You can make our vegan banana bread in one bowl with one fork and eight simple pantry staples.
The bread is soft, perfectly moist, and packed with the natural flavor of ripe bananas.
If you are trying to eat less butter, eggs, and saturated fat or are just curious and want to try something new, this vegan banana bread will become a favorite!
What is vegan banana bread?
Did you know that banana bread was popularised by Chiquita (the banana company), who released a Banana’s Recipe book in the 1950s to boost banana sales in the USA?
Our vegan banana bread recipe stays faithful to the original, using only simple pantry staples.
Like our other popular quick breads, such as vegan pumpkin bread, vegan zucchini bread, and banana zucchini bread, this one does not contain flax egg, ground flaxseed, aquafaba, or other unusual ingredients.
This vegan banana bread’s texture is light. The crumb is easy to slice, moist but not excessively so, and it has a naturally delicious banana flavor.
How to make vegan banana bread
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
1. Prepare the ingredients
To make vegan banana bread, you’ll need ripe bananas, all-purpose flour, almond milk, sugar, olive oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt.
2. Mix the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 9 x 5 inch (23 cm x 12 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the banana with a fork or potato masher until it is pureed.
Add almond milk, olive oil, sugar, and vanilla extract to the mashed banana. Mix until well combined.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir the banana mixture until just combined.
Don’t over-mix the batter; lumps are ok. Overmixing will develop the gluten that will make your loaf gummy and heavy.
Tip: At this stage, you can fold in your favorite add-ins, such as dark chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
3. Bake
Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake immediately at 350°F or 180°C for about 40 to 50 minutes.
Tip: Don’t overbake, or the loaf will dry out. Check doneness at the 40-minute mark. The vegan banana bread is ready if a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. If not, keep baking in 2.5-minute increments.
Let the banana bread cool down for 15 minutes in the loaf pan, then pull it out and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack (at least 1 hour).
Slice with a bread knife and enjoy. We recommend 0.8-inch or 2-cm thick slices.
Substitutions
RIPE BANANAS: To make the best banana bread, try using ripe or overripe bananas. Pick the ones with black spots on the peel. They are sweeter and easier to mash.
If you don’t have very ripe bananas, use regular ones and add 1/4 cup of extra sugar.
FLOUR: We use all-purpose flour but you can substitute half whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour) with half all-purpose flour. For gluten-free, use a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour for baking.
SUGAR: We use brown sugar, but any sugar works. White sugar, palm sugar, and coconut sugar are all good alternatives.
Remember that coconut sugar is less sweet, so you might need to add 25% more than our doses.
Feel free to add more sugar if you like sweeter banana bread; you can go up to 1.5 cups. We haven’t tried this recipe with maple syrup.
ALMOND MILK: You can substitute any other dairy-free milk. For example, we tested soy, oat, and rice milk, and they all worked great.
OLIVE OIL: Substitute avocado oil or any neutral-flavored vegetable oil. We tested canola, safflower, and sunflower oil, and they worked perfectly.
To make the recipe oil-free, you can substitute yogurt, apple sauce, or milk for oil in the same quantities.
You can also use melted vegan butter, but it produces a heavier, denser, and drier loaf. Melted coconut oil works, too.
VANILLA EXTRACT: Substitute seeds of a vanilla pod or cinnamon.
Variations
ADD-INS: We kept the recipe plain and simple, but if you like, you can customize the vegan banana bread with your favorite add-ins:
- Nuts: check out our banana nut bread recipe. You can use chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.
- Raisins and cranberries: 1/2 cup.
- Dark chocolate chips: 1/2 cup.
- Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon.
- Grated zucchini: check out our banana zucchini bread recipe.
- Hazelnut chocolate spread: 1/2 tablespoon per slice to spread on top once baked.
BANANA MUFFINS: You can make 12 vegan banana bread muffins with the same batter. They only take 23 minutes to bake! Here’s our vegan banana muffin recipe.
BANANA NUT BREAD: Walnuts taste delicious with bananas, and we think they are the best addition to banana bread. Here’s our banana nut bread recipe.
BANANA ZUCCHINI BREAD: Did you know you can add grated zucchini to banana bread? This one’s a favorite on our Instagram. Everyone loves it! The grated zucchini adds even more moisture, and the bread stays soft for an entire week. Here’s our banana zucchini bread recipe.
Questions
If your bananas are black inside, have lost all texture, and taste funny, they are probably too ripe for banana bread. However, bananas can have completely black peels and still be perfectly fine inside.
We recommend using oil instead of butter to keep your banana bread moist. Also, don’t overbake the loaf; wrap it well in plastic once it has cooled down.
There are two ways to tell when bananas are ripe enough for banana bread:
1) visually, if they have dark spots on their peel, they are ripe enough.
2) taste them; If they are soft and sweet, you can use them for banana bread.
If you don’t have enough bananas, use apple sauce, grated apples, grated zucchini, or pumpkin puree instead in the same metric/gram quantities.
Storage
Make ahead: This vegan banana bread is an excellent recipe for meal prep because it stays moist for days and tastes better on the second day.
Room temperature or fridge: Vegan banana bread stays on the counter for 3 – 4 days or up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Either way, wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap to keep it fresh and moist.
Freezer: You can freeze banana bread for up to 3 months. Make sure it cools down completely, then wrap it in plastic and freeze. If you’d like single portions, you can cut the loaf into slices before freezing.
Thaw: Defrost in the microwave or at room temperature over several hours. Do not freeze multiple times.
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Vegan Banana Bread
Equipment
- Loaf pan 9 x 5 inch (23 cm x 12 cm)
Ingredients
WET INGREDIENTS
- 3 ripe bananas 330 grams, 12 ounces, or 1⅓ cup mashed
- ⅓ cup almond milk or another milk
- ¼ cup olive oil or another vegetable oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line your loaf pan with parchment paper.In a large bowl, mash 3 ripe bananas with a fork.Add ⅓ cup almond milk, ¼ cup olive oil, ¾ cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and stir until combined.
- Sift in 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 pinch salt. Stir until just combined. You can use the same fork.Don't over-mix the batter; lumps are ok.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake at 350°F or 180°C for about 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.Let cool down for 15 minutes in the loaf pan, pull it out, and cool down completely on a wire rack for at least 1 hour.Slice with a bread knife and enjoy. We recommend 0.8-inch or 2-cm thick slices.
Video
Notes
- Nuts: check out our banana nut bread recipe. You can use chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.
- Raisins and cranberries: 1/2 cup.
- Dark chocolate chips: 1/2 cup.
- Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon.
- Grated zucchini: check out our banana zucchini bread recipe.
One of the simplest banana bread recipes I have tried and I would make it again and again. I subbed about 1/3c maple syrup for the sugar and added choc chips.
Perfect recipe! I’m happy not to have to mess around with flax eggs or melt butter.
Wonderful, Karina!! I’m delighted that you enjoyed it 🎉
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here!