Sweetened with ripe bananas and made with almond flour, this Gluten Free Carrot Bread is a healthy and delicious breakfast or snack! Each slice is studded with shredded carrots and chopped walnuts that provide a boost of flavor and nutrition.
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Mmmmm… Oh, hello there! I was busy eating my third piece of carrot banana breakfast bread. And let me tell you, we have a winner!
Besides my Spiced Oat and Butternut Squash Muffins, this may be my favorite recipe to pair with a morning cup of coffee. It tastes PHENOMENAL with a schmear of nut butter. So be sure to bulk it up with some almond, peanut, or cashew butter for a filling breakfast or snack.
In just one loaf of this gluten free carrot bread, you get some veggies, some fruit, and a whole lot of flavor. The naturally sweet carrots complement the mashed bananas, and a touch of maple syrup brings it all together. It’s not overly sweet, though…it’s just right!
And wait until you see how easy it is to make. You need to add this to your weekend baking, holiday breakfast menus, and meal prep routines ASAP.
How to Make Gluten Free Carrot Bread
- Mash some ripe bananas in a bowl.
- Add the eggs, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, and shredded carrots.
- Whisk it all together.
- Add the dry ingredients (almond flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and sea salt). Stir some more.
- Fold in the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Easy, peasy. And if you buy pre-shredded carrots for this recipe, it’s even easier!
Expert Tips for Making Perfect Carrot Bread
- Be sure to use ripe bananas. The riper they are, the sweeter the bread will taste.
- Measure out 2 tablespoon of coconut oil after you melt it. If you measure before melting, you may end up with too much. No one wants a soggy carrot loaf! The easiest ways to melt it are in the microwave for 30-45 seconds or in a small saucepan.
- Use a sharp knife or food processor to chop the walnuts. I prefer to use roughly chopped walnuts, but you can chop them into smaller pieces if you don’t want them to be as visible in the bread.
- You can use pre-shredded carrots or carrots that you grate by hand for gluten free carrot bread.
- Other possible additions include shredded coconut or mini chocolate chips, or pecans in place of walnuts!
- Serve carrot bread with a spread of nut butter, butter, or cream cheese.
- This recipe can also serve as a basis for other veggie breads! Instead of carrots, you can sub parsnips or even beets.
Storing and Freezing Carrot Bread
To freeze gluten free carrot bread, let it cool completely then wrap it with plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Place the wrapped bread in a large freezer bag, label it, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge before you plan to eat it.
So if you have a lot of ripe bananas on hand, pick up a bag of shredded carrots and make a few loaves to freeze for later. Future you will be very happy!
Carrot bread that’s not frozen can last for up to 5-6 days in an airtight container at room temp or in the fridge. Depending on the humidity of your kitchen, you may want to keep it in the fridge to make it last longer.
More Vegetable Breads and Muffins
For other similar breakfast options, check out:
- Vegan Carrot Banana Muffins
- Zucchini Carrot Oat Muffins
- Sweet Potato Blueberry Flax Muffins
- Healthy Olive Oil Zucchini Bread
- Gluten Free Beet Waffles
- Spinach Banana Muffins
If you make this recipe, be sure to report back and let me know how you like it! Please rate/review using the stars on the recipe card or in the comments section.
Gluten Free Carrot Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoon melted coconut oil - measure after melting the oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup walnuts - chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5" loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add the shredded carrots, eggs, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and syrup. Whisk until well combined. In a separate small bowl, combine the almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and whisk until well combined. Fold in chopped walnuts.
- Pour batter in greased loaf pan. It should only be about halfway full. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan and slicing.
- Serve with nut butter, butter, or cream cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
- Measure out 2 tablespoon of the coconut oil after you melt it. If you measure when it's solid, you may use too much (which can lead to a soggy loaf). You can melt it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds or in a small saucepan on the stove.
- Store carrot bread in an airtight container at room temp or in the fridge for up to 5 days. It may last longer in the fridge.
- Freezing instructions: Let it cool completely then wrap in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Place the wrapped loaf in a freezer bag and store for up to 3 months in the freezer. Let it thaw in the fridge before eating.
- Substitutions or additions: You can also fold in ¼ cup of shredded coconut or ¼ cup of mini chocolate chips before baking. Shredded parsnips can be subbed for the carrots, and chopped pecans can be used in place of walnuts.
Nutrition
This recipe for Gluten Free Carrot Bread was originally published in 2018. It was updated with new photos and expert tips in January 2020.
Have a great weekend!
Lizzie
Marita
What type of coconut oil should be used for the recipe? There are so many different types of coconut oil-refined, unrefined, naturally refined, organic, etc… that I’m not quite sure which one to buy to make the recipe.
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Marita! I like to use virgin (unrefined) coconut oil in my cooking and baking because I like to taste the coconut flavor. I purchase it from Trader Joe’s, but there are several brands that offer virgin coconut oil at other stores. However, the recipe would work with refined coconut oil too. If you don’t want to taste the coconut flavor as much, use refined. Hope that helps!
Jackie
Hi There! Excited to try this recipe. Can I substitute GF All purpose flour for the Almond flour? Would be a cup for cup ratio?
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Jackie! Hope you enjoy it. Although I have not tried it myself, I believe you can sub gluten-free all purpose for almond in a 1:1 ratio. Let me know how it works!
Mini
Honey when heated can turn toxic. How do we work around it?
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Mini, this recipe is made with maple syrup. But to address your comment, honey is safe to eat when heated. You may be thinking of a compound in honey, HMF, that is called a toxin but actually is changed during heating and may have benefits for human health. You can learn more about it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5884753/.
Rebecca
This came out surprisingly very good. I was surprised as I never used almond flour for banana bread. But I had some on hand & since my husband needs to watch his carbs/sugar this recipe was perfect. It came out very moist & tasted great. I used a bit of chopped milk chocolate baking wafers. I roasted the walnuts first. I also lined & buttered my baking tin with parchment. For the person who said it came out too wet, perhaps your 2 bananas were large. My bananas were about 5-6 inches & not very wide. So I will def make again!!
Can you sub zucchini for the bananas? My daughter hates bananas! I did see ur olive oil zucchini recipe but I do not have whole wheat flour.
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Rebecca, I’m so glad to hear that it came out well for you and tasted great! The addition of chopped chocolate wafers sounds delicious. Thank you for your note about the size of your bananas too…that’s a great point! Unfortunately, I don’t think zucchini could work as a direct substitute for bananas. I think you could substitute a cup of grated zucchini for one of the bananas, but you would probably still need another one to maintain the texture and sweetness. However, you can make my recipe for olive oil zucchini bread with all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat if you have that on hand. I’d recommend using about 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour. I believe that would work! Hope that helps, and thanks for commenting :-).
Cathy
To make the bread nut free one would have to replace the almond flour as well!
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Yes, sorry for the typo.
Love to try new things
I decided to make 2 as had all the ingredients out and on hand. It took a lot longer to cook took 1st one out after testing with toothpick, came out clean sides were coming away from the pan, let cool when went to invert out of pan fell apart and middle bottom was still doughy, put back in oven on oven proof plate. Wondering if not enough flour? used 1 cup of Almond flour as listed in recipe. Will make again may use GF flour instead of Almond or had more Almond flour, or both. Very tasty, more like a bread pudding than a loaf. Really wanted to try as 3 Celiacs in family, daughter-in-law doesn’t eat fruit or vegetables. Shredded carrots super fine so she wouldn’t feel texture, and hopefully get her to eat some. Will see, if she is willing to try it.
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi there! I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t turn out for you. I have not had issues with this bread before, so I’m not sure what went wrong. Since you made 2 loaves, did you double the amount of almond flour to 2 cups?