This vegan banana bread has super-moist, buttery texture and incredibly soft crumb! It is super quick and easy to whip up and one of my go-to banana bread recipe. Loaded with the goodness of bananas and coconut sugar…Dairy FREE!
Its been one of my favorite bread that I make often, probably too often! It’s the recipe that comes to mind first when I have leftover spotty bananas on the counter! An overall very easy and quick recipe of classic banana bread. This bread stays moist with a perfect crumb for days….perfect for breakfast or a quick snack!
Mashing the Bananas
Using the spotty and over ripe bananas work the best for the banana bread recipes so using just a fork to mash would work just fine. But I like to use my electric hand mixer for it, I just break the bananas into larger pieces, place them in a bowl and use my hand mixer. As always, begin beating on low and then gradually increase the speed to high till you are left with a mash of bananas.
Banana Bread Ingredients
Flour – Use all purpose flour for this recipe. To make it healthier you could also use “spelt flour”, which actually is my personal favorite for this recipe. It gives this banana bread a subtle nutty flavor. Always fluff your flour in the container, then add spoonful by spoonful to the measuring cup, then level it up with the help of a butter knife or a spoon. This way of measuring the flour will allow the flour to be light and airy and you can avoid packing it tightly by just scooping it straight out of the container.
Baking Soda and Baking Powder – The baking soda and baking powder both help leaven the banana bread. Leaveners help generate carbon dioxide (gas) during baking, this gas is what causes baked goods to “rise”. Since both of them are different leavening agents, they would act differently in combination or alone when added to a recipe. Both of these are a must for our recipe.
Spices – I like to add cinnamon powder to this banana bread, it gives it a fragrant aroma and flavor. You could also add 1/4 tsp of nutmeg as well.
Oil – I like to use either coconut oil or olive oil for this recipe
Milk – Since we are making it vegan, I like to use my favorite Oat Milk for this recipe, but using any other plant based would work as well. You could use regular dairy milk also if you like.
Sugar – I would highly recommend using coconut sugar for this recipe, it lends it a nice nutty caramelized flavor but light brown sugar would just work fine as well.
Lemon Juice – Since baking soda works best in conjunction with an acidic ingredient, we are using lemon juice to activate it.
Vanilla Extract – Vanilla adds a depth of flavor that makes this bread, or any baked goods for that matter taste fragrant and flavorful.
Banana Bread Variations
This is a very forgiving recipe, meaning you can change it up however you like it and make it your own. Throw 3/4 chopped walnuts or pecans in to the batter and make a banana nut bread. You could also add some chocolate chips as well and make it chocolate chip banana bread! Similarly you could also add dried cranberries, raisin or slices of bananas in the batter or just on top as garnish.
The way I like it is, keep the batter as is but add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts on top before baking, so I get some crunch with each slice.
How to Freeze Banana Bread
You can definitely freeze banana bread while preserving the the flavors and texture of the bread. Here is how I do it –
- Let the banana bread cool completely at room temperature.
- Slice the bread and wrap it individually or in groups of 2-4 with help of a plastic wrap or foil.
- Place these wrapped banana bread bundles in a zip lock storage bag or an air tight container.
- The stays well for 3-4 months.
- Whenever you want to eat, let it thaw in refrigerator or room temperature. Your slice of banana bread if ready to enjoy or you can heat it for 5 -10 seconds in the microwave if you like.
Some Helpful Tips
- Grease the loaf pan well. You could spray it with cooking spray and dust it with flour. What I like to do it spray it evenly then line it with a sheet of parchment paper with over hang on the sides, then spray it again, this method always works for any baking recipe I make, spraying the pan first helps the parchment adhere to the pan and spraying the parchment once lined makes the cake not stick to the parchment!
- Place the pan on a baking sheet. Placing the loaf pan on top of the baking sheet helps the bottom of the bread bake evenly without over browning it.
- How to test if the bread is done? When you insert a long cake tester or a long skewer or a knife into the center of the bread and it comes out clean then that is the right time to take it out of the oven.
- What if the bread is browning too quickly? If during baking, the top of the banana bread looks like it is browning rapidly, cover loosely with aluminum foil and continue to bake until done.
- Cool to room temperature before slicing it or storing it. The bread will continue to cook as it is cooling in the pan. Give it 10-15 minutes to cool down in the pan and then remove it and cool it on a wire rack to let it cool completely.
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- WET Ingredients
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- 3 overripe bananas ( about 1½ cup mashed)
- ¼ cup olive oil or coconut oil
- ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoon almond milk or oat milk
- ½ cup coconut sugar (or light brown sugar)
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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- DRY Ingredients
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- 1½ cup all purpose flour (or spelt flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
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- OPTIONAL Toppings
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- ¾ cup of any of these - chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried fruit, fresh banana slices etc.
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan or line with a parchment paper. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mash the peeled bananas using a handheld mixer or a fork.
- Into the mashed banana add all the wet ingredients - oil, milk, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat everything until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Next fold in dry ingredients we whisked earlier in the prepared wet ingredients in 3 batches. Don't add all the flour all at once, mix in batches and combine. Do not overmix, mix till you do not see any visible dry flour in the bowl.
- If you are using any mix-ins then this is the time to add them into the batter and combine.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan. If you would like to use any toppings on the bread, then add at this time.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or till the toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan first and then once removed on to the wire rack.
- Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Banana bread tastes best on day 2 after the flavors have settled together.
Regular dairy milk can be used in place of plant based milk as well.
You can use frozen bananas. Thaw them at room temperature and drain off any excess liquid before using in the recipe.
If during baking, the top of the banana bread looks like it is browning rapidly, cover loosely with aluminum foil and continue to bake until done.
Cool to room temperature before slicing it or storing it. The bread will continue to cook as it is cooling in the pan. Give it 10-15 minutes to cool down in the pan and then remove it and cool it on a wire rack to let it cool completely. Tastes better the next day after flavors have time to develop together.
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