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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 large eggs
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil, optional*
- 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 50 to 60 minutes, until banana bread has risen substantially and the top appears firm. Insert a digital thermometer into the center of the loaf. If it reads 190 degrees F or higher as the internal temperature, the bread is ready! If it is lower than 190, continue baking until you hit that mark.
- 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!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
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This is a great recipe! Thank you! I have a question though. Why omit the oil? I like adding fats to my goodies. Do you think a little coconut oil or butter would make it too heavy? I will give it a go the next time I attempt the recipe. Maybe a little less banana and some oil instead. I used an allulose/monk fruit blend instead of sugar and it was superb!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Angela! The only reason I don’t add oil is because some folks try to keep the fat content low when the carb content is high. I personally love a decent amount of moisture and fat in my baked goods, so I love your train of thought 🙂 Definitely feel free to add 2 to 4 tablespoons of melted coconut oil, butter, or avocado oil the next time you make the bread! xo
We added walnuts and chocolate chips, and it turned out great! Thank you!
Ooh, yummy! So thrilled to hear it! xo
This is an amazing banana bread!!! My husband could not detect that it was made with oats instead of regular flour! I followed the recipe, except for the substitution of cane sugar and brown sugar for the coconut sugar. Added walnuts too! The kids love it. This will be a staple in our house. Thank you very much!
My pleasure, Terry! I’m so happy you and your husband enjoy the banana bread! Thanks so much for the sweet note! xo
I doubled the recipe and put chocolate chips in one of the batches. They didn’t last long in my house. We all loved it.
Great success! I love hearing that! The banana bread always disappears quickly in my home too! xo
i’d love to try this recipe but really don’t want to use sugar, honey or maple syrup. is it possible to make this sugar free? thank you!
Hi Lisa! You can leave out the sugar and it will still turn out, it just won’t be as sweet 🙂 Hope you enjoy! xo
This is THE best GF recipie I have tried so far! Thankyou SO SO much! My daughter is Gluten intolerant.She LOVED it
I’m so happy to hear you and your daughter enjoy it! Thanks so much for the feedback! xoxo
This bread is so good and I’ve made it several times. The whole fam loves it, thank you! I’m curious to know if I could replace some of the banana with pumpkin, or does it have too much moisture in it?
Hi Chelsea!
I’m so happy you like it! You should be able to replace some of the banana with pumpkin no problem! I think you shouldn’t need to make any changes to compensate for the additional moisture, but if the batter looks too thin, you can add more oats or a few tablespoons of gluten-free flour. Let me know how it works out! xoxo
Really enjoyed this banana bread, so light and fluffy, I added some chopped walnuts and it turned out great ?
Right?! I love that texture. The chopped walnuts sound amazing! xoxo
Can you use regular sugar instead of coconut sugar?
Hi Tabitha! Yes, absolutely! You can use either regular cane sugar or brown sugar. Hope you enjoy! xoxoxo
I respectfully disagree, Hayden. In the FDA’s Food Labeling; Gluten-Free Labeling of Foods, Final Regulatory Impact Analysis Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, “ oats themselves are inherently gluten free and can be processed in a way that protects against such cross-contact”. According to this document it is not accurate to state that some people with Celiac react to small amounts of gluten in oats. There is no inherent gluten in oats. The report states less then 9% of people in gf diets “are allergic or intolerant to oats“ – not to gluten in oats. Thanks for listening.
That’s incorrect. Oats contain their own form of gluten, and a small proportion of coeliacs are susceptible.
The FDA has deemed it too difficult to label oats correctly as being merely wheat-gluten-free, but still containing oat gluten.
Here in Australia, oats that are free of wheat are labelled ‘wheat free’. It’s that simple.
Oats are not gluten free. Especially if you have coeliac disease.
They are if they aren’t grown next to wheat. There may be cross-reactivity in those with Celiac, but oats don’t contain gluten by nature unless they are contaminated when grown next to wheat. Oats that are certified gluten-free are grown away from wheat for no gluten contamination.
You are correct, Julia, about oats being gluten-free.
Thanks so much for the feedback and the well-researched information. Seems as though not many people take the time to fact check 😉 xoxoxxo
Would rolled oats work For this recipe ??
Hi Christina! Yes, rolled oats will work great! Hope you enjoy! xo
Instead of Mashed bananas. What can be substituted?. Would the rest of the ingredients remain the same. I love the recipe Thanks Judy S
If I use oat flour is it doable and if so still 2 cups as the other way 2 cups oats ground up I think would make less flour only cause I already have some oat flour on hand – thank you
Hi Lana,
I haven’t tested the recipe using oat flour yet, but you’re correct – in my experience, 2 cups of oats blended up yields about 1 2/3 to 1 3/4 cups oat flour. I would start with 1 2/3 and add more if the batter looks too liquidy. Hope you enjoy! xo
@Julia, better to give weight measurement in this regard
@Lana @Julia, I make this banana bread every few weeks (it’s THAT good) and I just tried for the first time using oat flour instead of blending oats myself, 1 3/4 cups works, however it needs to bake much longer than 40-45 minutes! I would say if using oat flour, bake 55 minutes to an hour!
That’s amazing, Lauren! I’m so happy you enjoy it! I love how moist and flavorful the bread turns out…definitely a great one to keep on repeat! 😀 xo
I’ve fallen in love with all your oat bread recipes (guys check her site there are a BUNCH)! I’ve made this twice now, and the only thing I cannot quite figure out is why my bread is raw and still cool in the middle after 45 minutes. Mine rose more than yours as I added a smidge more baking soda, but I didn’t make any other substitutions. I added the pecans to my blender and my blender is a commercial Waring X Prep stainless steel model and they were ground mostly after only a few seconds. So I do follow this recipe exactly, but it’s just raw. That’s been happening when I make the oat strawberry and oat mixed berry bread (my invention based on your recipe). Should I just turn the heat lower after 45 minutes? I tented it with foil as the top was fully cooked. Maybe I need to measure the banana? I used 4. I just love this recipe and want to be able to get it fully cooked. All these breads are delicious, but what on Earth am I getting wrong? No errors in measurements. Is my older oven the issue? Help!
Also, I did use 3 tbsp of coconut oil. I’ll try leaving that out next time to see if that helps the batter get fully cooked, but I truly am just not that talented at baking yet to be able to self-diagnose the problem.
I’m also using a Pyrex bread pan made of glass. That I am learning might also be a factor. I don’t have metal pans as stainless steel is the only metal I am comfortable with and I don’t even think they make stainless steel bread pans. Working this through in case someone else out there is having the same problem. I WILL learn to make this recipe properly so I can make it regularly!
So it took an hour and 20 minutes to get it to 212°, so it will just take much longer in a glass pan. The foil I might place on top at the start of baking next time. At least it is technically fully cooked.
Ah, that’s good you were able to get it to work! Apologies, I replied to your other comments before reading this one. Nevertheless, I’m happy the bread turned out for you!
Hi Ella! I think I can help! First, I think the bake time was off on my end. My oven tends to run hotter than normal, and after testing this recipe (and many others like it), I think 50-60 minutes is more accurate. So part of the issue was my fault, and I’m so sorry for that!
In addition, I’ve found the best way of telling if a quick bread is cooked through or not is by taking its internal temperature. So, pull it out after 50 minutes, and insert a digital thermometer into the center of the loaf. If it reads 190 degrees F or higher as the internal temperature, the bread is ready! If it is lower than 190, continue baking until you hit that mark.
You mentioned using a glass pyrex pan – I’ve found this does make a difference, so I typically recommend using metal, or making sure you’re lining the pyrex pan with parchment paper.
If you have a metal loaf pan, try that next time with the longer bake time (and testing the bread with a thermometer) and see where that lands ya! Let me know if you have any other questions along the way!
Could I use flax eggs in this recipe instead of real eggs?
Hi Ivana,
I haven’t tested the recipe with flax eggs yet, so I’m not sure. I believe it would work but the bread may turn out very dense…if you’re okay with that, I would say it’s worth the try! xo