Low Carb Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

This low carb Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips is the low carb, gluten free and low sugar treat you've been waiting for. It's made with a little bit of real banana, enough to give this banana bread a lovely, authentic taste and mouth feel, but minimizing the carbs of regular banana bread. Make it a cast iron skillet for a gorgeous look and finish. Not to mention there will be enough keto banana bread to feed a crowd!

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Have you been craving banana bread on a low carb or keto diet, and nothing seems to do the trick? BEHOLD - this low carb banana bread with chocolate chips! Once you try it, you won't look back. This banana bread recipe is gluten free, low carb and keto friendly, and incredibly delicious. Since the recipe does use some real banana (don't freak out keto police!!), it creates the most amazing texture, moisture level, taste and just overall mouthfeel. We added chocolate chips as well, because, I mean, how can you not?

This gluten free and keto banana bread will have you totally satisfied. We've included lots of tips and tricks, answered many questions in the post below, so make sure to check it out. If you're a pro, feel free to skip right to the recipe card.

Ingredients:

• Almond flour- Our preferred almond flour is blanched, super fine almond flour by Bob's Red Mill! We like it to be very fine, so that it mixes up well. Don't use almond meal in its place, it will be grainy. If you don't have Bob's Red Mill around, you could get almond flour at Costco.
• Coconut flour- We use a combo of Bob's Red Mill almond flour and coconut flour for the perfect consistency. You don't want to use all coconut flour in place of almond flour. Coconut flour is very drying, so it's not a 1:1 substitute for almond flour. We use it because this low carb banana bread is very moist, and this helps absorb some of the extra moisture and bind the banana bread together.
• Baking powder - To help the banana bread rise, nothing too out of the ordinary.
• Ground cinnamon - Optional, but delicious! We love cinnamon in anything and everything, so feel free to add some if you want.
• Beef gelatin - Beef gelatin seems like a weird ingredient probably, but it gives the banana bread such a nice texture and helps bind it together! If you are vegetarian, you could substitute with about 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
• Kosher salt - Our favorite salt source. Any recipe we make, sweet or savory, always includes salt! In this particular recipe (and any of our other recipes) salt enhances the sweetness and the flavor! Diamond Kosher Salt is our new favorite salt source. It’s much easier to control (in terms of saltiness) when it comes to various types of salt, compared to different types of salt! Not all salts are created equal, and different types of salt are waaaay saltier than others. We love the diamond crystal shape. The texture is amazing it dissolves really well, and it’s perfect for seasoning food gradually.
• Unsalted butter- We will use melted and cooled butter for this recipe, and we do recommend using unsalted butter if you can. Lately we have shifted to using unsalted butter because it allows us to control the salt level easier.
• Granular sweetener of choice - Use you favorite granular sweetener! We love Swerve because it measures and bakes like sugar. It also won't upset your stomach!
• Vanilla extract - Essential in most baking recipes. You could use imitation vanilla if that's what you have on hand.
• Banana extract - This is a 0 calorie way to add banana flavor without adding more carbs!
• Eggs- Eggs should be room temperature, so let them sit out on the counter for a while (about an hour) before you begin baking! Also, just a little tip, make sure to crack eggs into a small bowl before adding them to the batter. This will allow you to get any eggshells out of the way.
• Ripe banana- Yes, we do use real banana in this recipe. Don't freak out! It's just a small amount and adds really great flavor and texture to this keto banana bread.
• Sugar free chocolate chips- The essential part of this recipe, if you want chocolate chips of course! Who doesn't love chocolate chips? We love using Lily's Sweets semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips for this, but of course, anything you choose would be great.

Let's Make This Low Carb Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips!

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Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease your 12-inch cast iron skillet with some butter. Set aside. Crack your eggs into a separate bowl. Melt your butter in the microwave, then set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and beef gelatin. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together melted butter and sweetener. Next, mash your banana with a fork, then add to the butter and sweetener mixture.

Add in your vanilla and banana extract. Then, add in your eggs one at a time and combine well. Combine the wet and the dry ingredients. Once the batter is well combined, fold in the chocolate chips. Make sure to reserve some of the chocolate chips for the top.

Now add your batter to a greased cast iron skillet. Smooth with a rubber spatula. Top with remaining chocolate chips. Put in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

Allow the low carb banana bread to cool for about 20-30 minutes before cutting into it. Now, just serve and enjoy!

Here's What Our Fans Have To Say About This Keto Banana Bread!

"I wait for the day when we have ripe bananas to make this. Low carb chocolate chip banana bread. So good. Can’t imagine trying any other recipe, this one is perfect." - Instagram User Heather of @betweenawalkandahardplace

Can I Really Make Banana Bread In a Cast Iron Skillet? Won't It Taste Weird?

You can absolutely make keto banana bread in a cast iron skillet, and no, if your skillet is well cared for, it shouldn't taste weird! If there are lingering flavors on your skillet, that means it needs to be re-seasoned. It doesn't mean to throw your skillet out, it's an easy fix. If you want to know how to care for your cast iron cookware, check out this guide we wrote.

We love cast iron and use it for so many dishes you'll find on our website. For this particular recipe, it creates such an excellent crust on this low carb banana bread. It's absolutely perfect, and you're going to fall in love with baking in cast iron. Just make sure to grease your skillet with butter or oil very well, and it will pop right out when it's done!

Are Bananas Low Carb and Keto Friendly?

Traditionally, bananas aren't super low carb or keto friendly. Although they are very high in nutrients, they are also high in sugar and carbs. For instance, one medium ripe banana contains around 28g carbs and 3g fiber making 25g net carbs. Bananas also have around 15g of naturally occurring sugars. However, we love bananas, and the way we enjoy our low carb lifestyle is by enjoying a little bit of all of the fruits we love! We are only using one small banana in this recipe, and then we add calorie free banana extract to amp up that banana flavor. Since this recipe makes 16 servings, the carbs it adds to the overall recipe are pretty minimal and it works for our diet.

We know that this isn't strict keto, but like many other higher glycemic foods (even tomatoes!) we think adding a small amount to such a big batch is really not a big deal. It doesn't affect the carb count too much when you're baking such a large batch, but really gives this banana bread a great mouth feel and authentic banana bread taste. We are low carbers for life, and we think the secret to being successful to this lifestyle is having a little bit of what you want once in a while. This works for us, but we understand if it doesn't work for your lifestyle. We haven't attempted to make this recipe without banana, so unfortunately we can't recommend any good substitutes at this time.

Is Banana Bread Keto?

Traditional banana bread would not be considered keto, since (on average) it has around 22 net carbs per slice. Compare that to our version, which has only 3 net carbs per serving, and it still full of flavor! You can check out the full nutrition facts in our recipe card below.

Can I Substitute Xanthan Gum For Beef Gelatin?

Yes you can! If you want to use xanthan gum instead, just use about 1 teaspoon as opposed to using beef gelatin. We don't imagine this will make a huge or noticeable difference in the texture.

Do I Have To Use A Binding Agent For This Low Carb Banana Bread?

We do recommend using some sort of binding agent like xanthan gum or beef gelatin to help hold the banana bread together, but it's technically optional. Just be aware that if you don't have any binding ingredient that you're using, your banana bread may be a little bit crumbly.

Can I Substitute Almond Flour and Coconut Flour For All Purpose Flour?

Yes, you can, mostly! We often get asked about substituting flours for people that aren't keto or gluten free. and we are definitely not experts. We've grown to like baking as it's sort of a necessity for our special diet, but we kind of just experiment a lot until we find what works.

We usually use almond flour and we find the texture to be closest to regular all purpose (AP) flour in our experience, so we imagine subbing 1:1 all purpose flour would work okay. Again, we aren't guaranteeing anything!  In this recipe we think the coconut flour is absolutely necessary if you're working with almond flour as well. We don't recommend substituting coconut flour for almond flour 1:1. Coconut flour is very drying, so it has to be handled carefully. We think it's pretty crucial for this recipe however. It balances all of the moisture to make the perfect low carb banana bread.

Here's Some More Low Carb Recipes You Will Love:

• Keto apple crumble bars
• Turtle cheesecake
• Dark chocolate nut bars
• Peanut butter and chocolate mousse

Shop This Recipe!

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If you get a chance to try this recipe, let us know what you think, would ya?! Leave us a comment, or catch up with us on Facebook or Instagram, or pin to your favorite Pinterest board for later.

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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere

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