Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe

This gluten free blueberry banana bread recipe is super easy to make. It is moist, stuffed with blueberries, gluten free and tastes fantastic. Gluten free banana bread is always perfect as a dessert, snack or breakfast treat. Your family will love this great tasting gluten free banana bread!

Straight From The Oven – Delicious Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Bread

As you probably know, gluten is a protein found in some types of cereal grains such as wheat, rye and barley. Unfortunately, gluten-based allergies, immune responses & intolerance can cause moderate-to-severe health issues for some individuals. Therefore, in order to avoid these potential health problems, many people substitute gluten free flour for the wheat-based flour used in recipes (i.e. bread recipes or banana bread recipes). Gluten free flours are often made from a combination of gluten free ingredients such as rice flour, sorghum flour, potato flour, millet flour, etc. While gluten free flours do not have the same taste as wheat-based flours, you can make some excellent baked goods… with the right recipes!

Our recipe should take you only 10-15 minutes or so to prepare and clean up. Please be aware that this is an oven-baked gluten free banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. For more banana bread ideas, please visit our main section on Banana Bread Variations. You will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page. If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below and give us a 5 star rating. We would love to hear from you!

Ingredients – Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe

• 8 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened)
• 2 – Large Eggs
• 3 – Bananas (ripe & large sized) – Use 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas to be exact
• 1 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed cup)
• 2 Cups – Gluten Free All Purpose Flour – Use a gluten free all purpose flour that includes xanthan gum or an equivalent. See the tips section for details.
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt
• 1 1/2 Cups – Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, hand mixer, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Pour/Scoop Batter Into Bread Pan & Place Some Extra Blueberries On Top

Instructions – Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Grease bread pan (if necessary).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Soften butter in a microwave.
• Lightly beat eggs.
• Stir eggs, bananas and butter together. Then add the brown sugar & stir until creamy.
• Mix in the remaining ingredients (except the blueberries). For the best results (see tips section), stir in the flour in small batches (i.e. 1/4 of total flour at a time). Stir until batter is completely mixed.
• Add the blueberries to the batter. Stir in blueberries until fully mixed into batter.
• Pour batter into bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter in the bread pan.
• Optional – For an even greater blueberry “appearance”, you can push a few extra blueberries into the top of the batter within the bread pan just before you place it in the oven.
• Bake in the oven for 60-65 minutes or until golden brown.
• Take out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours. Gently slide a silicon spatula between the banana bread and the bread pan walls if the banana bread is stuck in the pan.
• Please READ the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully and to avoid common gluten free banana bread problems.

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Tips – Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe

• The tips below are designed to help gluten free banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes.
• If you like gluten free recipes, you should also check out our Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe. Or if you have a bread machine, you might like our Bread Machine Gluten Free Banana Bread.

• You can use fresh or frozen blueberries to make this recipe. I like to buy several containers of fresh blueberries when baking and then freeze any extras. These “fresh” blueberries can easily stored in the freezer for several months. Moreover, frozen blueberries reduce the need to run to the supermarket (i.e. during a snow storm or pandemic) when you have your next fantastic blueberry baking idea!
• Frozen blueberries also seem to survive the mixing and baking a little better than softer fresh blueberries. They are less to rupture during the mixing & baking process. Nevertheless, banana bread made with fresh blueberries also comes out very well.
• Make sure not to add any ice that is attached to the frozen blueberries or the banana bread could come out too wet. I like to wash off the ice off the frozen blueberries and then DRY the blueberries in order to avoid any excess moisture issues.
• Try to use organic blueberries if you can. Organic fruit & vegetables are usually much less exposed to potentially harmful pesticides.

• Use RIPE bananas for the best taste. Ripe bananas are soft and usually have an exterior yellow peel covered with lots of small brown & black spots. Unripe bananas are hard, yellow/green(ish) and have a lot less banana flavor. If you use unripe bananas, your banana bread will be very bland.
• Make sure to use 3 large bananas (not medium bananas). Otherwise, this gluten free banana bread might turn out to be a little dry.
• In case, you like to use cups versus banana “sizes”… 3 medium-sized bananas equal roughly 1 to 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). 3 large-sized bananas equal roughly 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 cups of mashed bananas (not sliced bananas). Of course, banana sizes can vary greatly… and my version of medium and large-sized bananas may differ from yours!
• For the most accurate results, you should use exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas. Use a measuring cup to measure the mashed bananas. If you don’t have enough mashed bananas to equal 1 1/2 cups, you can add a little milk until the mashed bananas (plus milk) equals 1 1/2 cups in the measuring cup. Using exactly 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas will help to prevent your gluten free banana bread from being too dry or too wet.

• As you probably know, many kinds of gluten free flour don’t seem to retain moisture as well as wheat-based flour. Nevertheless, the bananas and extra blueberries in this recipe helps to make this banana bread moist & delicious.
• Gluten free flour sometimes tends to clump and if not mixed well, you may find small flour clumps in your finished banana bread. To solve this problem, you can use an electric hand mixer (lowest setting) or you can gradually add & stir in the flour (i.e. 1/4 of the total flour at a time) into the wet ingredients.
• This recipe is based on using a gluten free all purpose flour that includes xanthan gum as an ingredient. Xanthan gum is included in many commercial gluten free flours because it helps to provide structure to gluten free baked goods. Without xanthan gum (or an equivalent ingredient), gluten free baked goods tend to be flatter and denser. However, please check with your doctor to see if you have any potential issues with xanthan gum. For more information on xanthan gum, you might like to read this Bob’s Red Mill article “What Does Xanthan Gum Do?“.

• I find it easier to use an all-purpose gluten free flour that already contains xanthan gum. Xanthan gum acts a substitute for gluten and provides elasticity & texture to baked goods (similar to the role of gluten in wheat-based baked goods). It also helps to trap the carbon dioxide bubbles produced by bread yeast or baking soda/powder that helps to make a gluten free baked good “rise” and be more airy.
• Some commercially available gluten free flours do not include xanthan gum (read the label carefully) and you will have to add the xanthan gum (or equivalent substitute) as a separate ingredient. However, excess xanthan gum can lead to the gluten free banana bread being too gummy and ruining your gluten free banana bread’s “mouth feel”.
• There are a wide variety of gluten free flours. They can be made from a range of different gluten free ingredients such as rice flour, sorghum flour, potato flour, millet flour, etc. Unfortunately, this can lead to different bread densities, consistencies and flavors. Therefore, you will need to find a brand that your family likes and meets your family’s dietary requirements. For this recipe, I like to use Pillsbury Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend.

• Gluten free flour is more expensive than regular all-purpose wheat flour. However, if cost is a problem, you can find less expensive brands such as Walmart’s Great Value Gluten Free Flour.
• Make sure to read the ingredient labels to ensure that all of your ingredients are gluten free. If they have been packaged in a factory producing food including gluten, they might be contaminated with traces of gluten. For additional information, you might like to read the article from the Celiac Disease Foundation called How To Tell If A Packaged Food Product Is Gluten-Free. It has useful tips such as “wheat-free does not necessarily mean gluten-free”.
• For more information on a gluten free diet, you might like to read this Mayo Clinic article and this Wikipedia article.

• Optional – Consider using separate “gluten free only” mixing bowls, kitchen tools, bread pans, etc. in order to create your homemade gluten free breads & desserts. If possible, you shouldn’t make gluten free banana bread with equipment that you also use to create baked goods containing wheat flour & other ingredients with gluten. This helps to reduce the potential for cross contamination by gluten (as traces of gluten may remain on some of the equipment). Unfortunately, this also means that you would need two sets of equipment – one set to make gluten free recipes and a second set for any recipes that contain gluten.
• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or under cooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a toothpick into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the toothpick. If batter is sticking to the toothpick then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 3 or 4 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 3 or 4 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with a tooth pick.

• If your banana breads are sticking to the bottom of your bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or trying baking parchment paper. FYI – Baked blueberries can be very sticky!!
• Baking parchment paper might be the best option when baking with sticky ingredients such as blueberries or chocolate chips.
• You should always try to use relatively FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your gluten free banana bread.

• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• Always wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven, etc.
• In regards to any gluten-related medical or health issues, please see your doctor. Bread Dad does not provide any health or medical advice.
• For more easy banana bread recipes (i.e. blueberry, cranberry, chocolate chip, vegan, oatmeal, etc.), please visit Bread Dad’s main Banana Bread Recipes section.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes! Jump to comment section

Other Bread Dad Sections

• Baking Tools
• Bread Machine – My favorites
• Bread Making Books
• Bread & Dessert Mixes

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Banana Bread
• Wikipedia, Blueberry
• Wikipedia, Gluten
• Wikipedia, Gluten-Free Diet

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. Your comments help us to improve & clarify our recipe instructions. Moreover, it is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!!!

Related Recipes

• Blueberry Banana Bread
• Blueberry Cornbread
• Blueberry Quick Bread
• Eggless Banana Bread
• No Butter Banana Bread
• Vegan Banana Bread

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