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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 my 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 me wrong, I 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.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- It is melt-in-your mouth delicious.
- 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 perfect 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. I 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: Mix the olive oil and coconut sugar together in a bowl.
Step 2: Add the instant espresso, eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla to the coconut sugar mixture and mix.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, salt, and baking soda together.
Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold in chocolate chips.
Step 5: Pour batter into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
Step 6: Bake!
Recipe FAQs
For starters, all by itself because it tastes amazing as is. However, I love slathering almond butter or sunflower seed butter to a slice of this banana bread. I 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.
Other healthy banana breads you may enjoy:
This Healthy Banana Bread by The Clean Eating Couple is made with whole wheat flour and apple sauce and looks perfectly moist and delicious!
This Sunflower Seed Butter and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread has the ultimate sunflower seed butter and chocolate flavor.
If you like carrot cake, you will love this Paleo Carrot Cake Banana Bread!
This Cranberry Orange banana bread is full of great flavors and is great on a crisp day.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Espresso Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips (Gluten free, Dairy free, Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar , or maple sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 Tbs instant espresso powder
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 2 Tbs coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 in x 5 in loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix the olive oil and coconut sugar with a fork or whisk. Add the eggs, vanilla, mashed bananas and espresso powder and whisk again.
- In another bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix with a fork until blended.
- Pour the bowl of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the banana bread batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with a few more chocolate chips. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Notes
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for this sensational tasting recipe! I enjoyed making them into individual muffins and then when it came time to eating them, with each bite I drizzled a little bit of tahini. Delicious!
Ooohhh I love the sound of drizzled tahini on top!
Mine did not turn out as visually appealing as yours, but the flavor was all there! It was nice and light and tasted like cake! I thought the espresso might be overbearing when I tasted the raw batter, but once it was cooked, it was perfect! My little ones asked for a piece of the “brownie,” and they loved it, too!
Very happy to hear it! Love that they called it a brownie! haha
I’ve made this about 20 times since my first review, and it’s beautiful now! I always put chocolate chips on top before baking it. Mine bakes in less than 45 minutes in my oven. Everyone loves it and asks for the recipe! I’ve also made your cinnamon swirl, which is delicious as well!
I’m so so glad!! Thanks for letting me know!