Espresso Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips, Gluten free, Dairy free, Paleo

This Espresso Banana Bread with chocolate chips is a decadent and moist banana bread laced with espresso and chocolate flavors and made with healthier ingredients like almond flour and coconut sugar.

Say hello to our morning guilty pleasure. A paleo recipe for banana bread that has a wonderful subtle espresso flavor, along with lots of banana and chocolate flavors as well. It tastes like a decadent banana chocolate chip cake. BUT it’s made without refined flours, refined sugars or dairy.

Now don’t get us wrong, we love a classic banana bread, but sometimes you just want different flavors. Like espresso and chocolate. Or pumpkin banana bread or even blueberry banana bread.

Why this recipe works

• It is melt-in-your mouth satisfying.
• It is a great way to use instant espresso. Espresso and chocolate is a match made in heaven.
• Its allergy friendly. It is peanut-free, soy-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.
• It is great for those following a Paleo diet or who like baking with healthier ingredients like almond flour, coconut flour, olive oil and coconut sugar.
• It has the just right banana bread texture.

Recipe ingredients

• Olive oil– any olive oil or extra olive oil works here.
• Coconut sugar– coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index than other sugars.
• Eggs– these help to bind the bread together.
• Bananas– make sure your bananas are ripe. This makes a difference in the flavor of the banana bread overall.
• Instant espresso powder– use a brand of espresso powder that you like. We personally like Medaglia D Oro Instant Espresso.
• Almond flour– blanched almond flour is best for baking.
• Tapioca flour– this helps give a great bread texture to a gluten-free bread.
• Coconut flour– combined with tapioca flour and almond flour, this gives the bread a great texture.
• Baking soda– this helps the bread rise while baking.
• Chocolate chips- lots of dairy-free chocolate chips, such as Enjoy life, aren’t technically Paleo. So if you are looking for a true Paleo alternative, try HU Chocolate.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Additions/ Substitutions

• Instead of olive oil, you can use avocado oil.
• Instead of coconut sugar, you can use brown sugar. Keep in mind the bread will no longer be Paleo.
• Instead of tapioca flour, you can use arrowroot powder.

Step by step instructions

Step 1

Step 1: Mix the olive oil and coconut sugar together in a bowl.

Step 2

Step 2: Add the instant espresso, eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla to the coconut sugar mixture and mix.

Step 3

Step 3: In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, salt, and baking soda together.

Step 4

Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold in chocolate chips.

Step 5

Step 5: Pour batter into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

Step 6

Step 6: Bake!

Recipe FAQs

For starters, all by itself because it tastes great as is. However, we love slathering almond butter or sunflower seed butter to a slice of this banana bread. We also love eating it with tea or coffee.

Cover and store on the counter for up to 3 days.

Yes you can. Freeze it in slices in an airtight container, this makes it easier to defrost.