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This Gluten free cherry banana bread is a delicious grain-free, Paleo, dairy-free banana bread loaded with fresh cherries and chocolate chips, and topped in a chia-seed and chocolate chip crust.

Gluten Free Cherry Banana bread with chocolate chips on a plate.

This gluten-free banana is a wonderful summer recipe full of fresh chopped cherries and chocolate chips. It is a great way to use up any extra bananas and cherries you have in your home. It is made with healthy ingredients and it always disappears in my house in two days.

If you love the combo of cherries and chocolate together, try my Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookie Bars, my Cherry Chocolate Waffles, or my Chocolate Cherry Banana Smoothie

Table of Contents

Why this recipe works

  • It is allergy friendly. This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and peanut-free.
  • It fits a wide variety of diets. This recipe is Paleo and gluten-free.
  • It is full of summer flavor. Nothing screams summer more than fresh cherries.
  • It is healthy. This recipe is made with clean healthy ingredients such as almond flour, olive oil, and honey.

Recipe ingredients

Ingredients needed to make gluten-free cherry banana bread.
  • Almond flour– blanched almond flour is better for baking.
  • Tapioca flour– this helps give a good texture to the banana bread.
  • Coconut flour– this flour is very absorbent so only use the amount in the recipe.
  • Baking soda– this helps the banana bread rise.
  • Cinnamon– I like using Ceylon cinnamon because it has great flavor.
  • Eggs– this binds the bread together.
  • Honey– this adds a nice sweetness to the banana bread.
  • Apple sauce– this is used to replace some of the fat in the recipe.
  • Olive oil– this is used to replace the butter in traditional banana breads.
  • Bananas– make sure the bananas are ripe.
  • Cherries– I used fresh recipes here so I could cut them up.
  • Dairy-free chocolate chips– use whatever brand or kind fits your dietary needs.

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

Additions/ Substitutions

  • Instead of tapioca flour, you can use arrowroot powder.
  • Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup.
  • Instead of olive oil, you can use avocado oil.

Step by step instructions

The cherry banana bread batter.
Step 1

Step 1: Make the banana bread batter. In one bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix the wet ones. Then combine both bowls. Fold in the cherries and chocolate.

Freshly sliced Paleo cherry banana bread.
Step 2

Step 2: Pour the batter into a loaf tin, top with chia seed topping and bake. Remove from oven, let cool, then slice.

Recipe FAQs

How do you store this recipe?

You can keep this banana bread on the counter, lightly covered in aluminum foil for up to 3 days.

Can you use frozen cherries?

No, this recipe is for fresh cherries. They need to be cut. Frozen cherries also would change the texture of this banana bread.

What kind of chocolate can I use to keep this recipe Paleo?

I like baking with HU chocolate. It is made with coconut sugar and is also dairy-free and gluten-free.

Other healthy banana bread recipes you’ll love:

Healthy Carrot Banana Bread (Paleo, Gluten-Free)

Cinnamon Swirl Paleo Pumpkin Banana Bread (Gluten free, Dairy free)

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

Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!

5 from 1 vote

Gluten free Cherry Banana Bread (Paleo, Dairy-free)

By: Dominique
Servings: 12
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Total: 50 minutes
Gluten Free Cherry Banana bread with chocolate chips on a plate.
A grain-free, Paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free banana bread loaded with fresh cherries and chocolate chips, and topped in a chia-seed and chocolate chip crust

Ingredients 

Bread

  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup tapioca flour
  • 1/3 cup coconut flour, ( I like Nutiva Organic for quality and price)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup apple sauce
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup mashed banana, ( this was 1 large banana for me)
  • 1 cup pitted and quartered cherries, ,this was 17 cherries for me
  • 1/3 cup enjoy life chocolate chips, (I use the Enjoy Life brand because it’s dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free and gluten-free)

Crust

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Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a tin loaf pan with parchment paper. (I used a 10 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ x 3″ metal loaf pan)
  • In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon with a fork. Set the bowl aside.
  • In another large bowl, mix the eggs, honey, vanilla, apple sauce and olive oil with an electric hand-held mixer until well mixed. Add the mashed banana to the bowl and mix with the electric mixer until well blended.
  • Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix with the electric hand-held mixer until thickened and well mixed.
  • Fold ½ cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of quartered cherries into the batter. 
  • Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and then pat the top of the batter with a spoon to make sure it is flat. Sprinkle 1 Tbs of chia seeds and 1 Tbs of chocolate chips on top of the batter and push down lightly with a spoon.
  • Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and the top has hardened.

Notes

Note: my pan was 10 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ x 3″ high. If your pan is smaller or larger, you will need to adjust the time of baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 238kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 4gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 209mgPotassium: 91mgFiber: 4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 76IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
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5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

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18 Comments

  1. never tried it with cherries- looks good but my daughter hates cherries and berries….I’m going to make this one for the office.

    Reply

  3. This sounds and looks so delicious! I love cherries and banana bread. Never would have thought to combine!

    Reply

  5. I’m curious to try this as I’m trying to lean towards paleo (see how non-committing I am?!). The combination of cherries and chocolate AND banana is making me drool!

    Reply

  6. This looks sooo good! I adore banana bread and it is one of my favorite things to bake at home. Cherries seem like an odd thing to add, but I will give it a try! I love fresh cherries, so why wouldn’t I love them added to a favorite baked good?

    Reply

  7. My first thought was you threw everything into this bread. Then I read the ingredients and this bread is actually quite good for you. I’ve tried a couple of paleo recipes in the past and they didn’t disappoint.

    Reply

  8. Oh yum, I’ve never tried anything other than the usual banana bread but this looks so good I should give it a go! 🙂 I can see why it doesn’t last long, looks delicious!

    Reply