Easy & Soft Gluten free Banana Bread

I have made many banana breads and tried many recipes. I have loved most of them. This banana bread recipe is up there with the best of the bests! I am not kidding!

This eggless, gluten free and refined sugar free banana bread turned out to be better than I could have hoped for. An evenly risen cake, moist and soft crumbs and a crunchy nutty crust! Full of banana flavour and beautiful aroma of cinnamon and vanilla. This banana bread is truly special!

A completely gluten free cake when you are not using a store bought gluten free baking flour blend or when you do not want to use additives like xanthan gum etc, can be a little challenging. This recipe uses some additional ingredients to create a texture similar to a regular banana bread/cake and it comes really close.

If you like baking millet based, egg free and gluten free, you may like these recipes:

Jowar Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ragi Chocolate Cake with whipped paneer chocolate ganache

Fudgy Millet brownies with crinkle top

For this banana bread, all the main ingredients and their role in the recipe is mentioned below:

Ingredients:

Jowar/Sorghum flour is naturally gluten free. It is one of the three major millets (Bajra/pearl millet, Ragi/finger millet and Jowar/sorghum) and is milder in taste. It works really well in baking. Jowar is considered a good source of dietary fibres, iron and many other vitamins and minerals.

Flaxseeds and Corn flour/Tapioca flour help in achieving a good texture in this banana bread without having to use any additives like xanthan gum. In this recipe Corn flour and Tapioca flour both produce same results. So you can use whatever is handy at home.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Milk make buttermilk. For cake recipes without egg, buttermilk works great in making the crumbs of the cake light and delicate. The acid in the vinegar reacts with baking soda and results in a more fluffy cake.

Banana flavour comes from over ripe bananas. Over ripe bananas have a lot more flavour and they give more banana flavour compared to bananas that are just ripe. So with using lesser banana, we can get more intense banana flavour in the cake. Using too much fruit pulp in a recipe risks the cake not rising properly.

Cinnamon and Vanilla extract together bring a beautiful flavour and it works really well with the flavour of bananas.

Ghee or Butter, both will work here in this recipe. If you want to reduce the amount of fat in this recipe, you can use 1/4 cups of ghee as well.

Now that we have covered all the ingredients, here is the detailed recipe:

Jowar/Sorghum Banana Bread

Serves: 10 Prep Time: 30 mins Cooking Time: 50 mins 50 mins

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

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Ingredients

For Cake Batter -

• 1 cup (120 g) - Jowar flour
• 120 g / 2 medium- Ripe banana
• 1.25 cups (185 ml) - Milk
• 1/2 cup (70 g) - Jaggery
• 1/3 cup (65 g) - Ghee
• 1/4 cup (30 g)- Tapioca/Corn flour
• 2 tbsp (15 g) - Ground Flaxseeds
• 1 tsp (5 ml) - Apple Cider vinegar
• 1 tsp (5 ml) - Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp - Cinnamon
• 1 tsp - Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp - Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp - Salt

For Topping -

• 1/4 cup - Chopped nuts
• 1 tbsp - Raw sugar
• 1/4 tsp - Cinnamon

Instructions

1. Peal and add the banana into a blender jar along with jaggery, 1 cup milk, apple cider vinegar, ground flaxseeds, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Grind this into a smooth paste.
2. In a mixing bowl, take jowar flour, corn flour/tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Give it a thorough mix to combine everything evenly.
3. Now pour the blended wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, followed by 1/4 cup milk and ghee. Mix everything thoroughly using a spatula to form an even and smooth batter.
4. Pour this batter into a greased and lined baking pan and smoothen the top.
5. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top.
6. Combine the raw sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle it all over the top.
7. Bake this banana bread in a preheated oven at 180 C for around 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
8. Take the loaf out on a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

1. Use over ripe bananas to get an intense banana flavour.
2. If your blender jar is big enough, you can grind all wet ingredients together, including all the milk and ghee/butter.
3. Depending on your Jowar/Sorghum flour, you may need just 1cup milk. Add 1 cup milk at first and if the batter looks really thick, add additional 1/4 cup milk.
4. If you prefer to use less fat, you can reduce the ghee to 1/4 cup instead of 1/3 cup.
5. Do not skip the nut, sugar and cinnamon top. It makes this banana bread extra special!
6. Store any leftover slices in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Did You Make This Recipe?

Have you made this recipe? Tag me on Instagram at @VanillaTrails and use the hashtag #MadeWithVanillaTrails.