If you love banana bread, this fun dairy-free and gluten free black sesame banana bread is amazing! This moist Japanese sesame cake has slight crispiness from black sesame seeds! This delicious quick bread is also dairy-free. There is no need for a fancy gluten-free flour blend; all you need is brown rice flour! Make it in just 60 minutes!
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If you love bananas, this Japanese banana bread recipe is going to be a special treat. I have been enjoying a batch of gluten free banana bars, but I still have several very ripe bananas to use up.
My friend, Chef Nagano of Skool Restaurant in San Francisco, shared this gluten free and dairy-free banana bread recipe with me many years ago. I was intrigued when Chef Nagano mentioned her mother’s banana bread recipe. Her family isn’t gluten free, and I was curious how bread could work with only rice flour.
This recipe uses only brown rice flour and does not need Xanthan Gum or other gum! Gluten free food is expensive, and many people must stick to a budget while maintaining a gluten free diet. Brown rice flour is inexpensive and easy to find in stores. Many of my readers are saying they can’t find gluten-free flour blends in their stores, so this recipe is a great way to bake gluten-free.
Moist and delicious, this gluten free banana loaf cake recipe is bursting with banana flavor. If you love bananas as much as I do, you will also want to try this moist Gluten Free Banana Bread with fresh cranberries recipe!
Allergen Information:
This homemade brown rice banana bread is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, and oat-free.
Just made this (without sesame seeds) and it’s soooo good!
Cassie E.“
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You can find these ground black sesame seeds at many grocery stores in the spice section or via Amazon above. I love Terrasoul’s sesame seeds, and they smell fresh if that makes sense. Sometimes, products can have a stale smell, but these don’t!
If you have a Japanese market, they will also carry them. If you have some sourdough discard to use up, try my Gluten-Free Sourdough Banana Bread recipe too!
How to Ripen Bananas:
The star of this recipe is super-ripe bananas. If your bananas are not quite ripe, you can try some of these hacks:
- Heat the bananas in the oven at 300º F for about 15 minutes.
- Place the bananas in a brown paper bag and close the bag. Check it in 24-48 hours.
- Sometimes you can ask in the produce department for over-ripe bananas. They often have some in the back!
(And if you love bananas, check out my Gluten Free Banana Donuts recipe and my Gluten Free Matcha Green Tea Banana Bread recipe. They are some of the most popular recipes on my blog!)
🔑 Sandi says: DO NOT substitute sweet white rice flour in this recipe, or it will turn out very gummy in the middle. This recipe is made with brown rice flour only.
Step-By-Step Photos and Directions:
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Step 1: Add the dry ingredients, including the brown rice flour, to a large
Step 2: In a smaller bowl, smush the banana with a fork, add the wet ingredients, and whisk to blend.
Note: this bread is not super sweet. If you want your bread to be sweet, add an extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the dry ingredients.
Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. *NOTE: This batter will be runnier than you are used to, and that is normal!
Step 4: Pour your batter into a prepared greased bread loaf tin and bake at 350º F for 40-45 minutes. 3/4 the way through baking, you may need to put a piece of tin foil over the baking bread.
When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and cool on a cooling rack. Insert a toothpick into the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean, your bread is finished baking. If you see batter or crumbs, it needs to bake a little longer.
Don’t slice it until it is thoroughly cooled!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do not use white rice flour! If you do, this recipe will turn out very gummy and not very edible. Please use brown rice flour as indicated.
You can easily omit the sesame seeds.
You can add anything you like, but please note that this batter is runnier than others, and your heavier mix-ins may sink to the bottom. If you want to use chips, I suggest mini chocolate chips because they are much lighter.
Mix-ins:
- Feel free to omit the seeds or use poppy seeds if you can’t eat sesame. You may need to add 2 TBSP of additional flour if you omit them.
- You can substitute flax seeds (whole) for the sesame seeds.
- Mini chocolate chips
- Shredded coconut
More Gluten Free Banana Recipes:
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Chef Nagano’s Gluten Free Black Sesame Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- ⅓ cup olive oil or light oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups brown rice flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder aluminum free!
- pinch salt
- ¾ cup milk or dairy free substitute (I used almond milk)
- ¼ cup black sesame seeds crushed is best
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º F.
- Grease a bread loaf pan.
- Mix all of the wet ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Whisk to blend.
- Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk to blend.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. Mix them until they are just barely mixed.
- Do not over mix.
- Pour the banana bread batter into a loaf pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until done in the center.
Notes
- If you can’t have sesame, omit the sesame seeds.
- This recipe calls for brown rice flour. Do NOT substitute with white rice flour or another flour or it will turn out gummy in the middle.
- Other dairy-free kinds of milk will work but I do not recommend canned coconut milk.
- To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is done baking. If you see batter or crumbs, the bread needs to bake longer.
- This banana bread will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
This post was originally written by me in 2014 and I wanted to update it and reshare it with you because this recipe is perfect if you have limited ingredients.
Could I substitute black sesame paste?
Hi Jennifer, I have never used black sesame paste, so I am not sure how it would affect my recipe.
Just made this without sesame seeds and I’ve already eaten half the loaf straight out of the oven! It’s sooo good. Love having something yummy to do with all this brown rice flour! Great recipe
I am so glad to know the recipe holds up well without the sesame seeds too!
Can I substitute the rice flour for say almond meal or flaxseed meal?
Hi Naomi, Thanks for writing. I honestly don’t know if this would work with almond meal. I have never tried that. Rice flour and almond meal are so very different in texture, and how they bake. I know almond meal is expensive so I am hesitant to tell you to experiment with this modification. Do you not like rice flour, or is rice something you need to avoid?