Cinnamon Buckwheat Banana Bread with the PERFECT fluffy vegan + gluten-free texture, healthy breakfast-approved ingredients, and simple one bowl prep!
Nothing says back to basics, simple and healthy, snack or breakfast, perfect addition to your January fridge like BANANA BREAD.
I’ve done oat flour banana bread and I’ve done a grain-free version with almond flour, but this new version with buckwheat flour blows them both out of the water when it comes to fluff and incredible vegan gluten-free crumb. No gummy texture, no sinking center after you pull it out of the oven, no smushing when you slice it warm. This recipe is simple, reliable, and my new favorite ♡
A few things to note:
- Please please pleeeeeeeease use RAW buckwheat flour. Not the toasted stuff that bakes to be dark purple and is super strong in flavor. I buy raw buckwheat groats (they’re cheap!) in the bulk section and grind my own flour in the vitamix.
- For something different, I tried sparkling water as the liquid ingredient in this recipe, and it really boosted the egg-free fluff factor. But if you don’t want to or don’t have it, almond milk is fine too.
- How much cinnamon? A LOT. At least that is my preference, but up to you. Other spices are always yummy too!
- Buckwheat flour is not a very sweet flour, so you will need some sugar in addition to the natural banana sweetness. I used coconut sugar, and also added a couple tablespoons of molasses for extra richness. Optional, but super tasty.
It’s simple, it’s sweet, it’s perfect for snacking on all times of day. May you bake, try, and fall in love with Cinnamon Buckwheat Banana Bread too.
Cinnamon Buckwheat Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Cinnamon Buckwheat Banana Bread with the PERFECT fluffy vegan + gluten-free texture, healthy breakfast-approved ingredients, and simple one bowl prep!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 (240g) cup buckwheat flour*
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1–2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (75g) coconut sugar
- 250g overripe bananas (2-3)
- 1/2 cup (125g) almond butter (or any nut/seed butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (30g) molasses (optional)
- 3/4 cup sparkling water** (or nondairy milk)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Blend the bananas, almond butter, molasses (if using), coconut sugar, vanilla, and sparkling water.
- Add wet to dry and mix to combine.
- Pour into a greased loaf pan.
- Top with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts and dusting of coconut sugar (optional).
- Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350ºF.
- Cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan and slicing.
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
*Ground from RAW buckwheat, you do not want the dark toasted kind.
**This makes the bread extra fluffy, but nondairy milk is fine too.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 270
- Sugar: 21g
- Sodium: 163mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 44g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 6g
Keywords: baking, healthy, snack, cinnamon, almond butter, grain free, easy, one bowl
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Natalie!!! The texture is BEAUTIFUL 😍😍😍 Oh, my goodness, this seriously looks like the most perfect banana bread. We recently tried a new banana bread recipe and it was awful…mushy center and fell apart. I’ve got a bunch of bananas that need to ripen and now I know what I’m going to be doing with some of them 😊 I’m in love with all things cinnamon + buckwheat and the addition of molasses sounds SO good! I’m very intrigued by the sparkling water magic! How’s the flavor compared to using a plant based milk?? Can’t wait to make this! ❤️❤️
Banana bread without gluten and eggs so often turns into a bread on the outside, pudding on the inside situation😆 I’ve been wanting to try it with buckwheat flour for so long since it tends to be really good for texture, and it was indeed so fluffy and perfect. Not as sweet as oat flour so it did take a little more coconut sugar, but worth it for the texture imo🤗🤗 Using nut milk vs water might add a little more sweetness too, but the water doesn’t affect the flavor at all. Anyways, enough rambling about how much I love buckwheat lol, hope you guys try it and if you do I can’t wait to see❤️
Hmmm, I’ve always purchased buckwheat flour without ever knowing if it was roasted or not. I don’t remember anything on the label saying so. Is there any indicator I can look for to tell if it’s roasted or not? It always appears to just be kind of grayish in color with tiny black flecks.
If it’s grayish in color it’s toasted. The groats are just paleo brown, no grey/purple hue at all. It’s quite tricky to find the un toasted already ground into a flour, I usually have to make my own!
Do you know if Bob’s red mill buckwheat flour is raw or toasted? It’s kinda greyish but I make pancakes with it and they don’t have a strong taste.
I am pretty sure it’s toasted unfortunately. If it is grayish at all it is toasted, the raw should be a very light brown!
I emailed Bob’s Red Mill and they said it’s raw actually! I’ve always thought raw buckwheat groats were kind of grayish as well. Anyway, the bread turned out pretty good, the structure is good but it’s more on the dry and firm side. That’s not my favorite type of banana bread but it’s good with peanut butter!
★★★
Good to know!
At last! You have invited my darling buckwheat to play. May this romance flourish so that more buckwheat recipes follow
Yessss! I definitely need to experiment with it more, soon🤗
I just love buckwheat soooo much, so seeing this recipe was an instant ‘gotta make this’. And fortunately I had all the ingredients for it!:)
Sparkling water is definitely a nice touch:)
Gonna be a nice breakfast for tomorrow, but I have to say it was my dinner for tonight as well, oops:)
★★★★★
YAY!! I am so so happy you already tried it and loved it too🤗 Never a wrong time of day for banana bread!
Do you think this could work with pumpkin too in place of the banana!?
★★★★★
Yes absolutely!
THIS LOOKS INCREDIBLE. MAKING TOMORROW. CAN BARELY WAIT. oh my gosh
Wahooooo!! Can’t wait for you to taste it🤗
My new favorite banana bread!!!!!!!! 😍😍😍😍 Omg, I could NOT get over how beautiful the texture was and not having to wait until it was fully cooled to slice…whoa. Perfect slices, no gross mushy/gummy/wet centers – it just held up the way no other gluten-free banana bread has. Totally made up for the disaster bread we tried before this 😂 I used almond milk instead of sparkling water because that’s what we had on hand and I used all the optional ingredients – molasses, walnuts + coconut sugar dusting on top (um, that was an incredible addition!) and I did the full two tbsp of cinnamon. So much to love about this banana bread!!! I had planned to make another loaf today, but Willow ate the rest of the ripe bananas 😂😂 maybe I’ll try it with pumpkin!
★★★★★
THIS JUST MADE ME SO HAPPY🤗🤗🤗 Isn’t buckwheat flour amazing stuff, I was amazed by the texture too with just one kind of flour and no starches or anything. Definitely needs more sweetening than with oat, but worth it for that lovely crumb imo. Ha honestly when I’m not recipe testing i usually just dump a ridiculous amount of unmeasured cinnamon into my banana bread, never too much😉 I love that you loved it and if you do try it with pumpkin lemme know (otherwise definitely doing that myself when I get home, such a good idea!) Appreciate your review Mandy, and happy weekend❤️ xo
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! I made muffins instead of a loaf and just pulled them out of the oven. My house smells amazing and they taste wonderful! 5 stars, I totally recommend! p.s. I so appreciate that you post weights as well. I have a grain mill and ground my own buckwheat flour. It was so fluffy that the correct amount of cups wasn’t nearly enough flour by weight.
★★★★★
That is so very wonderful to hear Emily, I am really glad you loved it too! And so perfectly portable as muffins🤗🤗 Cooking by weight is SO much easier, my preferred method too so happy to help out there! Happy weekend💕
I have made this recipe every week since you posted it! It’s the perfect texture which most vegan recipes struggle with. I always use the full amount of cinnamon. Sometimes if I use extra banana (little more than weight calls for) I need to cook it a bit longer, but if you follow the weights exactly the recipe works perfectly.
★★★★★
Ah that is amazing to hear, Nicola☺️ I am so happy you are loving and remaking this one, thanks for the feedback (and nothing wrong with extra banana sweetness imo–I gotta try that😋😋)
Oh my goodness… this is literally THE best gluten-free vegan banana bread I have ever had!! I have been searching for a recipe for years and nothing quite satisfied (and it didn’t help that most recipes contained oats which I don’t tolerate very well).
When I saw that yours was made with buckwheat (my favourite gluten-free ingredient in baking) and a few other simple ingredients, I knew I had to try!
The taste and texture is amazing (and the mouth-watering smell in the kitchen… my mom and I couldn’t even wait for the loaf to cool down! haha) I used date syrup instead of molasses and it worked perfectly. Thanks so much!!! 😀
P.S. I reviewed your recipe on my blog (with the link to your recipe) and posted some pics of my loaf!
https://z4zest.wordpress.com/2020/04/02/gluten-free-vegan-banana-bread/
Omg it looks AMAZING!! I loved getting to see and not just hear about your recreation, I am so happy you loved it. I’ve made many vegan/gf banana breads with oats/oat flour too and the texture is never as good, buckwheat is where its at. And I love the flavor of date syrup, I bet it was delicious with that😋😋 Very much appreciate your feedback Zarah❤️
oooh sorry I forgot to add the stars… 5 stars for sure (would add 10 if I could!!!)
★★★★★
Love banana bread and love buckwheat. What would happen if we used the dark kind of buckwheat flour? How would that affect the texture/taste
It’s all I have right now…
The color will of course be much darker kind of a grayish purple, and the taste will be very nutty and buckwheat forward. Personally I don’t like the flavor in a recipe like this but you’re welcome to try it😊
Hi Natalie,
I tried the recipe using dark buckwheat flour and while it tastes great, the texture didn’t come out like yours at all… it was more like ‘creamy/fudgy’ (sort of like bread pudding?) instead of fluffy. not sure if this has to do with flour, or the kind of seed butter I used? (Black sesame seed butter)
Yes raw vs toasted buckwheat makes a HUGE difference. I’m glad it still tasted yummy, but the texture will be much lighter and fluffier if you use raw buckwheat and grind it or buy it as flour that way. Hmm never baked with black sesame seed butter so idk, but that shouldn’t make too much of a difference unless the texture is very unique?
I noticed the gram weight of the ingredients does not change when you alter the serving size. It shows 240 grams for the flour for 1 1/2 cups, but according to the buckwheat flour I have 1 1/2 cups is only 180 grams. I am going to go by your cup measurements instead of the gram weights cause I think they are incorrect. That might explain why some people had issues with the recipe. Just letting you know. I greatly appreciate people who take the time to share recipes with the rest of us.
Yes the gram measurements only apply to a single batch unfortunately, you would have to do the calculations yourself. My recipe plugin doesn’t allow for weight measurements so I have to add those manually and they are aren’t factored into the recipe multiplying feature. Sorry!
Such a great recipe! I used water instead of sparkling or nondairy milk and it came out perfect. 🙂 Thank you!
★★★★★
I am so so happy you enjoyed it Michelle! thanks for the feedback 🙂
Can I use coconut butter and should I measure it melted or solid?
That should work! Measure it melted 🙂
I have made 4 loaves of this and it’s excellent. For anyone wondering about nut butter substitutions, tahini works extremely well. I agree with the recommendation to grind your own buckwheat flour in the food processor. I made one loaf with Arrowhead mills buckwheat flour and I didn’t like it nearly as well as the ground raw buckwheat groats. I’m also finding that this takes no more than 40-45 minutes to bake in my oven.
★★★★★
I am SOOOOO happy you love this one Pat🤗 Appreciate all your tips and feedback too!
Hi Natalie! I was SO happy to find this recipe on your site… It looks and sounds amazing!
I am a big fan of all things banana, and cinnamon on everything! Turns out Bob’s Red Mill organic buckwheat flour is made from raw buckwheat. Just bought a fresh bag (couldn’t find groats) and baking this afternoon. yumyumyum!
YAY!! Oh I am so excited for you to try it Valerie🤗 Its so fluffy, buckwheat flour is amazing for GF texture. Let me know how it turns out..!
Natalie, I just devoured my first slice after impatiently waiting exactly 8 minutes! The house smells so good!
OMG!! SOOO delicious!! It slices beautifully, the texture is divine!! I used 1/4 cup coconut sugar and included the molasses – love the flavor it adds! Perfect amount of sweetness! I didn’t think walnuts on top would be enough but it was just right.
I may try again with more banana, to bring out the banana flavor; and definitely plan on trying the recipe with pumpkin!! Fantastic recipe – deserves 10 stars!
😋
★★★★★
YAY!!! Oh I am so so happy you love it, I love and appreciate and relate to your first slice/delicious scent enthusiasm☺️ Isn’t the molasses so good with the banana flavor?! And I LOVE the pumpkin idea, I might have to try that too! Thanks for the review Valerie!
I made the bread and decreased the palm sugar to 1/3 of a cup , I used peanut butter, the batter was to thin I added 1/4 cup more flour , it took 55 minutes to bake . I really like molasses in cakes but this doesn’t work with peanut butter it is not good together , maple syrup would definitely be a better choice . I might have baked it 3 minutes too long , I had to check it three times , the texture is great not mushy which I hate in cake . If you like peanut butter the taste really comes through almond butter would be more subtle I was out of it . In all it’s a super healthy bread you can’t go wrong with the recipe .
★★★★
I appreciate you sharing all your swaps and thoughts, Brigitte! I’m not sure I’ve ever had peanut butter and molasses together, but they don’t sound like the best pairing. You could totally sub in maple syrup instead!
I have been making 3 loaves ever couple of weeks. Add various nuts, flax, diluted chia. Have used Appli spice, Pumpkin spice & Chai spice.
I used a nonalcoholic Ginger Beer which took it to another level.
This has been the easiest breakfast bread. Love It!
★★★★★
The ginger beer addition sounds AMAZING!! I love that you are loving and customizing this one, I appreciate the feedback JoJo🙂