I’m not, in any way, a morning person. But one thing that guarantees a great start to my day is to wake up to in the morning to the smell of freshly baked banana bread, so when I have time I love to whip up a batch of this easy to make banana loaf to have for breakfast and enjoy the cozy aroma that it brings into our home.
Extremely allergy friendly, this recipe is egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free and nut-free, and can easily be made gluten-free by substituting your favourite gluten-free flour blend and adding an extra spoon of applesauce if needed to keep the cake moist.
This is a great recipe to give a nutrition boost to by adding 2 tbsp of hemp seeds and 1-2 tbsp of crushed nuts or nut butter (e.g. almond butter), making this vegan banana bread a nutritious breakfast option (I’ve left this out of the nutritional info calculation since I know many people will stick with the traditional banana cake recipe).
This great vegan banana bread recipe can just as easily be prepared as muffins or as a cake in a springform pan with minor adjustments to the cook time.
And it is a one-bowl recipe (at least if you are lazy like me it is), meaning there’s minimal cleanup involved. So, how do you make it?
Start by mixing the mashed bananas, sugar, oil, vanilla extract (and any nutritional boosts or optional ingredients you plan on adding) together in a medium-sized bowl. When well combined, add the flour, baking soda and baking powder on top of your wet ingredients, taking a moment to lightly stir the dry ingredients before digging deeper to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as you stir – nobody wants to bite into a pocket of flour as they’re eating their banana bread.
You’ll have enough batter to split between two loaf pans or for a standard spring-form pan or one dozen muffins. Pour in your batter, top with any nuts, chocolate chips, etc that you may want to add, and bake in the oven at 180 C for 20-25 min until browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean (depending on your oven you may need to add 5 minutes to the bake time).
The only thing left is to let it cool and then enjoy! If there happens to be anything left, it’s best to keep your banana bread wrapped in the fridge to keep it fresh.
- Wet Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas, mashed
- ½ cup oil (or very ripe avocado, mashed)
- ½ cup sugar (a little less if your bananas are very ripe)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Unsweetened applesauce, if needed for moisture
- Dry Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- Optional Ingredients (add to taste)
- chocolate chips
- sunflower seeds
- crushed walnuts
- caramelized macadamia nuts
- blueberries (if you use frozen, let them fully thaw and rinse first)
- Line two loaf pans or a springform pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
- In a large bowl combine your wet ingredients (mashed bananas, sugar, oil, and vanilla). Stir until it takes on a uniform texture.
- Add any chosen optional ingredients to your wet mixture and stir until distributed evenly.
- In a small bowl mix your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder) until well blended and fold it into the wet mixture (two bowl method) or simply pour your dry ingredients onto the wet ingredients and gently stir only the dry ingredients before folding it into the wet ingredients (one bowl method).
- Stir well, looking out for any dry ingredients that fall to the bottom of the bowl.
- When well blended, spoon your batter into the pan(s).
- Place in the oven and let cook 20-25 min until the cake begin to brown nicely. As a quick check that it is ready, the surface should spring back if you gently push it.
- Remove from the oven and let cool before removing from the pan to serve.
- Best to store these in the fridge and warm before serving.
Welcome!
looks yum. how can you tell if it needs extra applesauce?
Hi Bracha,
The batter shouldn’t be runny, but also shouldn’t be difficult to stir so once you’ve combined the listed amounts gauge how difficult it is to combine the wet and dry ingredients and add an extra tbsp or two of applesauce if you have to work too hard. It will depend on how thirsty your flour blend is.
I tried many Vegan Banana Bread recipes and this is the best ( easy to make) I did add a few of my favorite ingredients such as cinnamon, all spice, a little rolled oats and took your suggestion for some applesauce…turned out wonderful!
oh and I added vegan chocolate chips…amazing!!
Sounds delicious Nancy! I love this recipe because it is so versatile. You can add chocolate chips, nuts berries, etc on a whim and end up with a wonderful loaf cake (or muffins!) every time. Glad you enjoyed it! I’ll be posting a great zucchini loaf cake soon so check back for it 😉
This is an excellent recipe- made it many. times already.
However it requires 2 bowls ! Misleading tittle!
Not if you do it the lazy way! Read the post! 😉
My one bowl method works just as well. I just list the steps separately in the actual recipe for those who like to do things properly. But changed the sequence of the steps and updated it to include both options. thanks for bringing it to my attention!