Chocolate Gluten Free and Vegan Banana Bread

Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the flax seed meal and water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted coconut oil and stir until combined. Add in the coconut sugar, flaxseed mixture, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in ½ cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter on the toothpick.

Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack. Cut into slices and serve.

Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.