Buckwheat Banana Bread
The naturally sweet taste of bananas, the heartiness of buckwheat… this can only mean one thing… buckwheat banana bread! And if you like banana bread, you’ll LOVE this version!
It’s a good thing this quick bread is easy to make because this recipe might become a fan favorite. From the texture to the beautiful rich color, it doesn’t take much to see why this tasty bread should be in your recipe box. It’s made with just two bowls – one for the dry ingredients and one for the liquid – then with a quick mix of each and some rest time, after a nice, long aroma-filled bake time, you’ll have this gorgeous loaf of simple banana bread.
As an affiliate partner of various brands and sponsored content, Zest for Baking may earn commission on qualifying purchases. Disclaimer
Jump to:
Why this recipe is the best!
One phrase – one kind of flour. If you’re used to baking gluten free, then you know how two, sometimes three or more flours are the norm for GF recipes. And it’s often necessary for a good loaf of bread, like this tasty white bread. But a recipe with just one flour?… yes please!
Besides the single flour, this recipe makes a rich, moist, high rising classic banana bread that’s a breeze to mix together and stays fresh for days.
Pro tip
If you want a high rising loaf, then don’t skimp on the rest time. After combining the flour with the liquid ingredients and mixing well, the batter needs this rest time to fully hydrate. Believe me, it will create a gorgeous round top on this loaf!
How to make buckwheat banana bread
Weigh the ingredients
Since baking is such a science, accuracy in ingredients matters. A lot. That’s why it’s super important to use a simple kitchen scale, like this one, to weigh the ingredients. In this recipe I’ve even weighed the bananas so you know how much 3 bananas actually amounts to.
Besides weight, room temperature ingredients is also a must. From the flour to the bananas to the eggs, everything needs to be a comfortable 70-75 degrees F. (A microwave can help quickly bring butter and bananas to room temp. Soak whole eggs, in the shell, in a glass of warm water to quickly bring them to room temperature.)
Mixing
Grab two bowls - a large bowl for the liquid ingredients and a medium one for the dry ingredients. Add the flour and dry ingredients to the medium bowl and mix. Then mix the butter, sugars, eggs, bananas, coconut cream and vanilla extract together in the large bowl until fully combined. Then just add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and combine.
Rest time
After the batter has been completely mixed, set it aside and let it ‘rest’ for 30 minutes. This will achieve that beautiful tall loaf – skipping the rest time will result in a flatter and denser bread, so make sure to give it the full time.
Baking
The only downside to this recipe is the baking time. But that goes for any quick bread – from this cranberry bread to this pumpkin bread. They always take a while to bake. This loaf takes between 60 – 65 minutes to bake. Test it with a cake tester to be sure (no batter should be left on it).
Cooling
After baking, cool the bread, in the pan, on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. That should be enough time to cool it to a manageable temperature. Then use a knife and loosen the edges to turn it onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Note: You may have to loosen the edges quite a bit, but it will turn out beautifully.
FAQ's
Buckwheat flour is excellent for baking! Because of it’s even balance of fiber and protein, buckwheat makes wonderful breads. Keep in mind that I would not advise substituting it for something like white rice flour, where the fiber and protein are so drastically different. But for sorghum flour… absolutely! I recommend this brand of buckwheat flour!
Buckwheat flour is indeed gluten free – it actually comes from a seed so no wheat involved at all.
Buckwheat is a great, versatile flour, but you can’t just substitute it with anything. Every flour functions to produce an end result (baked good) with the perfect consistency and texture – rice flours produce a different consistency that something like teff flour. That’s why it’s important to substitute the right kind of flour. According to this guide to GF flours, millet or teff flours would be the best substitute.
Coconut cream gives the bread an added boost of moisture that helps keep this bread soft and tasty, even after 3 days! And there is no coconut flavor whatsoever. But if you’re looking for a substitute for it – try heavy cream for a dairy substitute or full fat, unsweetened almond milk.
Absolutely! Bring on the chocolate! 1 cup of chips is a delicious touch.
I mentioned about the coconut cream keeping it moist and flavorful – it really does it’s job when you’ve been eating this bread for 3 days and the day 3 slice tastes as good as the day 1 slice! Wrap the loaf well in plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. Any longer than that and you’ll need to freeze it for longer storage.
Check out these other delicious gluten free breads
Recipe
Buckwheat Banana Bread
Ingredients
Method
- In a medium bowl, add the buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Stir to fully dissolve the sugars.
- Add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add mashed bananas and stir.
- Add coconut cream and vanilla extract and combine.
- All at once, add the flour mixture and stir to blend.
- Stir the apple cider vinegar into the batter.
- Let batter rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare an 8” x 4.5” pan by spraying with cooking spray.
- Pour batter into the pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick tests done.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Turn out of the pan to finish cooling completely.
Notes
- Weigh the ingredients for the best results.
- Allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes before pouring into the pan to bake.
- Loosen the pan edges with a knife to work the bread out.
- Bread will last for 3-4 if wrapped well in plastic wrap.
I haven't made this recipe yet, but I'm wondering if maple syrup or honey or coconut sugar could be used instead of all that sugar? Also, have you thought about Stevia as a substitute? It's a bit expensive, but more natural than Swerve.
Hi Nora,
Coconut sugar would work great. I haven't tested a liquid sweetener but it would alter the balance of wet and dry ingredients - just keep that in mind if you try a liquid sweetener.
Christine 🙂
Can we freeze this bread if made in a bigger batch?
What's the shelf life and frozen life?
Hi Amita,
Yes, this bread can be frozen and freezes well. Slice the loaf, then place small pieces of wax paper in between each slice. Place it into an airtight container and freeze it for up to 1 month. Defrost each slice in the microwave for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then enjoy!
Christine 🙂
Hi, I was thinking about adding tahini to the recipe. How much tahini do you think would work well for this recipe?
Hi Marie,
So start small - just a Tablespoon to start. I've not added it before, so start with a little, then increase from there.
Christine
I am making this recipe for a second time. I only needed to make one substitution. Needed a bit more banana so I added applesauce to make up the difference. The texture is wonderful, moist, tender a beautiful crumb and delicious. After quarantine I will be serving this recipe to everyone.
So glad you enjoy it Sandy!
And thanks for sharing the sub with the applesauce - it might come in handy for others sometime!
Christine
What can be substituted for the two sugars?
Hi Tamara,
So you'll need some sweetener in this recipe. I haven't tested it with other sweeteners, but from my experience with Swerve, that brand would work well here. Try the granulated version and the brown sugar version to sub for them.
Thanks, Christine
I hope to try this as soon as I get some light buckwheat. Might try with other GF flour as discussed. If not weighing ingredients, approximately how much, cup-wise, is 123 grams coconut cream?
Hi!
Great, so it's about 1/2 cup of coconut cream.
~Christine
Are you sure it’s 1/2 cup? Cuz I used a converter and it says 2/3 cup and that’s big difference. 1/2 cup is only 93 grams.
Hi Loida!
Always use the weight measurement - cups are unpredictable.
~Christine 🙂
Interesting using coconut cream and not coconut milk. I will be using coconut oil in place of the butter. Hopefully this will not effect the texture.
Hi Kathleen,
Exactly! It really makes for an amazing texture! And no, melted coconut oil should be perfectly fine.
Thanks,
Christine
Can the coconut cream be substituted? My lo can't do coconut.
Hi Amy,
Yes - so if you can do dairy, heavy whipping cream would work. If not, use a full fat, unsweetened almond milk.
Hope that helps!
Christine