Gluten-Free Banana Millet Bread

A loaf of banana millet bread with butter and a bowl of berries.

5 from 8 votes

This banana millet bread is made without any flour, eggs, or dairy products. It's a hearty bread that uses psyllium husks as a thickener and binder, providing a bread that's high in fiber and perfect for toasting or using as sandwich bread.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 20

Total Time1 35

Course: Breakfast / Brunch

Cuisine: Any

Keyword: millet bread

Servings: slices

Calories: 266.9kcal

Author: Susan Pridmore

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked hulled proso millet (yellow millet) (see the post for more information on millet)
2 cups mashed bananas about 5 fully ripe bananas
1 ¼ cups water room temperature
½ cup maple sugar (see the notes for options)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅓ cup whole psyllium husks (see the post for more information on psyllium husks)
2 teaspoons baking powder (See the High Altitude notes for recommended adjustments)
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt or ¾ teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda

Optional Topping

2 slices banana sliced lengthwise as thinly as possible
¼ teaspoon maple sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F(180C). Lightly oil the sides and bottom of a 9×5-inch (22.5×12.5 cm) loaf baking pan.
Place the millet, mashed bananas, water, maple sugar, vinegar, and vanilla extract in the container of a high speed blender. Blend on high until smooth.
This may take as long as 7-10 minutes, so be patient. The liquid will become smooth. Stop the blender every few minutes to allow it to cool down, if needed, and to scrape down the sides.
While the blender liquifies the millet mixture, whisk together the psyllium husks, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
When the millet mixture is smooth, pour it into the bowl with the psyllium husk mixture and quickly stir it all together using either a large spoon or rubber spatula. The batter will thicken very quickly from the psyllium husks.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. There is a slight sizing difference between different types of loaf pans, so only pour enough batter into the loaf pan that allows ½ inch clearance at the top.
If you have excess batter left over, pour it into a lightly oiled ramekin for baking alongside the loaf pan.
For an optional topping, arrange two thin slices of banana on top of the batter. Sprinkle them with ¼ teaspoon maple sugar.
Bake for 70-80 minutes or until a knife inserted into the thickest part of the bread comes out clean or with only a few loose crumbs. Ovens can vary, so I recommend checking the bread at 60 minutes.
When the bread is done, remove it from the oven to cool on a cooling rack. After 10-15 minutes, run a sharp knife around the sides of the bread and flip the loaf out of the pan. The finished loaf is a bit of a crust loaf on the outside, but moist and tender on the inside.
Continue to cool the bread on the cooling rack for at least another 10 minutes before slicing.

Notes

👩‍🍳 Substitutions Guide

- Millet flour is fine to use in place of the millet seed but the amount must be the same as the millet seed in weight, not volume. For this recipe, 2 cups of millet seed weighs 408 grams. So, to substitute millet flour, you will need to weigh 408 grams using a kitchen scale. If you don't have a high-speed blender, use millet flour.

- Psyllium flour, on the other hand should not be substituted for Psyllium husk. You must use the husks which are sold in a flake form.

- I love maple sugar in this recipe but other sugars are fine to use, such as date sugar, coconut sugar, or brown sugar.

✅ Tips for Success

- Run the blender until the batter is completely smooth. This can take several minutes, up to 10 minutes, so be sure to stop the blender every couple of minutes to scrape down the sides of the container and allow the blender to cool down if necessary.

- Whisk together the dry ingredients (psyllium husk flakes, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda) in a large bowl before adding the batter. There are 2 reasons:
  - - This ensures that the chemical leaveners and salt are evenly dispersed through the dry ingredients before they're mixed into the batter; and
  - - Once the batter hits the psyllium husks, the batter will quickly thicken. If you add the remaining ingredients after that happens, they are more difficult to thoroughly mix into the batter. You can do it, but it's more difficult.

🏔️ Making This Recipe at High Altitude

- Reduce the baking powder to 1 ¾ teaspoons.

- The baking time will be about 10 minutes longer. Because there is variability between the different oven manufacturers, it's best to test it 15 minutes before the time is up.

Nutrition