try I needed a chocolate hit and added half a cup of cocoa powder (leaving out vanilla and almond essence). It is delicious! Moist with a fantastic texture. This is the best GAPS cake I have found to date, it is going to be a household staple, I can tell!
Claire
p.s. I can’t leave a rating on my phone but this is definitely 5/5.
Hi! I made these and they are awesome. Trying to figure out calories. Anyone know the calories?
Is this considered a low-glycemic recipe?
Is this considered a low glycemic recipe?
not sure, sorry!
I am going to try this! Do you have a brand of coconut flour you recommend?
I typically use Tropical Traditions.
Hi thanks for this amazing recipe! Do you think its possible to make it in a bread maker? Thanks!
Don’t think so- it’s more of a quick bread than a yeasted bread.
I made this today and I followed the recipe exactly…WOW!!! I am so happy with this tasty recipe!!!
It wasn’t even out of the oven and I was dying. It smells amazing. Looks beautiful. And it tastes like I’m in Hawaii, on a hammock, overlooking the ocean, with Hawaiian music lulling me to sleep. Well. Done.
Ten stars!
Any idea what the nutritional info would be for this recipe? Made it…LOVE IT! Don’t want to overeat it! 😉
I made this today and it finished 20 minutes before I had to go to work. I had a piece before I left and I am so glad I did! Yum! It was still warm, moist, and banana-y, and the shredded coconut on top was delicious.
I know my family will love this bread, and it will surely be added into the rotation.
Thanks for the share!!
Is there a sub for the coconut oil? Unsalted butter perhaps?
sure, that would work!
I dont eat eggs or dairy milk. could I sub the eggs with chia eggs, or apple sauce,flax-seeds,silken tofu, or plain no dairy yoghurt?
I love the look of this recipe so would value your advice.
thank you so much.
Emmeline Rutherford
Dundee
Scotland
Can you substitute the coconut flour for wheat flour or just regular flour?
nope= only works with coconut flour.
This turned out amazing!! Probably the best GF bread I have ever tried, and this includes store bought or bakery items. It was moist and dense. I needed to bake it about 55 minutes and used a foil tent about half way through to keep the coconut topping from burning. I added 1 teaspoon baking soda to give it a little lift and added a few spices; 1 teas cinnamon, and 1 teas pumpkin pie spice. Omitted the almond extract since I didn’t have any, but left the vanilla at 2 teaspoons. This was just fabulous!!!
Just ran of almond meal so I will gove this a try. sounds yummy.
OMG! This is FABULOUS!!! My bread didn’t set in the middle, kind of puddiny, but it was, oh, sooooOOOO delicious! I used Coconut Nectar instead of honey and added a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Thanks for a wonderful recipe that I will for sure make again and again!
Hi,
I’m busy making this bread and wondered is it supposed to be made without baking soda or powder? Thanks so much
you don’t need baking soda or powder with coconut flour!
Sooooo I made a huge boo boo and used wheat flour instead of coconut flour because I couldn’t find it at my local grocery store…..it was a soggy mess. Other than that it smelled delicious. I will try again tomorrow! ?
I have made this bread twice now. My husband and I both love it! Both times, I substituted the honey for maple syrup because my husband is on the FODMAP diet. Second time I made it adding 1/2 cup of pecans, it was great…lending more texture to finished product. My only criticism is the difficulty with it sticking to my pan when trying to remove once cooled. Perhaps I should use a glass loaf pan instead of teflon – any suggestions here?