Vegan Banana Bread
You’ll love this easy vegan banana bread recipe because of its moist texture and the buttery brown sugar flavors infused with baked bananas. It offers a soft and tender crumb with a crispy crust. One delicious slice after another is filled with ripe bananas and walnuts.
If quick breads make your day, be sure to try this Whole Wheat Banana Bread or this Vegan Pumpkin Bread Recipe, too.
I’ve been a fan of the banana for as long as I can remember, so the idea of making a moist vegan banana bread recipe was a win from the get-go. The real question was could I do this? Could I make a banana bread recipe vegan? I started with my mom’s recipe and within a few tries, I had it just right!
When you combine a crispy crust with a fluffy banana-flavored middle, you’ll end up with a perfect weekday (or weekend) treat.
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Using ripe bananas adds an undeniably delicious banana flavor to every slice
- Brown sugar makes this vegan banana bread moist and adds an amazing caramel flavor
- Toasting the walnuts adds a nutty, crunchy flavor making this the best vegan banana bread ever!
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Ripe bananas — I like to use 3 ripe bananas for lots of banana flavor.
- Vegan butter — I use Earth Balance or Miyoko’s or homemade vegan butter. You can substitute coconut oil.
- Brown sugar — You can use dark, light, or homemade brown sugar
- Plant-based milk — My favorite is soy milk, but any plant-based milk will do
- Ground Flaxseed
- Cornstarch
- Flour — I use all-purpose flour, but you can substitute whole wheat pastry flour or high-quality gluten-free baking flour if you want to make vegan gluten-free banana bread.
- Baking soda + Baking powder — These two together create lift in the loaf, making a soft crumb.
- Salt
- Walnuts — You can add chopped walnuts or leave them out.
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread
Once you see how easy it is, you’ll be like me and wanting to make vegan banana bread all the time! Here are the steps involved:
- Pulse everything from the bananas to the cornstarch in a food processor until combined, but with texture.
- Stir together the dry ingredients from the flour to the salt.
- Fold the chopped toasted nuts into the flour mixture.
- Make the batter by stirring the banana mixture into the flour mixture.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
- Cool the baked loaf for 10 minutes, then invert it on a wire rack to cool completely.
Here are the detailed step-by-step instructions.
Step One: Mash Bananas
Add the bananas to a food processor and pulse until mostly mashed. Leaving some texture is fine. This should equal around 1 1/3 cups of mashed bananas. Add the mashed bananas along with vegan butter, sugar, vanilla, plant-based milk, flax, and cornstarch, in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined.
To do this by hand, use a fork to mash the bananas in a bowl. Then add the other ingredients and stir them all together. Some people prefer hand-mashing bananas because it leaves more banana texture throughout the banana bread.
Step Two: Mix Together Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. If you’re adding nuts, then fold in toasted walnuts into the flour mixture.
Step Three: Optional Toasted Walnuts
Are you adding walnuts to your banana bread? If so, I highly recommend toasting them first. Toasted walnuts have a nuttier flavor and a better crunch which can transform any quick bread from good to great in minutes!
To toast walnuts, preheat the oven to 350F. Then place the walnuts on a baking pan and bake them for approximately 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them because they can burn quickly! Then remove them from the oven and let them cool before chopping. Add chopped toasted walnuts to the flour mixture and stir them until they’re coated.
Step Four: Make Banana Bread Batter
Next, pour the banana mixture in with the flour mixture and stir until just combined. You want to make sure there aren’t any flour pockets in the batter.
Always make sure your pan is prepared and the oven is preheated before combining wet and dry ingredients. This will help you take advantage of the chemical reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda, making a softer and loftier loaf of bread.
Step Five: Bake
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
How do you know banana bread is done? Here’s what I do:
- The top crust should be golden brown
- The loaf should be pulling away from the sides of the pan
- Insert a tester in the center of the loaf. To do this, use a toothpick or a thin-bladed knife (like a paring knife). It should come out clean.
Storage Tips
To store, let the loaf cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap or in an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days, refrigerated for up to 7 days, or frozen up to 2 months. To thaw, leave the loaf at room temperature. Then heat up individual slices in a toaster oven or microwave.
This is called quick bread because it doesn’t require yeast to make it rise. However, it still requires a long time to bake. The aroma of baking banana bread that fills your house will make it worth it!
New to Vegan Baking?
The idea of making cookies, cakes, or muffins without eggs or dairy can seem like a hill too tall to climb. But with the simple tips in my Guide to Vegan Baking, you’ll be baking like a vegan pro in no time!
Marly’s Tips
Use these tips and tricks to make this recipe for vegan banana bread perfect every time:
- Make sure you’ve got the pan greased and ready to go before making the batter.
- I’ve added strawberries to make Vegan Strawberry Banana Bread, and other berries would work, too.
- You can make this into an oil-free banana bread by substituting 1/2 cup applesauce for the butter.
- Be sure and use a tester to make sure the bread is done before removing it from the oven.
- Make vegan banana bread muffins by pouring the batter into papered or greased muffins tins. Reduce the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes.
Frequently-Asked Questions
What can I substitute for eggs for in banana bread?
Because bananas are a go-to egg replacer, you don’t even need eggs in banana bread. As a result, no additional egg replacers are required. However, if you simply want to add them, there are many ways to substitute eggs in banana bread. For example, you can use applesauce (1/4 cup per egg), a Flax Egg, a Chia Egg, or whipped tofu (1/4 cup per egg).
Is banana bread vegan?
Unfortunately, the standard banana bread recipe is not vegan. It actually doesn’t make much sense because bananas are a favorite egg replacer in vegan baking. If one were into conspiracies, you’d almost think people were intentionally inserting eggs in recipes…even when it’s completely unnecessary!
How can I make banana bread healthier?
You can make vegan banana bread healthy by reducing the sugar and substituting whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose flour. Either way, this is not a low-calorie treat. In fact, it has around 320 calories per slice. However, it is a bit healthier than the traditional version because it’s made without eggs. You can reduce the calories even further by making it sugar-free. To do this use a sweetener like Swerve. I’ve had great success with Swerve and you use it on a 1:1 basis with sugar.
Can you make this bread gluten-free?
You can make this into gluten-free vegan banana bread by subbing gluten-free baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour. I oftentimes add around 1/4 cup almond flour when using gluten-free flour to add tenderness to the quick loaf.
Reader Reviews
★★★★★
Jen
Run, don’t walk to your over-ripe bananas and make this ASAP! I have stopped looking for the holy grail banana bread recipe because this is the one. Thank you!
★★★★★
Paden
Sooooo delicious! I don’t think I could be any prouder of how mine turned out. This recipe is a keeper for sure! I used toasted pecans, added chocolate chips, and put shredded coconut on the top while it baked.
Serving Suggestions
Serve vegan banana bread with any of the following:
- Serve vegan banana nut bread slices for breakfast with Vegan Hot Chocolate.
- Toast individual slices and serve them with some soft vegan butter, or chia jam.
- Serve it as a dessert with some vegan chocolate syrup and vegan whipped cream to
- Give it as gifts to neighbors, teachers, and friends. Just wrap the loaf in plastic wrap, followed by some decorative tissue paper and a ribbon.
More Vegan Banana Recipes
If you’re into all things banana, like me, then this vegan banana bread will be your favorite. But let’s not stop there! You should take a look at my favorite vegan banana recipes:
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Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas about 1⅓ cups, mashed
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup walnuts toasted*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Spray a large loaf pan** with vegetable spray.
- In a food processor, add the bananas, vegan butter, sugar, vanilla, milk, flax, and cornstarch. Pulse in short bursts until combined, leaving some banana chunks. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Fold the chopped toasted nuts into the flour mixture. Stir until the nuts are coated. Add the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- When done, remove the pan from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Then invert on a wire rack to cool completely.
- To store, let the loaf cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap or in an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days, refrigerated for up to 7 days, or frozen up to 2 months. To thaw, leave the loaf at room temperature. Then heat up individual slices in a toaster oven or microwave.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Enjoy!
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2020.
Hi thanks for the recipe, what happened if I omit the oil? Will it still turn out the same? Thanks
Hi Judy. You can omit the oil, but I would substitute applesauce to give it a softer texture. Otherwise, the bread will be quite dense and chewy. I hope this is helpful!
Best banana bread ever! So moist and delicious!
Hi Janet, so glad you liked this recipe!
Run, don’t walk to your over-ripe bananas and make this ASAP! I have stopped looking for the holy grail banana bread recipe because this is the one. Thank you!
Jen, your comment made me so happy! I’m so glad you like this recipe — and as you can imagine, I completely agree!
I didn’t realize until the loaf was in the oven that I forgot to add the baking soda, and it still came out great
This is amazing! I omitted the nuts and baked mine in a mini loaf pan, so got 6. Next time, I’m thinking of adding either some mini chocolate chips or some crushed Oreos. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. It’s a keeper for sure and a GREAT way to use up overripe bananas. 🙂
Sooooo delicious! I don’t think I could be any prouder of how mine turned out. This recipe is a keeper for sure! I used toasted pecans, added chocolate chips, and put shredded coconut on the top while it baked.
Hi Paden. So glad you liked this banana bread. Adding chocolate chips, toasted pecans, and coconut flakes is brilliant! ❤️