The Best Vegan Banana Bread

Make this classic vegan banana bread recipe once and you'll be making it over and over again! The bread has tons of banana flavor, and it has a moist, tender, cake-like crumb that melts in the mouth. You can eat it for breakfast because it's healthy, and you can serve it for dessert because it's decadently delicious. If you have children, this is the perfect snack to satisfy their sweet tooth. The recipe is soy-free and it can be nut-free and gluten-free.

Banana bread is the first baked good I veganized 15 years ago, and this recipe, with very few alterations, remains my favorite vegan banana bread recipe to date.

It tastes amazing, slices beautifully, and it's loaded with so many goodies, including five bananas and lots of crunchy walnuts.

I love baking with bananas, including recipes like this tasty vegan banana cake, vegan banana upside down cake and vegan banana muffins, among so many others. But this easy vegan banana bread is the banana dessert I make most often for my family because it's so healthy and so versatile.

I am sure you have some overripe bananas sitting in your kitchen right now. Go, make this exquisite bread, and be sure to let me know how much you love it in the comments below!

Why you'll love this vegan banana bread recipe

• It's packed with fresh, banana flavor and it has a soft, tender, moist texture. This is truly a classic banana bread, just eggless and dairy free.
• It's so good for you. This is truly a perfect banana bread. There's very little sugar and fat in this recipe. Instead we rely on the natural sweetness and moisture in bananas to do their magic. The applesauce, nuts and flax meal add more healthfulness and deliciousness.
• It's super kid-friendly. It makes the best lunchbox or after-school snack.
• It is easy to make. This is a one bowl batter and it's a super simple recipe to put together. Mix the dry ingredients, dump in the wet ingredients, mix and bake. Easy peasy. It's quite foolproof and a great recipe to start out with if you are new to baking quick breads.

Ingredients

• Flour. You can use all purpose flour or a 50-50 mix of regular whole wheat flour and unbleached all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour. I have made the bread with all of these and it turns out great. My favorite, to keep this bread healthy, is whole wheat pastry flour.
• Leavening: Baking soda + baking powder.
• Salt
• Oil. Most oils will work here, including avocado oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil. You can also use an equal quantity of melted vegan butter.
• Sugar. Cane sugar, coconut sugar, turbinado sugar or any sugar you want to use is fine. You can also use date syrup, coconut palm syrup or maple syrup.
• Flax meal (ground flaxseed, not flax eggs). This adds more nutrition and, along with the bananas, serves as an egg replacer for this eggless banana bread.
• Apple cider vinegar. To give more rise and fluffiness to the bread.
• Unsweetened applesauce. This adds lots of moisture and flavor and also gives a nice nutrition boost.
• Very ripe bananas. Bananas that are very soft, with deeply mottled skins, will work best here. You need four bananas for the batter and one banana for the decorative top, which is optional.
• Walnuts (or pecans, optional). The crunch from the chopped walnuts flecking the soft, tender banana bread crumb is wonderful. You can skip the nuts if you are nut-free. See variations below for other suggested additions to the banana bread batter.

How to make vegan banana bread

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/175 degrees Celsius. Oil an 8 ½-inch by 4 ½-inch loaf pan.
• Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and flax meal in a bowl.

• Add apple cider vinegar, applesauce and mashed bananas to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and there's no dry flour in the bowl.

• Fold in the chopped walnuts.
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly. If using a banana to decorate the top slice it lengthwise into three slices, then halve each slice. Arrange on top of the loaf. This is optional.

• Bake the banana loaf about 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Place on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes and then unmold and let cool to room temperature on the rack.

Variations

• Stir in pecans instead of walnuts into the batter.
• Add ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips to the batter instead of the nuts for a delicious vegan chocolate chip banana bread.
• If you like some warmth in the banana bread loaf add a teaspoon of ginger or cinnamon or a 50-50 mix of both.
• Stir in a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract for a nice boost of sweetness. Use no more than a teaspoon.

Expert tips

• You may have less moisture in the batter if the bananas you use are not too ripe. In that case add up to a fourth of a cup of non dairy milk (soy milk, oat milk, almond milk or any milk of your choice), a tablespoon at a time, until the batter achieves the right consistency.
• Toast the nuts lightly before adding to the batter for the best, nutty flavor.
• Don't overmix the batter after adding the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix with a spatula just until no dry flour remains in the bowl.
• Make cleanup easier by using a blender to mix your wet ingredients. You can throw in the bananas first, blend them, then add all the other wet ingredients and blend them for a few seconds before adding to the dry ingredients.

More yummy banana dessert recipes

• Vegan Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
• Vegan Banana Crumb Muffins
• Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
• Vegan Bananas Foster Bread Pudding
• Vegan Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Streusel

Vegan Banana Bread

This vegan banana bread has tons of banana flavor, and it has a moist, tender, cake-like crumb that melts in the mouth. It's healthy enough for breakfast and delicious enough for dessert!

5 from 25 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 55 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 191kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

• ▢
  Large mixing bowl
• ▢
  Standard size loaf pan (8 ½-inches by 4 ½-inches)

Ingredients 

US Customary - Metric

• ▢ 1 ⅓ cups flour (all purpose flour, a 50-50 mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour are all fine)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ⅔ cup sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons flax meal
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use avocado oil. You can also substitute vegan butter)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ▢ ¼ cup applesauce
• ▢ 4 very ripe bananas (mashed or blended until smooth with few or no lumps, You will need one more banana for the optional decorative top)
• ▢ ¾ cup walnuts (or pecans, lightly toasted, then chopped)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Oil an 8 ½-inch by 4 ½-inch loaf pan.
• Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and flax meal in a bowl.
• Add apple cider vinegar, applesauce and mashed bananas to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and there's no dry flour in the bowl.
• Fold in the chopped walnuts.
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly with a spoon or spatula. If using a banana to decorate the top slice it lengthwise into three slices, then halve each slice. Arrange on top of the loaf.
• Bake the banana loaf about 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Place the banana bread on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, then unmold and let cool completely on the rack.

Recipe notes

• You may have less moisture in the batter if the bananas you use are not too ripe. In that case add up to a fourth of a cup of non dairy milk of your choice, a tablespoon at a time, until the batter achieves the right consistency.
• Add ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips to the batter instead of the nuts for a delicious vegan chocolate chip banana bread.
• Unrefined sugars like coconut sugar, turbinado, coconut palm syrup, date syrup and maple syrup add wonderful richness to banana bread. You can also add in a tablespoonful of molasses for really amazing flavor, because molasses and banana go nicely together. This bread is perfectly sweet and not cloyingly so, with rich banana flavor.
• Applesauce adds delicious moisture to this bread, without bumping up the amount of oil. You can use vegan yogurt instead if you like, which will make the crumb really silky and tender. 
• If you want nuts in your banana bread -- I love some here -- you have a choice of walnuts or pecans. Both work really well. Toast the nuts lightly and chop them before adding them to the batter. You can also add vegan chocolate chips to the batter.
• Make cleanup easier by using a blender to mix your wet ingredients. You can throw in the bananas first, blend them, then add all the other wet ingredients and blend them for a few seconds before adding to the dry ingredients.
• You can refrigerate the banana bread for up to six days. To freeze the bread, wrap the loaf tightly in freezer wrap or place in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to four months. You can also freeze individual slices. Thaw before eating.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 144mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment and recipe rating below!

Follow Holy Cow Vegan on Instagram