Fudgy and rich Dark Chocolate Banana Bread Brownies that are gluten-free and sweetened with banana and maple syrup.
These Dark Chocolate Banana Bread Brownies are my new hyper fixation. They are incredibly fudgy, rich in taste, and more nutritious than your average brownie.
I don’t know if you’ve caught on to my chocolate obsession or not, but it’s real. I’ll find every and any way to sneak chocolate into a recipe and I think this one is pretty apparent. My favorite way to enjoy chocolate is when it’s extra gooey and fudgy and I think these Banana Bread Brownies did just that.
If you’re here for a fluffy banana brad I think you’ve come to the wrong place, BUT I do have one of those recipes here.
How to make Dark Chocolate Banana Bread Brownies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 min. to thicken.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash ripe bananas until smooth. Whisk in flax egg, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Fold in almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, and salt until smooth. Fold in dark chocolate.
- Pour batter into baking dish and smooth over with a spatula to evenly distribute. Sprinkle over additional chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. Bake for 30-35 min. or until toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs (it may be a bit wet, due to the chocolate chunks).
- Important! Let cool for 10 min. before slicing. It may seem a bit underdone, but that’s what makes it ultra gooey and fudgy.
Ingredient breakdown:
Flax eggs: I tend to use just 1 flax egg in bread and cookies, but the more liquid and moisture in this recipe the better. Two flax eggs makes for a perfectly gooey texture, which still holds together the brownies.
Maple syrup: I could use a dry sweetener in this recipe, but the maple syrup adds extra moisture and is less sweet than granulated sugar.
Almond flour: I have found that almond flour is the ultimate gluten-free flour. It absorbs a lot of liquid, but doesn’t yield a baked good that just falls apart (granted, if you do it right). The nutty taste also creates an excellent flavor. Sure, you could try subbing gluten-free all purpose flour in this recipe, but I have not tested it so I can’t guarantee similar results. Gluten-free flours also tend to produce a more dry crumbly good, so test as you will!
Dark chocolate chunks: You MUST NOT skip this part. Highly recommend to chop up a bar of better quality dark chocolate instead of purchasing chocolate chips. The flavor is much better and will yield a richer chocolate banana bread loaf! For a lower sugar version, sub stevia-sweetened chocolate chips.
If you’re looking for more delicious banana bread recipes, you’ll also love this Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread, these Chewy Dark Chocolate Banana Bread Cookies, and this Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
Also, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram don’t forget to tag me @healthienut + #healthienut! I love seeing your mouthwatering recreations!
Fudgy and rich Dark Chocolate Banana Bread Brownies that are gluten-free and sweetened with banana and maple syrup.
- 2 tbsp flax seed meal
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 ripe bananas (roughly ¾ cup mashed)
- ⅓ cup (90g) maple syrup
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (96g) almond flour
- ⅓ cup (36g) dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅔ cup (85g) roughly chopped, dark chocolate
-
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8" baking dish with parchment paper.
-
Whisk together flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 min. to thicken.
-
In a large mixing bowl, mash ripe bananas until smooth. Whisk in flax egg, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Fold in almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, and salt until smooth. Fold in dark chocolate.
-
Pour batter into baking dish and smooth over with a spatula to evenly distribute. Sprinkle over additional chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. Bake for 30-35 min. or until toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs (it may be a bit wet, due to the chocolate chunks).
-
Important! Let cool for 10 min. before slicing. It may seem a bit underdone, but that's what makes it ultra gooey and fudgy.
This looks fudgy and delicious!
Author
thank you love!! appreciate it 🙂
Any flour substitution?? Please!
Author
what do you have on hand?
Honey works as Maple substitute?? Looks really good, I wanna give it a shot 😆
Author
yes it should!! honey is a little thicker in consistency so it may be slightly different but nothing big. let me know how it turns out!
I don’t have almond flour – what would you consider substituting? I have all-purpose, cake flour, spelt flour and brown rice flour…
Thanks!
Author
if you don’t mind it not being gluten-free, all purpose should work
Will it make a big difference if I leave out the chocolate chunks?
Author
no not at all! just won’t be as chocolatey but still super tasty 🙂
Could I sub with oat flour? And if I don’t want to add sugar could I replace with yogurt or applesauce? Thanks!
Author
Subbing with all oat flour might not enable the bread to hold together as well, however I haven’t tried it. Also have not tried subbing the maple syrup for yogurt or applesauce, but I would probably recommend a thick yogurt! 🙂 let me know how that turns out.
How many eggs should I use instead of flax egg?
Author
2 as well should work 🙂 Haven’t tested it though so let me know how it goes!
Can I drop flax seed meal or substitute with something else?
Author
You can sub ground chia seeds or 2 eggs for the 2 tbsp + 5 tbsp water!
So yummy! I subbed in sunflower seeds for the choc chips and used a mix of almond and buckwheat flour.
Author
So happy you enjoyed it!! Thank you 🙂
This was yum! Thank you!
Author
Thank you so much! 🙂
Beautiful brownies – I used a mixture of oat and buckwheat flour instead of almond flour, which worked treat.
Will be making these again! Thank you!
10 out of 10. How do you go back to other brownies after having these?
Author
haha awhh thank you! I couldn’t agree more