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Cherry Banana Bread

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Try my gluten-free Cherry Banana Bread when you’re in the mood for a healthy treat. With no sugar added, it’s loaded with naturally sweet ingredients like ripe bananas, cherries, and vanilla. It’s delicious for breakfast or even dessert! 

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Thick slices of cherry banana bread with fresh cherries.

Recipe and photography: Veera Rusanen
Writing: Jackie Bogart

Banana bread is always so soft and delicious, but tastes almost 10 times better when seasonal fruit is added! This Cherry Banana Bread is so easy to make and contains no gluten or added sugar. It’s the ultimate addition to breakfast or dessert.

This recipe for banana bread doesn’t contain any added sugar and is made with gluten-free flour. There’s no need for extra sugar when ripe bananas are so naturally sweet. You can always serve a slice with a scoop of my homemade vanilla ice cream when you’re in the mood for an extra sweet treat!

Ingredients You Need

A healthy start to the day, this recipe for cherry banana bread uses nutritious, pantry-staple ingredients. 

Here are the ingredients you need to make this moist and scrumptious cherry banana bread:

  • Cherries
  • Bananas
  • Butter
  • Natural yogurt
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla extract
  • Almond flour
  • Gluten-free flour
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda

Can I use frozen cherries?

Yes! Both fresh and frozen sweet cherries will work well in this banana bread recipe.

What kind of yogurt should I use?

All-natural Greek yogurt is my absolute favorite for this recipe. Use any plain, unflavored yogurt you have at home, whether it’s regular dairy or plant-based.

What flour can I use?

My choice of gluten-free flour in this cherry banana bread recipe is Virtasalmi Cereal Flour. Feel free to use your favorite light gluten-free flour or even buckwheat flour or oat flour. A combination of buckwheat and oat flour helps this banana bread taste rustic and hearty.

You can also make this recipe with whole wheat or spelt flour if you aren’t sensitive to gluten.

A cherry banana bread loaf, a couple of banana bread slices and a cooling rack shoot from above.

How To Make Homemade Banana Bread

Yes, homemade gluten-free banana bread with cherries is SO easy to make! All you need are a couple of bowls, a little muscle, and an hour or two. No special tools required!

Here’s how to make my cherry banana bread:

  1. Start by pitting the cherries using a cherry pitter or poking a chopstick through each cherry. Discard the pits and put the pitted cherries aside for later.
  2. Preheat the oven to 175ºC or 350ºF. Line a bread loaf tin with parchment paper and set aside.
  3. Peel the ripe bananas and mash them with a fork on a plate. Add the mash to a large bowl.
  4. Melt the butter in a microwave or on the stove in a small pot. Pour the melted butter over the banana mash, then add in the yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together using a wooden spoon or spatula.
  5. In a medium bowl, mix together the almond flour, gluten-free flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
  6. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing together until just combined. Next, fold the cherries into the dough.
  7. Pour the banana bread dough into the bread tin and spread evenly. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the banana bread to cool on a cooling rack for 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.

How to make vegan banana bread

With a few replacements, this gluten-free banana bread can also become vegan. Here’s how to do it: 

  • Replace the butter with olive oil, yogurt with a vegan yogurt or 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and eggs with 3 chia or flax eggs.
  • To make 1 chia or flax egg, add 1 tablespoon of chia or flaxseed meal into a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of water. Stir and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to thicken. It will resemble the same texture and bind the same as an egg.

How To Store

Banana bread will stay fresh at room temperature for 2 days. Make sure to wrap it in plastic wrap or foil, or keep it in an airtight container.

Alternatively, keep it for longer in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days.

This cherry banana bread recipe is perfect for freezing. You can add the whole or sliced baked bread to a freezer bag and freeze it for up to 3 months. Leave it in the fridge or on the kitchen counter to thaw.

Close shoot of a slice of cherry banana bread.

Recipe Variations

  • Remove the butter and replace it with olive oil instead. You can also use plant-based butter for a dairy-free version.
  • Feel free to use whole cherries or chop them up before adding to the dough. Finely chopped cherries are easier to distribute throughout the dough.
  • Cherries and chocolate are so good together! Make the banana bread chocolatey by folding chocolate chips along with the cherries into the dough.

Recipe Tips

Follow these tips to make this banana bread even easier to make:

Removing the cherry pits

There are a variety of ways to remove the cherry pits if you don’t have a cherry pitter tool: 

  1. Cut the cherries in half and remove the pit with your fingers.
  2. Poke a chopstick through the center of the cherry to remove the pit.
  3. Similar to the chopstick method, you can place the cherry in the mouth of an empty bottle. Hold the cherry with one hand and poke the chopstick through the cherry so the pit lands in the bottle.

Mixing the cherries into the dough

I would hate for you to take a bite of a slice of banana bread and there are no cherries! It helps if you under-mix the dough first, then add in the cherries. This way, you can take your time to fold in the cherries without making the mistake of over-mixing the dough.

More Sugar-Free Banana Bread Recipes

If you try my recipe for Cherry Banana Bread, I guarantee you’ll love these other banana bread recipes as well. Most of these recipes are also gluten-free or vegan, meaning you can please almost everyone: 

Cherry banana bread loaf, banana bread slices and fresh cherries in a bowl.
Kolme paksua siivua kirsikka-banaanileipää ja tuoreita kirsikoita.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cherry Banana Bread

Banana bread is always so soft and delicious, but tastes almost 10 times better when seasonal fruit is added! This Cherry Banana Bread is so easy to make and contains no gluten or added sugar. It’s the ultimate addition to breakfast or dessert.
Veera Rusanen
Prep time20 minutes
Cooking time40 minutes
Total time1 hour
Category: Breakfast, Dessert
American
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 173.94kcal

Equipment

  • Bread loaf tin

Ingredients

  • 300 g cherries
  • 450 g bananas (3 medium sized bananas)
  • 100 g butter
  • 50 g natural yogurt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 75 g almond flour
  • 265 g gluten-free all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

  • Start by pitting the cherries using a cherry pitter or poking a chopstick through each cherry. Discard the pits and put the pitted cherries aside for later.
  • Preheat the oven to 175ºC or 350ºF. Line a bread loaf tin with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Peel the ripe bananas and mash them with a fork on a plate. Add the mash to a large bowl.
  • Melt the butter in a microwave or on the stove in a small pot. Pour the melted butter over the banana mash, then add in the yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together using a wooden spoon or spatula.
  • In a medium bowl, mix together the almond flour, gluten-free flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing together until just combined. Next, fold the cherries into the dough.
  • Pour the banana bread dough into the bread tin and spread evenly. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the banana bread to cool on a cooling rack for 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition

Calories: 173.94kcal (9%) | Carbohydrates: 28.84g (10%) | Protein: 5.78g (12%) | Fat: 5.39g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 0.86g (5%) | Cholesterol: 42.38mg (14%) | Sodium: 153.22mg (7%) | Potassium: 222.64mg (6%) | Fiber: 4.15g (17%) | Sugar: 9.36g (10%) | Vitamin A: 113.15IU (2%) | Vitamin C: 5.01mg (6%) | Calcium: 71.61mg (7%) | Iron: 1.36mg (8%)