Nothing beats a classic banana bread – it’s easy, a big crowd-pleaser, and good no matter the season. And this moist vegan banana bread lives up to the hype. Serve it with a smear of salted maple butter and enjoy it as a sweet breakfast or afternoon snack.
Quick note – this recipe is the ultimate allergen-friendly snack/dessert. It’s egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and can easily be made gluten-free!
Vegan Banana Bread Ingredients
Outlining everything you’ll need for this vegan banana bread, along with a few ingredient notes.
- Overripe bananas
- Spelt flour: I’m a big fan of One Degree Organics sprouted spelt flour. However, feel free to swap in all-purpose flour (quick note that I would use the imperial measurement since AP flour and spelt flour have a different weight per gram). If you’re gluten-free, Bob’s Red Mill GF flour blend is my go-to substitute flour.
- Tahini or olive: Both work amazing in this banana bread, but I prefer olive oil over tahini, simply because it makes this banana loaf almost cake-like in texture.
- Coconut sugar
- Cashew milk or any creamy milk
- Lemon juice: This activates the baking soda, which helps lift the banana bread and gives it the perfect fluffy and light crumb.
- Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Ceylon cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Mix-ins like chopped walnuts, chocolate chunks, etc.
Method Behind This Vegan Banana Bread
One of the best things about this moist banana bread recipe (besides tasting absolutely frickin’ amazing) is that it’s a one-bowl recipe. Yep, that’s right, one bowl!
Simply mash your bananas, and then add the remaining ingredients, except the spelt flour. Adding the leaveners and cinnamon to the wet ingredients helps incorporate them fully into the batter.
Lastly, dump in the spelt flour and any mix-ins. I highly recommend adding your mix-ins into the batter with the flour – that way you don’t overmix the batter. Finally, pour the batter into a loaf pan, bake for 40-45 minutes, and let cool before slicing and serving.
And it’s totally optional, but I highly recommend making the salted maple butter while the banana bread bakes. It makes this loaf 10x better!
A Few Quick Notes
- Use metric measurements. Because metric is the only way to accurately bake!
- Your loaf pan matters, like a lot! As a baking rule of thumb, use an aluminum alloy baking pan for best results. This material conducts heat very well and helps your baked goods cook evenly. I love USA Pan’s aluminized steel pans, they are incredible! Linking the exact pan I used here. Beyond pan material, I like using a slightly smaller-than-standard loaf pan to get an extra tall loaf.
- Don’t over-bake your banana bread. There is nothing worse than dry banana bread. So instead of taking the banana bread out of the oven when the toothpick comes out clean, take it out when a few moist crumbs are clinging to the toothpick. Additionally, most vegan baked goods are delicate, so it’s super important to let the loaf cool and chill completely to lock in structure.
So excited for you to make this recipe – don’t forget to leave a rating and review! And if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below or send me a DM on Instagram.
Happy baking!
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Moist Vegan Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cool Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
Serve this moist vegan banana bread with a smear of salted maple butter and enjoy it as a sweet breakfast or afternoon snack.
Ingredients
Banana Bread
- 3 (300 g) overripe bananas
- 1/3 cup (45 g) coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup (70 g) olive oil or runny tahini
- 1/3 cup (90 g) cashew milk or any creamy milk
- 1 tbsp (14 g) lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (195 g) spelt flour (sub with all-purpose flour)
- 1 cup of mix-ins (I use 1 cup or 100 g of chopped walnuts)
Salted Maple Butter
- 4 tbsp softened unsalted butter or vegan unsalted butter
- 3–4 tbsp Amber maple syrup (formerly known as Grade A syrup)
- 1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8×4 loaf pan with cooking spray.
- Make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, add the bananas and mash with a fork or a potato masher until it looks mostly uniform with a few small banana lumps. Then pour in the coconut sugar, tahini or olive oil, cashew milk, lemon juice, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk well until combined – the batter will look fluffy and foamy, this is totally normal. Lastly, sprinkle in the spelt flour and any mix-ins you like and mix until the flour is just incorporated.
- Bake the banana bread. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and jiggle the pan to smooth out the batter. Sprinkle the loaf generously with coconut sugar or demerara sugar. Bake the banana bread in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then lift out and let cool for an additional 30 minutes on its side – this prevents the bottom of the loaf from becoming soggy.
- While the banana bread bakes, make the maple butter (optional). Mix the butter with the maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt, using either a whisk or a spatula. Taste and adjust the cinnamon and maple syrup to preference. Store the maple butter in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Serve and store. Slice the bread into thick slices and smear on some of the maple butter. Store any leftovers in plastic wrap or an airtight glass container in the fridge or counter for up to 4 days.
I made this tonight for dessert and it turned out spectacular! I added 1 cup of blueberries to the recipe and it didn’t disappoint. Thank you Yasmeen for all your yummy recipes
Did this recipe today ! Absolutely loved it !!! Even my
skeptical husband said : wooow this is the best banana bread you’ve done 🤣
Omg that’s amazing, thank you so much for sharing this Stephanie!