Nigella Lawson Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Nigella Lawson’s gluten-free banana bread is a tender, light loaf made with rice flour and ground almonds, sweetened with very ripe bananas and studded with chunky walnuts and dark chocolate. It cuts into 10 to 12 slices, from her book Cook, Eat, Repeat.

She calls it a promise finally kept, and one she took her time over to get right. She wasn’t interested in something merely “good for gluten-free”, but a bake that offers universal delight, and she says she can’t stop eating it.

The clever touch is the Greek yoghurt. It keeps the crumb tender and light, which matters in a gluten-free bake, and its tang counters the sweetness of the banana. With nubbly walnuts and pockets of melted dark chocolate, it reads as a proper treat, not a compromise.

Nigella Lawson Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10-12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

55

minutes

Calories

375

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Nigella’s gluten-free loaf from Cook, Eat, Repeat: a tender rice flour and almond crumb, sweetened with overripe banana and Greek yoghurt, studded with chunky walnuts and dark chocolate. Makes 10 to 12 slices.

Ingredients

• 175g rice flour

• 100g ground almonds

• 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder

• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

• 500g (total weight with skins) very ripe or overripe bananas

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 100g full-fat Greek yoghurt (at room temperature)

• 2 large eggs (at room temperature)

• 125ml vegetable oil

• 125g soft light brown sugar

• 100g roughly chopped walnuts

• 150g roughly chopped dark chocolate

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Directions

• Prep the tin:Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/325°F and line a 2lb loaf tin (about 24 x 12cm) with a paper liner or baking parchment.
• Mix the dry:Combine the rice flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl, and set aside.
• Build the wet:In a large bowl, mash the peeled bananas thoroughly. Beat in the vanilla, then the Greek yoghurt, then the eggs one at a time, followed by the oil and sugar.
• Combine:Gradually beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides, then fold in the chopped chocolate and walnuts.
• Bake:Scrape into the tin and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until it’s shrinking from the sides and a tester comes out cleanish with a few damp crumbs (avoiding the gooey chocolate). Cool completely on a wire rack in the tin before turning out.

Notes

• (chopping): Chop the walnuts and chocolate roughly. You’ll get some shards and rubble, but keep most pieces chunky enough to make their presence felt in each bite.
• (smaller loaf): You can easily halve everything and bake it in a 1lb loaf tin. It doesn’t take appreciably less time to cook.
• (store): Keep in an airtight container in a cool place for 4 to 5 days.
• (freeze): Tightly wrap the whole loaf (in its tin) or slices in a double layer of food wrap, then wrap the tin in foil or put slices in an airtight container. Freeze the loaf for up to 3 months, or slices for up to 1 month. Unwrap and defrost on a wire rack at room temperature.

FAQs

What makes it gluten-free, and is it as good as normal banana bread?

Nigella uses just two gluten-free flours, rice flour for structure and ground almonds for richness and moisture, in place of wheat flour, with gluten-free baking powder. Together they give a tender, light crumb rather than the dense, dry texture gluten-free bakes can suffer from.

She was determined it should offer “universal delight” rather than being merely acceptable for a gluten-free cake, and it delivers. Between the moist banana, the tangy yoghurt and the chocolate and walnuts, gluten-eaters won’t feel they’re missing anything. It’s genuinely one of her most-loved bakes.

Why Greek yoghurt and oil rather than butter?

The full-fat Greek yoghurt does two jobs: it keeps the crumb soft, moist and light, which is especially important in gluten-free baking where dryness is the usual enemy, and its gentle tang balances the sweetness of the very ripe bananas so the loaf isn’t cloying.

Using vegetable oil instead of butter also keeps it tender and moist, and means it stays soft for days. Make sure the yoghurt and eggs are at room temperature, as Nigella specifies, so they blend smoothly into the batter. Together the yoghurt and oil are the secret to that lovely texture.

How ripe should the bananas be?

As ripe as you can get them, ideally overripe, with skins that are heavily speckled or even mostly black. Nigella specifies 500g total weight with the skins on. Very ripe bananas are much sweeter and softer, mashing into the batter easily and giving both natural sweetness and moisture.

Firm yellow bananas won’t do the same job, tasting bland and staying lumpy. If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, you can speed them up by baking them in their skins at a low oven for 15 minutes until soft and dark. This is a great way to use up a sad-looking bunch. It’s a richer, chocolatey cousin of her rice pudding cake among her comforting bakes.

How do I know when it’s baked, given the melty chocolate?

This is the tricky bit, since a cake tester can hit a pocket of molten chocolate and read as underdone. Nigella’s cues are that the loaf shrinks slightly from the sides of the tin and, if you manage to avoid the chocolate, the tester comes out cleanish with a few damp crumbs clinging to it.

Gluten-free loaves take a while to set and can look done before they are, so don’t rush it; 45 to 55 minutes is the range. If the top browns too fast, loosely tent it with foil. And do let it cool completely in the tin, since gluten-free cakes are fragile while hot and firm up as they cool.

Can I leave out the nuts or chocolate, or make it dairy-free?

Yes, it’s flexible. Leave out the walnuts for a nut-free-ish loaf (though it still contains ground almonds), swap them for pecans, or use chocolate chips instead of chopped chocolate if you prefer neater pockets. You can reduce or omit the chocolate for a plainer, less rich loaf.

To make it dairy-free, use a thick dairy-free yoghurt, such as coconut or soy, and dairy-free dark chocolate. The oil-based batter is already dairy-free otherwise. It’s a lovely gluten-free option to have alongside richer Nigella puddings like her sticky toffee pudding.

Can I make it ahead, store and freeze it?

It keeps beautifully. Stored in an airtight container in a cool place, it stays moist for 4 to 5 days, and many find banana bread is even better on the second day once the flavours settle. Keep it whole and slice as you go to stop the cut edges drying.

It also freezes well. Wrap the whole loaf tightly in a double layer of food wrap and foil for up to 3 months, or freeze slices in an airtight container for up to a month, handy for grabbing one at a time. Unwrap and defrost on a wire rack at room temperature. There are more Nigella bakes on the Nigella Lawson recipes page.