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This Vegan Banana Bread recipe is easy to make, requires simple ingredients, and it's so darn delicious! The flavor and texture will blow you away - it's soft, moist, and brimming with sweet banana flavor.
Have some overripe bananas hanging out in your kitchen? If so, don't let them go to waste - it's the perfect time to make the best Vegan Banana Bread you've ever had!
It's foolproof and a great recipe to make with the kiddos. They'll love mashing the bananas! You can serve it for dessert along with cashew milk or go all out and have a slice for breakfast with a latte.
Ingredients Needed
Making this classic dessert couldn't be easier. Here's a quick step-by-step visual on how to do it (full printable instructions in the recipe card below):
The star ingredient is, of course, Bananas! The riper, the better! For the remaining wet ingredients, you'll need granulated sugar, brown sugar, flavored oil, ground flaxseed, water, and vanilla extract.
For the dry ingredients, you'll need all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
And now for the delicious mix-ins! You'll need vegan chocolate chips or walnuts. You can also do a blend of both.
How to make Vegan Banana Bread
The steps are very easy, and the batter will come together quickly. Before you start, set out two mixing bowls, one small bowl, a whisk, a spatula, and a lined loaf pan. Now you're ready!
- Combine the water and ground flaxseed in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine well.
- Mash up the bananas in a large mixing bowl using a fork or potato masher.
- Add the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and flax eggs to the mashed bananas. Whisk to combine well.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet and fold with a spatula until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips or nuts.
- Pour mixture into a standard loaf pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips or nuts if desired. Place on the center rack in your oven and bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 ° F (177 ° C) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the loaf cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.
Recipe FAQs
It will stay fresh for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. You can store it in the fridge for 4-6 days, but it tends to get a little dry this way.
Absolutely! Just wrap it well in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store it in your freezer for 4-5 months. You can also freeze it in slices so you can have a piece whenever a craving hits. To thaw, place it in the fridge overnight or on the counter for an hour or until it's soft. If you'd like the banana bread warm, you can cover it in a napkin and microwave for 30 seconds.
More Vegan Sweets to Enjoy
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Recipe
Easy Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (13g) ground flaxseed + 5 tablespoons water (75ml/g)
- 1 ½ cups (378g) overripe mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
- ½ cup (107g) brown sugar (*see note)
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (75g/80ml) avocado oil or any neutral-flavored oil (grapeseed, sunflower etc.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (220g) all-purpose flour (*see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (96g) vegan chocolate chips or chopped walnuts + more for topping (*optional)
Recommended Equipment
- Loaf Pan 8.5x4.5 or 9x5
- Parchment Paper
- Whisk
- 2 Mixing Bowls
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ° F (177 ° C). Line a loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly grease the pan.
- Combine the ground flax and water in a small bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes. It will thicken and gel up (this creates a flax egg).
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash up the bananas using a fork or potato masher. Now add the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and flax eggs. Whisk well to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet and fold with a spatula until just combined. Don't overwork the batter. The batter should be very thick. Gently fold in the chocolate chips or nuts.
- Pour mixture into loaf pan and gently jiggle the pan to level the batter. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips or nuts if desired. Place on the center rack in your oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in three different spots comes out clean or with only small, moist crumbs. No thick, wet batter should remain.
- Remove from oven and let the loaf cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Let the loaf completely cool before cutting. Enjoy!
Notes
- Measuring: A kitchen scale is best for accurate results. If you don't have one, try to be precise using measuring cups/spoons. To measure flour, don't scoop it directly from the container with a measuring cup. Aerate the flour first, then scoop it out of your container with a spoon and into a measuring cup. Don't pack the cup. After filling, lightly sweep a butter knife across the top to remove excess flour.
- Flaxseed: If you only have whole flaxseed, you can grind the seeds in a coffee grinder.
- Sweetener: You can substitute the brown sugar and granulated for ½ cup maple syrup or agave (Note: liquid sweetener adds more moisture, yielding a moister consistency).
- Bananas - It's important that you use overripe, spotty bananas, or the loaf will not be very flavorful or sweet.
- Add-Ins: If you don't want the chocolate chips or nuts throughout the loaf, you can just add them to the top of the batter before baking or you can omit them altogether.
- Baking Time: Start checking your loaf around the 50-minute mark. You don't want to overbake, or it will get dry. The loaf will also continue to cook when it comes out of the oven.
- Texture: This recipe yields a soft, moist, and slightly dense loaf with lots of banana flavor. I prefer it this way, but if you want a cakier texture, add ¼ cup more all-purpose flour to the recipe. Add a splash of water if the batter is too dry.
Marie
Beautiful… delicious… and easy!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Marie, I'm so glad it was a hit! Thank you for sharing feedback.