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.
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.
Made it from your “updated” recipe. Had two problems: 1. Instruction 2 indicates to add the vanilla . . . but the ingredient list doesn’t mention vanilla; I used 1.5 tsp.: problem solved.
2. Instruction is to bake @350° for 50 – 60 minutes. It took two more continuances of 5 minutes or a total of 70 minutes before my cake tester came out clean. BUT, it was the best moist yet crisp crust banana bread!
This is the best vegan banana bread I have made. thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you liked it Liz! ❤️
This banana bread looks amazing! Can you use egg replacer in this instead of flax seed? Thanks
Hi Lacey! Yes, absolutely you can use egg replacer instead of ground flax. In fact, there’s enough banana and flour in this recipe that I think you could leave the ground flax out entirely and it will still be great.
This recipe is a winner! The best vegan banana bread I ever made – moist but not soggy . This magical loaf disappeared fast so I’ll be making another one tomorrow. Thank you!
Hi Diane! I’m so glad you liked this recipe. We have some bananas on hand and family around so I think I’ll join you in making another loaf too! 🙂
Hi Marly – Just found this wonderful looking recipe. Any suggestions on how to replace or lessen the sugar?
Hi Robbie! Thanks for your kind words. Yes, there are a couple of ways to reduce the sugar content in this recipe. First, you could reduce the sugar by a quarter cup. Second, you could use Swerve in place of the sugar. In fact, you can even reduce it slightly as well. Swerve says you can use 1:1 with sugar, but I always reduce Swerve because it’s expensive! Hope this is helpful!
This looks and sounds amazing! How far in advance can it made? Can it be frozen? I wanted to bring it to Christmas breakfast but need to make it in advance. Thank you for ALWAYS posting such fantastic recipes!
Looks yummy. I love banana bread.
Hi, I’m making this tonight!!! But just a heads up, in the instructions #2. You forgot to say add the milk. And I’m wondering if saying Flax Egg might confuse some, being as in the list of ingredients you say ground flaxseeds. (Flax egg implies, we need to mix the ground flax seed with water and let it rest). Unless you really do mean flax egg, in which case then maybe add the instructions on how to make a flax egg. Let’s see how mine turns out, it’s currently in the oven. 🙂 oh and can I say, I cannot wait to try making your banana blondies… if I’d had all the ingredients I would have made it right now!
Thanks for the heads-up Selene! 🙂
Hi Marly — Just a note to tell you I made. your recipe this evening. It is hands-down the best vegan banana bread I’ve ever made, and I have tried a TON of recipes! In fact it is as wonderful as any banana nut bread I made before I became a vegan. The flavor is outstanding, and so is the crumb, texture, and rise. When I long for a slice of banana nut bread and some tea, this is the loaf I dream of! Thank you for this recipe — it is my official banana bread go-to from now on 🙂
Thanks so much KD! So glad you liked it. I think it must be my mom’s influence because I followed her recipe and just veganized it. You know what they say, mom knows best! ❤️
these instructions do not appear to go with the ingredients listed (sour cream, etc…)
Thanks for the heads-up, Jen. There were some problems with the post too. I think maybe a previous version of this document didn’t get saved or something. Anyway, thanks for letting me know. It’s all fixed now.
Thanks Marly! I am going to try sometime this week 🙂
Hope you love it, Jen. Let me know how it goes. 🙂