This banana bread is super easy to make and shockingly simple. Perfectly moist with a delicious banana flavor. A perfect way to use up overripe bananas. This recipe is paleo, vegan and AIP compliant but nobody will notice. So don't tell them!
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A few days ago I published my Coconut Banana Bread recipe. Though it already was an AIP compliant recipe, some people told me they couldn't eat it because they are intolerant to coconut. So it just broke my heart to hear they couldn't try my recipe. The decision was made: I had to create a coconut free AIP banana bread!
But I also wanted to keep it cassava free because I know that many people are also intolerant to cassava. Especially during those hard times with this crazy virus all around the world, I just thought I had to do my best at trying to provide a recipe that could possibly give people on an AIP diet some comfort.
So here is a new version of my banana bread recipe that is at the same time gluten free, grain free, paleo, vegan, AIP compliant, coconut free and cassava free. But it's still absolutely delicious!
If you don't have all the ingredients for this recipe, but urgently need to use up some overripe bananas, you can make flambeed bananas.
⭐ Why you'll love this recipe
- Toddlers, kids and adults will love it.
- Only 6 ingredients!
- Just a few extremely simple steps.
- Slice it and toast it, it's even more delicious!
- This banana bread is gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, AIP compliant but also coconut free and cassava free to be the most allergy friendly as possible. But nobody will notice so just don't tell those who don't need to know.
📖 Ingredient notes
- Bananas. Banana bread is famous for using up overripe bananas. But technically, in this recipe, you can use bananas at any stage of ripeness. I mostly use ripe bananas with many black spots but I've also made this bread with bananas that were just begining to get spotty. Keep in mind that the more ripe the banana, the sweeter it is and the stronger taste it has. You can also use frozen bananas, fully thaw them first before using them.
- Tigernut flour (or almond flour for those who are not on AIP nor nut free). If you don't know what tigernut flour is and want to learn all about it, you can read my complete guide to tigernut flour. If you are on AIP and still in the elimination phase, you have to use tigernut flour (because almond flour is not AIP compliant). Those who are not on AIP nor allergic to nuts can use almond flour instead of tigernut flour.
- Arrowroot. It is a starch. See below for substitutions.
💭 Substitutions and variations
- Arrowroot substitutions. If you are not cassava intolerant, you can substitute it with tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour). If you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets: you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
- Spices. I love this banana bread without any spice. But it's also delicious with some. So feel free to add either vanilla, ground cinnamon, ginger or cloves or a mix of all these if you want.
🔪Step by step instructions
- Peel the bananas, break them into pieces and place them in a bowl (or on a plate) and mash them with a fork. If, for some reason mashing them with a fork is not possible for you, you can place the banana pieces in a small blender. Add the maple syrup and lemon juice (or ACV) and mix until well combined. You can also use a blender to make sure you get a very homogenous mix.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, arrow root and baking soda). Stir.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until well combined.
- Line or lightly oil a rectangular 4 x 8 inches (10 x 20 cm) baking tin and transfer the batter into the tin. Or choose a muffin pan if you want to make muffins instead of a loaf.
- Bake for about 35 minutes for the loaf (or for about 25 minutes for the muffins). To make sure that it is cooked, insert a thin bladed knife into the centre of the banana bread, the knife should come out clean. Wait for the banana bread to cool down before removing from the tin. And voilà!
👩🏻🍳Top tip
Do NOT open the oven door before the end of the baking time (unless, of course, in case of a danger or problem with your oven). If you open the oven door during the baking time, just to "check how it looks", it will fall down or won't rise.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately there are no possible substitution for the tigernut flour if you are on AIP and still in the elimination phase. Why? Because all the other AIP compliant flours have very different texture and they all need their own amount of liquid. So it is not possible to replace the tigernut flour with another flour without altering the entire recipe.
Good news if you have a nut allergy and need a nut-free version, you can make this recipe with tigernut flour. Because tigernut is not a nut!
If you want to reduce the maple syrup quantity in this recipe, I suggest replacing it with the same quantity of oil of your choice or coconut milk. For example: ⅓ cup (80 ml) maple syrup + 3 tablespoon oil instead of ½ cup maple syrup.
Yes, it freezes very well. Once this banana bread is cooked, allow it to cool completely at room temperature on a plate or wire rack. Once cool, you can freeze it. My favorite way of freezing it is by slicing it and transfer the banana bread slices to a freezer bag before storing it in the freezer. This way, I can easily take one slice out of the freezer,
🍪Other banana recipes you might also like
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a 5 star rating on the recipe card and leave a nice review below! Tag @gohealthywithbea on Instagram and hashtag #gohealthywithbea! Also, let's stay connected on social media and continue to cook together! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
📋 Recipe / Recette
Coconut free Banana bread (AIP, paleo, vegan)
Ingredients
- 240 g (1 cup) mashed ripe banana (weight after being peeled which makes about 2 large bananas)
- 150 g (1 cup + ⅓ cup) tigernut flour (if you are not on AIP nor nut free, you can use almond flour instead of tigernut flour)
- 50 g (¼ cup + 1 Tbsp) arrowroot (see notes about substitutions)
- 125 ml (½ cup) maple syrup (see notes to reduce quantity)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 360° F (180° C)
- Peel the bananas, put them in a large bowl and mash them with a fork. Add the maple syrup and lemon juice (or ACV) and mix until well combined. You can also use a blender to make sure you get a very homogenous mix.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, arrow root and baking soda). Stir.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until well combined.
- Line or lightly oil a rectangular 4 x 8 inches (10 x 20 cm) baking tin and transfer the batter into the tin. Or choose a muffin pan if you want to make muffins instead of a loaf.
- Bake for about 35 minutes for the loaf (or for about 25 minutes for the muffins). To make sure that it is cooked, insert a thin bladed knife into the centre of the banana bread, the knife should come out clean. Wait for the banana bread to cool down before removing from the tin. And voilà!Bon appétit !
Notes
- Although I spend quite a lot of time converting all my recipes to cups (yes, manually, in my kitchen!) I highly recommend using a scale and measuring for weight rather than using cups. The reason for this is, apart from the whole debate on accuracy, the density of certain gluten free flours and starches differ a lot from one brand to another. Also keep in mind that all cups are not the same size all around the world which makes another good reason to use a scale so you won't get this issue.
- If you are not cassava intolerant you can use tapioca starch instead of arrowroot. Other possible substitutions, only if you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets: you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
- If you want to reduce the maple syrup quantity, I suggest replacing it by same quantity of oil of your choice or coconut milk (for example: ⅓ cup (80 ml) maple syrup + 3 tablespoon oil instead of ½ cup maple syrup).
- Feel free to add some vanilla, ground cinnamon, ginger and cloves if you want.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is calculated using a nutrition facts calculator. It is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Lynn
Hi Bea, can you use plantains instead of banana in this recipe? Thank you for your advice!
gohealthywithbea
Hi Lynn. Yes, you can use overripe plantains instead of bananas.
Gin Temoshawsky
I made this for my adult daughter and she can't stop raving about it. She said it's the best banana bread she's ever had and asked if it was baked by an angel. I told her yes! 😆
Bea C.
Bonjour Gin. Well, I agree, you definitely are an angel for leaving such an amazing comment! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I'm thrilled to hear that your daughter loved this recipe!
Linda Hartschuh
This has become my go-to baked item! Easy, quick and super delicious that only gets better each day. Thank you!
gohealthywithbea
Thank you for letting me know that you like my recipe. This is the best motivation ever to keep creating new recipes!! ❤️
Jerrold Verwey
Is there any substitute for tigernut flour? It is not so common here.
gohealthywithbea
If you are following an AIP diet, sorry no. There is no substitution because all other AIP compliant flours are very different from tigernut flour, so you won’t get the same texture and you would have to adjust liquids quantity. If you are following a paleo diet, you can substitute with either chestnut or almond flour. And if you are just “plain gluten-free” you can use 2/3 rice flour and 1/3 buckwheat flour.
Laura
I used a potato masher on the bananas instead of a fork. It worked really well. Also I only had Sliced tiger nuts in my house. I put them in the nutri-bullet and made flour out of them. Very quick. I was amazed that it worked. This is very tasty recipe! Thank you for sharing!!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Laura. Thank you so much for your nice comment!! I'm glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Christan Adams
Their bread was amazing and I made the pumpkin muffins too!!! Wow! I have tried so many and these are the most simple and the best!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Christan. Thank you so much!! I appreciate it so much when my readers take the time and effort to leave me a nice comment when they love my recipes. Those messages keep me motivated and warm my heart. ❤️ And yes easy and simple is my motto. ????
Indigo
I am SO APPRECIATIVE of the mindfulness of "no coconut and no cassava" -2 such common ingredients in grain free baking, which I cannot tolerate. I will be making this over the weekend. Thank you so very much.
gohealthywithbea
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me this!! I’m happy to help but it is very nice to hear that my efforts are being appreciated!! ❤️
Kristen
This is the BEST AIP recipe I have ever baked! Thank you!
gohealthywithbea
Oh wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to tell me this!! I’m so happy to hear that you loved my recipe. What an incredible way to start this new year ❤️❤️❤️
Somo
I would like to try your coconut banana bread recipe, but the link only leads to a picture, not the post or recipe. I've tried from search results and can't get to the recipe. Can you fix the link? Thank you so much for these recipes! My mom is following AIP and is too ill to cook for herself, so I am making some things for her.
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Somo. Thank you for telling me this. Although it was not an easy fix (the whole recipe wouldn't appear on the blog), it is now back. I'm sorry to hear that your mom is too ill to cook for herself. I've been there. It's so sweet of you to cook for her. I'm hoping she will get better very soon. Hang in there!
Somo
Thank you!
Helene Stevenson
Making this for the second time. It’s sooooo delicious 😋 ... I will be making two today. 🙌
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Helene. Thank you for taking the time to tell me this! It warms my heart. 🥰❤️
Anajane
Can I use gelatin egg instead of maple syrup?
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Anajane. I'm sorry I honestly can't tell you because I have never baked with gelatin eggs. In France, gelatin is used for patés and terrines (some kind of meatloaf). Like I've said in the notes, you can replace the maple syrup with oil. You can also use non dairy milk.
Mindy
These are simple to make and so good! I add unsweetened cacao chips and my family loves them!
elise chan
This was pretty good, but I would cut down on the maple syrup next time. It was too sweet.
Jessica R
Just made this and it's crazy delicious. I never imagined I'd have anything real banana bread again. Yes, I'm calling it "real"--it's that good. I would strongly recommend you skip the maple syrup and use oil instead. I used 1 spotted yellow plantain and 1 sort of ripe banana and a mix of avocado and olive oil in place of the maple syrup and, holy cow, is it ever sweet! Maybe too sweet. Seriously addictive. Next time I'll add collagen so I can feel a bit more virtuous when I scarf it down. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
gohealthywithbea
OMG❣️❣️ Thank you so so much for your great comment. It literally lit up my day ❤️❤️❤️ I'm so happy to hear that you loved this recipe. Nothing motivates me more.
Sara
Did you ever try adding the collagen? I am about to try the recipe and I am wanting to add the collagen powder. I am just unsure how much to add. Thanks!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour. Sorry no. I have never used collagen in any recipes. That's yet another culture difference as it is rarely used in recipes in France. Here, collagen is mostly sold in pills to take as supplements. I'm not saying it's bad or good, that's just how things are. But I'm curious to know how it would go with collagen. So do not hesitate to give us your feedback if you try it. Thanks!
Jennifer
Hi, this recipe is amazing ! I've made it at least 3 times now. Only thing is when I tried doubling the recipe it came out wayyyy under done and I couldn't get the inside to bake at all. Any suggestions?
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Jennifer. I'm thrilled you love this banana bread! Whenever I double a recipe I prefer to use 2 identical tins instead of just one. I put them both in the oven side by side. Hope this will help you.
Christina
My banana bread turned out really gummy and not at all cakey. Did anyone else have this issue? I’m wondering if more baking soda would help.
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Christina. I'm so sorry to hear that your banana bread didn't come out great. It's hard to say what could have gone wrong from a distance. But do NOT use more baking soda. Baking soda has a horrible salty taste, so you will end up with an unedible banana bread if you add more.
Elizabeth
Same thing happened to me...followed the recipe using the scale. Had all the ingredients. Not sure what happened 🙁
Tonya Grata
Love this recipe! My husband says it's the best banana bread of any, "regular" or not! I've made this several times, adjusting the maple syrup/oil ratio and the tigernut/almond flour ratio, and it's so easy. Sometimes I make two at a time so we can have it for the week. Yesterday I tried making it as a pineapple upside down cake. I couldn't find an AIP recipe because my husband hasn't reintroduced as many items as I have. I put a little coconut brown sugar on the bottom of the pan, then placed the pineapple pieces and cherry pieces in it. Then poured the batter and cooked it. WE LOVED IT! Thank you so much!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Tonya! I'm so glad that you and your husband love this recipe!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment. Each time I get one, it lights up my day!! ❤️❤️❤️ And yes I was thinking about turning this recipe into a pineapple upside down cake myself. Great job on that!!
Kim Jordan
Oooooo THANK YOU! I cannot tolerate coconut or cassava/tapioca so this recipe is a HUGE blessing! Thank you!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Kim. Thank you so much for your incredibly sweet comment!❤️ I'm thrilled that you are happy to have found this recipe. I have tons of other coconut and cassava free recipes. You can easily browse them in the coconut free AIP category.
Ivy
Hi! I love this recipe and have missed it when I went back to AIP elimination (no more almond flour) and I seem to react to tigernut flour. But, I am happy to report that I just tried it with sweet potato flour this morning and it tastes pretty good! Since sweet potato flour is already sweet, I only used two tablespoons of maple syrup and filled up the rest of the 1/2 cup of liquid with a mix of water and avocado oil (It was still quite sweet so I might even go down to 1 tablespoon next time). Even my husband who is not gluten free is eating them 🙂 Thanks Bea for a simple and versatile recipe!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Ivy! I'm thrilled you love this banana bread. Great subs!! Thank you so much for your feedback on using sweet potato flour as I'm pretty sure other readers will find this info helpful!
Emma Griffith
I am so excited to try this recipe! Since having to go AIP I have found myself missing my Grandmother's banana bread and now I have a recipe, with great reviews, that I can try!
I was also wondering if you had ever replaced the banana for pumpkin to make pumpkin bread? I am excited to be able to bake again!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Emma. I'm glad you're excited about this recipe. This is the second most popular recipe on the blog. The first one being my pumpkin muffins which is a lot like this recipe but my pumpkin purée instead of banana. You can find it here: Pumpkin Muffins (Coconut free, AIP, paleo, vegan). Let me know if you try one of these recipes!
Paulina
Hi! The calories…. Are they per serving or the whole bread is 263? If per serving, how big is the serving? Thanks so much!
PS - just found your page and it’s amazing how you’re giving options for paleo or AIP. I’m both.
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour. The calories are per serving and this banana bread makes 6 servings. You can of course make smaller servings. I'm glad you found my blog 🤩
Marsha Whitt
Bea - I am sooooo thankful that I found your site! Got this banana bread out of the oven 20 mintues ago. I am in love! (The hubby loves it too, and he's not on any special diet). I'm on AIP. I swapped out 3 T of the maple syrup with Nutiva butter flavor coconut oil, and added 1/2 tsp. salt. The texture is wonderful, and it tastes heavenly. This is a keeper. Thank you so very much for sharing your recipes!
Marsha Whitt
Oh, and by the way, just discovered Tigernut Flour on Walmart.com for 1/3 the price of Amazon! 🙂
gohealthywithbea
Thank you for the info, I'm sure many of my readers will be happy to hear that. Tigernut is sooo expensive!!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Marsha. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment!! ❤️❤️ I'm thrilled you and your hubby love this recipe!
Kinda
Great recipe 🙂 i have a couple of questions:
1- can i omit maple syrup? I think bananas are sweet enough. Should i replace it with the same quantity of oil or coconut milk?
2- i want to add cacoa powder, how can i adjust the recipe?
Thanks
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Kinda. Yes you can omit maple syrup completely by replacing it with coconut milk or oil or a mix of the 2. Just make sure to have the same liquid quantity.
About adding cacao powder: I would recommend that you first make the banana bread dough following my recipe so that you can see the consistency. Then you can add cacao powder one tablespoon at a time and adjust the liquid quantity when you see that your dough is changing consistency. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Evelin
Awesome recipe! So simple! Mine didn't rise very much, so I had to cut the baking down by about 10 minutes, but when I sliced through it, it was perfect! Don't even mind that it's not very high 🙂 I subbed the tigernut flour for almond flour ... maybe that was why??
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Evelin. Thank you so much for your nice comment!!❤️❤️ I'm glad you like this recipe. Though I wouldn't say that this banana bread rises very high, I do find it odd that your banana bread didn't rise much and that you had to cut down the baking by 10 minutes. Did you use a larger pan? Are you sure you didn't use baking powder instead of baking soda (this happened to one of my friends and it really makes a difference)? Or maybe you might have forgotten the apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (forgetting an ingredient is a one of my specialties 😅)?
zoritoler imol
Some truly nice stuff on this web site, I love it.
Michele
I just made this bread and the flavor is delicious! It was very easy to make. I used a scale and I found it so easy to do. I did find the texture rather gritty , but that is what tiger nut flour is like. So I decided to try it toasted and it was excellent. Then I decided to make biscotti out of the rest and I cut the rest in slices and each slice in half and baked it at a low temperature until dry. It is really wonderful as biscotti!! I love crunchy toast and cookies so I am so happy to have discovered this. I want to try a different flavor now.
When I made the bread I did not use all the maple syrup, but half syrup and half coconut oil and it was still very sweet. I would like to make one less sweet next time, more like a cracker. Not sure exactly how to go about that so if anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it. Thanks!
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Michele. Thank you so much for sharing that you enjoyed this banana bread! That makes me so happy. And yes the gritty texture comes from the tigernut flour. To help with that, you can try another brand (the grittiness varies greatly from one brand to another) and you can sift it. And if you're looking for something crunchy, you might want to try my crispy gingerbread cut out cookies and play around with the recipe. Let me know how your experiments turn out!
Martin
Hello,
Just ordered some tigernut flour (on sale!) and settled on this recipe being my very first entry into the world of the tigernut :D. But I'd like to know if you can completely replace the maple syrup with just water.
Also, do you have a bare bones tigernut flour loaf recipe? One where the tigernut is really the star of the show, so basically just tigernut flour, water, soda + acid combo and if necessary tapioca (perhaps unlike chickpea or plantain flour from which you can make bread with on their own, doesn't work with tigernut flour)
I really like your attention to detail and the fact that you work with weights instead of those funky cups 😛
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Martin. Thank you for appreciating my attention to detail and the fact that I work with weights! To answer your question, I wouldn't recommend using water instead of maple syrup in this recipe. I think coconut milk or oil of your choice are better substitutes. In my opinion, Water will alter the texture of this banana bread too much.
I don't have a bare bones tigernut flour loaf recipe but I do have a recipe for gluten free no yeast biscuits (or dinner rolls) which uses tigernut flour as the star of the show.
You can also have a look at my article on tigernut flour where I not only explain many things about tigernut flour but also link to all my tigernut flour recipes. So it will be easy for you to browse them all. Hope this will help you!
Martin
Thanks for your reply! Your tigernut guide was the first article on tigernuts I stumbled upon (well, clicked on anyway) 🙂
Though I am afraid I´ll have to go against your recommmendation and take my chances (please dont be mad......oy! stop throwing things at me! :P). It seems I have to watch my fat intake as Iḿ developing insulin resistance which will set the stage for all kinds of diseases that I rather not have.
Thanks to your recipe I could kinda work out the hydration level (which I think is the most important, although a little tricky in this case because exactly how much water does a banana contain depending on ripeness...I went with 75% as that´s the most listed water content level)
(for those interested:
dry 60g banana (240g x ,25) + 50g arrowroot + 150g tigernut=260g
wet 180g banana (240g x ,75) + 125g maple syrup =305
305/260=1,17 so 117%)
Thanks again! And I will let know when I tested it. (I think I could try a bare bones version aswell knowing the ratio...everytime I have a new flour type I want to know how it is like on its own 🙂 )
gohealthywithbea
Thank you for sharing your impressive research on water quantity contained in bananas depending on ripeness! I can't wait to hear your feedback after your trial. Please keep us posted.
Martin
Just to be clear...the 117% is the hydration level based on your recipe when you divide the wet weight by the dry weight and the 75% is the water content of a banana when you check the nutritional profile...I´ll admit my post was a lil´ messy
Connie C
This is excellent! So flavorful! I converted to cups since I don't have a scale and I'm in the US so I'm used to working with cups. It came out perfectly! I love your site.
gohealthywithbea
Bonjour Connie. Thank you so, so much for your wonderful comment!! I'm thrilled to hear that you love this recipe and my site!!!! 🥰🥰🥰 And thank you for telling me that you are in the US: I love to hear about my readers (where they are from and anything and everything they want to tell me)!
Erica S
I made this banana bread and used 2 ripe plantains in place of banana’s. I followed the recipe and found that recipes that use g/ml measurements turn out so much better than cup measurements. My husband smelled it and kept asking me when it would be ready. The bread came out so beautiful…. Color, texture. The only problem was it is way too sweet. I totally messed up the measurement with the maple syrup and noticed it as soon as I measured it in on top of the ripe plantains. Over here kicking myself. I’m still enjoying it with slices of avocado to cut down on the sugar but I’m going to have to make another and use a lot less syrup. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Bea C.
Bonjour Erica. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment and rating! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm thrilled to hear that you and your husband loved the recipe. This is so motivating!
Michelle
Finally! An AIP recipe that looks like its picture and tastes even better. This Banana bread is sensational. Thank you!
Bea C.
Bonjour Michelle! Thank you so much for your amazing comment!! It made my day! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe.
Natasha
Oh my goodness! This bread is absolutely amazing!! Thank you SO MUCH!!! We don’t feel like we are missing out at all! It’s light and fluffy and tastes incredible!! I did the 2 flour method and it came out wonderful!
Rachel
I never leave comments on recipes unless they’re truly worth it - this is one of those recipes! My son is gluten/dairy/egg free so finding a satisfying baked good recipe is hard to come by. Most recipes I’ve tried they’re still gooey in the middle and don’t come close to tasting like actual bread. This recipe has hands down been the best AIP baked good recipe I’ve ever tried. My son loves them and looks forward to eating them daily!
Bea C.
Bonjour Rachel. Thank you so, so much for taking the time to leave a comment! I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that you and your son love this recipe!❤️❤️❤️❤️ This means the world to me, as this is the exact purpose of this blog: making sure that you guys can still enjoy some treats while being on a "free from" diet.
Kristen
Hi! Excited to make this. I’m curious, why the baking soda addition? Arrowroot typically acts as a baking powder, yes? I cannot have corn or corn starch which is in many of the baking powders- can I omit completely? Or what would you recommend in place of?
Thank you!
Bea C.
Bonjour Kristen. Happy to hear that you are excited to make this banana bread but please, please, please don't omit the baking soda! The baking soda is here along with the apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) to make the banana bread rise. Baking soda and apple cider vinegar work together to make baking goods rise. Baking soda needs an acidic ingredient in order to get activated to do its job as a leavening agent. Apple cider vinegar can be replaced with another acidic ingredient like cream of tartar as it is in baking powder. Baking powder contains corn starch in order to keep the sodium bicarbonate (or in other words: baking soda) and cream of tartar dry and separated. Corn starch is not a leavening agent, neither is arrowroot nor any other starch. In a nutshell: make sure to use baking soda + apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) in this recipe otherwise you will get a flat banana bread that won't have a good texture.