This einkorn banana bread has a delicate, light crumb, and rich banana flavor. The trick is to freeze overripe bananas and let them thaw before beating them into the batter. This step helps infuse the flavor of bananas into every bite. A good dose of walnuts and dark chocolate chips add texture and richness.
The bananas do more than lend their bold flavor; they also bring unparalleled moisture to the loaf, ensuring a tender, satisfying crumb that stays wonderfully moist and utterly indulgent.
We buy a lot of bananas. They're cheap, and the kids love them. But we inevitably end up with more than we can eat. So I toss them into a bag and tuck them into the freezer. When we have enough, I make this einkorn banana bread recipe.
It's a favorite recipe in our house - the kids love it. It's sweet, dense, impossibly moist, and rich with banana flavor that seeps into every bite. It's a rif on my mother-in-law's homemade banana bread - the one my husband remembers having when he grew up.
I've tinkered with the recipe since then. I use more bananas, and plenty of butter instead of vegetable oil. But the biggest shift is using einkorn wheat flour instead of regular flour.
The ancient grain einkorn has less gluten (and a weaker gluten structure) than modern wheat, and it produces the most tender baked goods - especially batter bread, muffins, and cookies.
Why You'll Love It
Einkorn is an ancient variety of wheat with a rich nutritional profile and pleasant, almost nutty flavor. It produces super-tender batter breads, making it perfect for banana bread.
It only takes about 20 minutes of active time in the kitchen, so it comes together quickly.
Pops of dark chocolate and walnuts add interest and texture to the banana bread, making it a decadent treat.
Ingredients + Substitutions
Einkorn flour gives this banana bread recipe a delicate, tender crumb and rich flavor. It also adds a golden hue to the bread thanks to einkorn's plentiful beta carotene.
Bananas give the bread moisture and flavor. Use over-ripe bananas that you've allowed to thaw overnight. They turn liquidy, rather than lumpy, and infuse the entire loaf of banana bread with flavor.
Baking Soda and Milk Kefir work together make the bread rise. That's because baking soda is alkaline and milk kefir is acidic. When combined, they produce a chemical reaction that makes quickbreads rise.
If you don't have kefir, you can use buttermilk, fresh whey, or yogurt. But avoid using Greek-style yogurt, which is too thick for this recipe.
Butter and Eggs give the banana bread structure and tenderness. You can substitute up to half the amount of butter in this recipe with olive oil or avocado oil.
Brown sugar adds sweetness, and it also helps support the loaf's structure. One of my favorite substitutes is jaggery, a type of unrefined cane sugar with a moist quality and rich flavor. Coconut sugar is a good substitute, but avoid liquid sweeteners such as maple syrup which add too much moisture to the batter.
Dark chocolate and walnuts add flavor and texture to the banana bread, making it more of a treat. You can easily swap in a different nut if you prefer, or leave them out altogether.
Where to Find Einkorn Flour
Einkorn flour is a specialty flour and is widely available at many natural foods stores. Jovial Foods is our favorite brand, and you will likely find the best price on Azure Standard. You can buy it in bulk at great prices.
Baking Tips
Use frozen bananas that have been thawed overnight. Thawing frozen bananas overnight creates a smooth, liquid consistency. It's better than mashing the bananas, which can produce unpleasant lumps in your batter (and your bread).
You can't overmix the batter. Einkorn has a different and weaker gluten structure than modern wheat varieties. You can overmix a batter made from regular all-purpose flour, which develops the gluten and, as a result, makes baked goods tough. That's not a risk with einkorn, as it will always remain tender.
Other Einkorn Recipes You'll Love
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Recipe Questions
You can keep einkorn banana bread at room temperature for up to 3 days. After that, it will start to turn stale.
Alternatively, wrap it tightly and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Yes. Sugar is important both for the flavor profile and the structure of the bread. If you prefer a lower-sugar option, you can start by reducing the sugar by about 25% without too much impact on the quality of the bread.
A stand mixer makes mixing the batter so much easier. But, you can certainly mix it by hand with a wooden spoon or with a hand-held beater as it suits you.
Ani says
I love the content you publish each and every time. The recipes are precise and i tried a few recipes and they came out good. My whole family enjoyed it a lot.
Rasha says
What does kefir do in this recipe? For more a sour taste?
Jillian says
We love this banana bread. I’ve not sourced jaggery yet and so always use coconut sugar. Turns out great, such an indulgent loaf. I’ve also subbed sprouted Einkorn flour for part or all and had it turn out great, but usually we use all purpose.
I am curious, Jenny, do you recall how many slices did you base the nutritional data on. I see it says 1 slice for nutritional data and the recipe is 1 loaf but doesn’t specify number of servings.
Jenny says
I based it on 12 slices, I believe. Glad you like the recipe!
Melodie says
This is delicious - I used dark brown sugar and yogurt. Always happy to find good recipes using einkorn. Thanks!
Miriam Kearney says
This recipe looks great but for me it has a couple of problems - I need my food (even my treats) to be pretty low carb. One of the products I'm interested in trying is Green Banana Flour which a friend told me tastes quite "banany" so I am thinking of making this subbing some of the Einkorn flour for Banana Flour. Doe you or anyone else have any thoughts on this ? Good idea ? Bad idea?
The other issues i the amount of Jaggery. I generally cook and even bake with very little sugar, using 25% of amount called for in recipe is typical. I am getting used to food not tasting so sweet rather than subbing in alternative sugars. Bananas are already quite sweet so I imagine I could do this easily in this recipe. Again, any ideas? Good? Bad?
I'm asking these questions because I am a cook more than a baker and often don't know the effect of substitutions (except maybe sugar). I'd prefer not to have to do all the trial and error on my own. A quote I loved one time said something like this: "Learn from other people's mistakes, you'll never live long enough to make them all yourself".
Thanks.
Jenny says
Hi Miriam, you’re asking for several rather complicated substitutions. My recommendation would be for you to simply find a new recipe that meets you’re dietary requirements than attempt substitutions that may not work and may, instead, cause you to waste expensive ingredients.
Amy says
Loved the bread! Tried i with sprouted einkorn flour and it worked great.