Flourless Oatmeal Banana Bread made oil-free, dairy-free, gluten-free AND refined sugar-free! This healthy banana bread recipe is fun and easy to make using quick oats.
A couple months ago, I posted The Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe , and you guys ate it up! In fact, it continues to be the third most visited recipe on my site.
One person who made that recipe commented that she used oat flour and it worked for her marvelously.
So that got me thinking.
I have a stockpile of oats, but I don’t typically carry oat flour on hand (can you relate?). So why not try out the recipe by turning oats into oat flour?
So I rifted off the original recipe and made a few tweaks:
- I replaced the 1 ⅔ cups of gluten-free flour blend with 2 cups of quick oats, turned into oat flour using my blender
- I used MORE banana (a whopping 2 cups of mashed banana instead of the original 1.5 cups, which is about 4 decent-sized ripe bananas).
- Because I was adding more banana, I decided to omit the butter and see what happened. Spoiler alert: it worked like a charm!
Made with rolled oats, ripe bananas, and coconut sugar, this healthier banana bread recipe is a good source of whole grains and is lower in excess sugar than traditional banana bread. It is lower in fat, too!
Let’s chat about the simple ingredients in detail, as each one serves and important purpose.
Ingredients For Flourless Oatmeal Banana Bread:
Oats: Taking the place of all-purpose flour, we need whole grain oats to serve as the flour in this bread. Either quick oats or old fashioned rolled oats will work!
For gluten-free oatmeal banana bread, use certified gluten-free oats. I use gluten-free sprouted oats.
Ripe Bananas: Not only do ripe mashed bananas add natural sweetness, moisture and volume to a banana bread recipe, but in this healthy banana bread recipe, they also take the place of oil. That’s rice! There is no added oil or butter in the recipe.
For the best results, be sure to use bananas that have plenty of brown spots and are very ripe. Unripe bananas yield less moisture, flavor, and sweetness.
Coconut Sugar: To sweeten this banana bread, we need some form of granulated sweetener. I like using coconut sugar because it is a natural sweetener that is lower on the glycemic index. Nevertheless, it can be replaced with regular cane sugar, brown sugar, or sugar-free sweetener.
Eggs: A couple large chicken eggs help the bread rise to create that moist crumb we all love so dearly in banana bread recipes.
I haven’t tested the recipe using flax eggs. I suspect the bread would turn out dense with an egg replacer, yet still delicious.
Pure Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla extract brings warm flavor to this flourless oatmeal banana bread recipe.
Baking Soda: The leavening agent here. Responsible for helping the banana loaf to rise and bake evenly, we need a leavening agent. I add a little lemon juice to cause the necessary chemical reaction with the soda.
Ground Cinnamon and Sea Salt: For me, a lot of ground cinnamon is an absolute MUST in banana bread recipes! You can also add ground nutmeg. Sea salt helps enhance the flavors and makes the bread taste even sweeter, so don’t skip it!
Feel free to toss in 1 cup of chocolate chips and/or 2/3 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans if you’d like!
If you’ve never made oat flour using quick oats, it’s crazy easy. You simply toss the oats in a blender and blend them on a low to low-medium speed until a substance resembling flour forms. This only takes 10 to 30 seconds!
Plus, it’s totally okay if the blended oats don’t form a super fine flour…I leave mine semi-gritty and it still turns out marvelously!
Recipe Highlights:
To bring this thing full circle, this flourless oatmeal banana bread is…
- Naturally gluten-free
- Flourless
- Oil-free and butter-free
- Moist, flavorful, perfectly sweet and cinnamony
- Refined sugar-free
Let’s bake it up!
How to Make Flourless Oatmeal Banana Bread:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
Place the oats in a high quality blender and blend on medium speed until a flour forms. This only takes about 20 to 30 seconds. Remember, it is fine if the flour is somewhat gritty.
Transfer the oat flour to a mixing bowl. Add the coconut sugar, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon and stir together until combined.
Mash the bananas in a separate mixing bowl then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Stir the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Add in the lemon juice (or lime juice or vinegar) and stir to incorporate.
Transfer the batter to the parchment-lined 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and smooth into an even layer. If desired, sprinkle some whole quick oats on top for looksies.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until banana bread has risen substantially and the top appears firm.
Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool at least 30 minutes. Tug on the edges of the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan and place it on a cutting board. Cut thick slices and enjoy!
Recipe Adaptations:
- For an egg-free version, make my Vegan Oatmeal Banana Bread.
- Add ½ cup to ⅔ cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter.
- Toss in ½ cup to ⅔ cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.
- Whip up a streussel topping for the top of the banana bread.
- If you’re looking for a grain-free banana bread recipe, check out my Paleo Banana Bread using almond flour or my Coconut Flour Banana Bread.
- Replace the coconut sugar with brown sugar.
The way I see it, this banana oat bread makes the perfect healthy snack or light breakfast. Heat it up with some butter and enjoy it alongside your morning coffee or tea!
If you’re a banana bread lover, also try these delicious banana bread recipes!
More Healthy Banana Bread Recipes:
- Paleo Poppy Seed Almond Banana Bread
- Double Chocolate Gluten-Free Banana Bread
- Paleo Strawberry Banana Bread
- Paleo Carrot Cake Banana Bread
- Blender Oat Blueberry Banana Bread
Your oatmeal banana bread adventure starts MEOW!
Flourless Oatmeal Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats blended into flour
- 4 large ripe bananas 2 cups, mashed
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice or lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Place the rolled oats in a blender and blend on medium speed until a flour forms (this only takes about 20 to 30 seconds. Remember, it is fine if the flour is somewhat gritty). Transfer the oat flour to a mixing bowl.
- Add the coconut sugar, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon and stir together until combined.
- Mash the bananas in a separate mixing bowl then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Add in the lime juice and stir to incorporate.
- Transfer the batter to the parchment-lined loaf pan and smooth into an even layer. If desired, sprinkle some whole quick oats on top for looksies.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until banana bread has risen substantially and the top appears firm.
- Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool at least 30 minutes. Tug on the edges of the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan and place it on a cutting board. Cut thick slices and enjoy!
Nutrition
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I made this with 1/3 cup of maple syrup instead of coconut sugar (I’m allergic to coconut) and added 1.5 tablespoons of ground flaxseed and it turned out delicious!
That sounds amazing, JP! Thank you for sharing your changes!
I made this today and it is delicious. I use monk fruit sugar because that’s what I had on hand instead of coconut sugar. I’ve already shared the recipe with a half a dozen people. My daughter is gluten-free and I love the fact that there’s no oil in this recipe. I also substitute one egg for a flax egg. Just because I wanted some flaxseed in the bread.
Aww I love hearing this! Thanks so much for sharing your substitutions! I’m often asked about alternative sweeteners and egg-free options, so this is very helpful, thank you!
Hi! This looks so good, I really want to try it! My question is if I can sub the coconut sugar with maple syrup without messing it up lol
Hi Lauren! I haven’t tested the recipe using pure maple syrup instead of coconut sugar so I’m not sure how it would turn out. I imagine adding a little additional oats (say 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup) would help offset the addition of liquid. Let me know if you try it!
Just started bring gluten free and this was amazing. I didn’t have coconut sugar so I used 1/3 cup honey and added 1/2 cup gluten free chocolate chips. SO GOOD!!
Wahoo! I’m thrilled to hear it, Karen! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! xo