Oat Flour Banana Bread

Made entirely with oat flour, this gluten free twist on banana bread uses wholesome ingredients and is packed with banana flavor. Enjoy it plain or feel free to turn it into your favorite banana bread with the addition of chocolate chips, nuts and more.

Jump to:

• Baking with Oat Flour
• The Ingredients
• The Method
• Leftovers and Storage
• Make it Your Own
• Serving Ideas and Uses
• Tips for the Best Oat Flour Banana Bread
• More Oat Flour Recipes...
• Oat Flour Banana Bread
• Comments

I have to admit that after developing all of my oat flour muffin recipes, I really thought that creating this oat flour banana bread recipe would be a breeze.

I figured I would just double the recipe for my oat flour banana muffins, pour it in a loaf pan, lower the oven temperature a bit, increase the baking time and boom- oat flour banana bread.

And so I tested it out and well...

Let's just say, it needed a bit more testing.

It tasted delicious. The texture was pretty decent. But it kind of fell apart.

I picked up a slice, and it just broke into 3. Back to the drawing board.

But fast forward through several test batches and we finally have this recipe!

Baking with Oat Flour

Since oat flour doesn't have the gluten that wheat does to help with structure, oat flour baking tends to need extra binders to help hold it together and achieve the right texture.

When you're making small things like pancakes, cookies and muffins, just a little extra binding tends to be sufficient.

But with bigger baked goods like breads and cakes, the fragile structure of oat flour becomes more apparent and needs even more help to stay together.

As it turned out, what this banana bread need was an extra egg. But adding an extra egg means more liquid which throws off the liquid to dry ratio, so I had to try different things like increasing the flour (which led to a very dense loaf) or decreasing the other liquids in the recipe.

The magic combination turned out to be adding an egg and reducing the oil. (Which was also the key for pumpkin oat flour bread).

The Ingredients

• Oat Flour- Ensure that you are using certified gluten free oats/oat flour if you need the recipe to be gluten-free.
  • I recommend sifting the oat flour first if it is lumpy so that you don't have to overmix the muffins.
  • For best results, use store-bought oat flour.
  • To Measure Oat Flour: If you have a kitchen scale, that is best for most accurate measurements of oat flour. But if you are measuring by hand, I have found that I can consistently achieve 120 g per cup of oat flour by scooping the oat flour into a measuring cup, lightly packing it down and then levelling off the top. See this oat flour snickerdoodles post for more details. *Select "metric" on the recipe card below the ingredients list to see the measurements displayed in grams.
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder- Because oat flour isn't structurally the same as regular flour, it needs a little extra help to achieve the same soft texture.
• Fine Sea Salt
• Pure Maple Syrup- Honey or agave will also work but I don't recommend using a granulated sweetener for this recipe. For more info, check out this post on Maple Syrup Substitutes.
• Avocado Oil- Melted coconut oil, canola or olive oil can be used instead. If using melted coconut oil, it is imperative that all of the ingredients be at room temperature so that it doesn't harden in the batter.
• Overripe Bananas- For best banana flavor and sweetness, use bananas with brown spots.
• Vanilla Extract
• Eggs- The eggs are very important to the structure so be sure to use large eggs. If using medium eggs, you may need to use 4 rather than 3.

The Method

1. Mix dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour with the baking soda, powder and salt.

2. Mix wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the maple syrup with the oil, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract.

3. Combine. Pour the banana mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

4. Pour into loaf pan. Line a 9x4 inch loaf pan with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and shake it lightly back an forth to help it settle in an even layer.

5 . Bake. Bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean and the loaf bounces back slightly when you press on the center. If the top appears to be browning too quickly, you can tent it with aluminum foil.

*TIP: Place your oven rack in the bottom third of the oven so that the top of the loaf doesn't brown too quickly.

6. Cool and enjoy. Allow thss moist gluten-free banana bread to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then use the parchment/liner to lift the loaf out and move it to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and enjoy!

Leftovers and Storage

To Store: Cool oat flour banana bread completely and then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.

*Oat flour baked goods do tend to dry out faster than wheat flour equivalents so note that the banana bread will be fine to eat on day 4 but will be noticeably less moist than on day 1. For best results, I recommend enjoying it within the first couple of days or freezing it.

To Freeze: Cooled loaf can be frozen for up to 3 months. I recommend slicing it beforehand in order to be able to just thaw and enjoy portions at a time.

Make it Your Own

• Top Turbinado Sugar: Give your loaf some sparkle by sprinkling on some coarse turbinado sugar before baking.
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: Fold in 1 and ½ cups chocolate chips after combining the batter.
• Or Other Favorite Mix-Ins: You can also stir in up to 1 and ½ cups of add ins such as:
  • Walnuts
  • Pecans
  • Peanut Butter Chips (especially if you love PB and Banana together)
• Oat Flour Banana Muffins: Check out my oat flour banana muffins recipe instead! Same delicious flavor but developed to be baked as a muffin.

Serving Ideas and Uses

Garnishes: Enjoy a classic slice of oat flour banana bread on its own for a snack or quick breakfast or enhance its flavors with:

• Butter
• Peanut Butter or Macadamia Butter
• Nutella
• Jam
• Honey
• Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Sides:

• Greek Yogurt
• Fruit Salad
• Ice Cream

Creative Uses for Banana Bread:

• French Toast: Transform your banana bread into French toast by using it in place of sourdough in this recipe.
• Croutons for Salads: Cube leftover banana bread and bake until crunchy to create unique croutons to add to your favorite fruit salads.
• Banana Bread Yogurt Parfait: Layer banana bread cubes with yogurt, sliced bananas and granola in a glass or bowl. Add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup between the layers for extra sweetness. Top with fresh berries or additional sliced bananas.

Tips for the Best Oat Flour Banana Bread

• Use Store-bought Oat Flour- While you can make your own oat flour by grinding oats, I find that unless you have a very high powered blender, it may not achieve the fine consistency that we need. You can give it a try, but for best and most duplicatable results, I recommend sticking with store-bought.
• Use Spotty, Ripe Bananas- For best sweetness and banana flavor, it is important to use over-ripe bananas with some brown spots on them. The spottier, the better.
• Don't Overmix- Over-mixing any muffin or quick bread batter can result in tough, unevenly baked goods. Mix until the flour mixture is just incorporated. Sifting the oat flour can help it to mix in better.
• Don't Under-bake- Oat flour baked goods tend to turn out gummy if under-baked. The banana bread should be golden on top, spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

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More Oat Flour Recipes...

Want to learn more about oat flour? Check out these resources!

• The Ultimate Guide to Oat Flour
• Oat Flour vs. Wheat Flour
• The Best Oat Flour Recipes
• Oat Flour Cookie Tips
• Oat Flour Muffin Tips