The best banana bread ever, and it’s vegan! Perfectly sweet, moist, and topped with a brown sugar crust, this delicious banana bread is super easy to make and customizable with your favorite stir-ins.
My family has the best banana bread recipe. Ever. I hate to brag, but it’s true. Back when I was young and learning to cook I tried out some banana bread recipes that were decent, before my mom took me aside, handed me a recipe card and informed me that it was the only banana bread recipe I’d ever need, because it was the best!
Well, she was wrong about at least one thing, because I guess she didn’t know that a time would come when a I’d need a vegan banana bread recipe. But that’s not a big deal, because veganizing the old family favorite recipe was no biggie!
Oh, and well, maybe she was wrong about it being the best, because, in fact, this vegan version is actually better.
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread
The great thing about veganizing banana bread is that you don’t have to fuss over figuring out the right egg substitute. Bananas do the job! I use bananas as an egg substitutes in all kinds of vegan baked goods, but when it comes to banana bread, they’re already an integral part of the recipe.
Make sure your bananas are medium-sized and overripe. You want lots of brown spots! Mash them up with a fork or potato masher, and then stir in some oil, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Dry ingredients go in next: flour, baking soda, cinnamon (it works — trust me), and salt. Stir everything just until blended. Don’t overdo it!
Optionally, include some stir-ins. Walnuts are my go-to, but pecans and chocolate chips are great as well. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan, smooth out the top, and sprinkle with brown sugar. This will give you an awesome crust on top!
Bake your loaf for 50 minutes at 350° and then let it cool for a few minutes before slicing.
This stuff is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
FAQ & Tips for Making Perfect Vegan Banana Bread
- Be sure to use overripe bananas for this. They should have lots of brown spots — the more the better!
- If you have overripe bananas but aren’t ready to make banana bread, just freeze them! Peel them, seal them up in freezer bags, then thaw when you’re ready to bake.
- Whatever you do, don’t overmix the batter! You want to stir just until the wet and dry ingredients are mixed, and no more. Mixing too much will overdevelop the gluten, making your bread tough.
- HELP! My bread didn’t rise! Usually old baking soda is the culprit. Test yours by sprinkling it in some vinegar. It should fizz. If not, toss and replace it.
- Can this bread be made gluten-free? I’m not sure! I think your best bet would be to replace the flour with an all-purpose gluten-free blend.
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The Best Vegan Banana Bread
The best banana bread ever and it's vegan! Perfectly sweet, moist, and topped with a brown sugar crust, this delicious banana bread is super easy to make and customizable with your favorite stir-ins.
Ingredients
- 3 medium overripe bananas
- 1/3 cup organic granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup organic brown sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil (or your favorite baking oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans, vegan chocolate chips, or your favorite banana bread stir-in)
For Topping
- 1/4 cup organic brown sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Lightly oil a 9-inch loaf pan and arrange a strip of parchment paper width-wise along the center, with just a bit hanging out over each side.
Peel the bananas and place them into a large mixing bowl. Mash them well with a fork or potato masher.
Add sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla to the bowl. Stir until well-mixed.
Add the flour to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda, cinnamon and salt on top of the flour.
Stir everything together just until mixed. Don't overmix. The batter will be thick.
Fold in the walnuts.
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the top with brown sugar.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow the loaf to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Slice and serve.
Love your blog name!!! Thanks for this recipe. I used a mixture of chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts, and substituted 1/4 cup organic all purpose whole wheat pastry flour for 1/4 cup organic white all-purpose. Loved the texture. Felt the banana flavour was drowned out by all the sweetness, so will try substituting chopped nuts and seeds for the sugar crust next time. The loaf sure found favour with my the guy in my life,though,who does have a sweet tooth!
I made this tonight. Have to say I do not agree with you. It is not the best Vegan banana bread, I think it’s the best banana bread hands down. I added walnuts and resisted the chocolate chips. The brown sugar topping is fantasti. cI have posted it on my Instagram page @SurroundedByCarnivores. Thanks
Such a quick and simple recipe! Thank you for giving me something delicious to make during self isolation. I included walnuts and chocolate chips & such a good combo!
Hello Alissa — Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe! I too made it during quarantine, and it is SO GOOD! I used coconut oil, and melted it to liquid consistency in the microwave before blending… I used 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon almond extract, cuz I love almond flavor so much. This combo is subtle, but the hint of almond is there! That simple topping of just brown sugar is perfect! It gets lightly crispy and is so good on top. I only had what I think is an 8 inch loaf pan, rather than 9 inch, but all the batter did fit in, I wasn’t sure if it would overload it and not bake well. I ended up keeping it in the oven for a full hour and that was just right. I’ve already shared the recipe link with friends…! Thx Again! : )
Stumbled upon this recipe last year and once I tried it, immediately became my go-to for banana bread. Even my meat-eating family members ask for this particular recipe and appreciate that there’s nothing “weird” in it. Baking four loaves right now to distribute for our socially distant Easter dinner.
Oh my stars! I love this recipe! I wanted to put my overly ripe bananas to good use and The Best Vegan Banana Bread recipe did just that! Of course, my carnivorous friends balked at the idea, they don’t know what they are missing.
Thank you for posting this recipe.
Would whole wheat pastry flour work? It’s all I have. Thanks!
I don’t see why not! Enjoy!
I’ve made this recipe several times and it is hands down the best banana bread ever!
Yum! I made this bread during the time of corona and now it will be a keeper. My mods:(1) whole wheat flour, instead of white flour; (2) 1/3 cup brown sugar with 1.5 tbs of white sugar; (3) one flax egg – 1 tbs flax + 3 tbs of warm water; (4) almost 1/3 cup applesauce and remaining bit oil; (5) Greased pan with vegan butter, instead of using liner. It turned out AMAZING and even my non-vegan parents who complain, loved it. Thanks so much!!
Made it twice in the past two weeks and my older teens asked if I can make it again today. I added a quarter cup of chopped walnuts and a quarter cup dried cranberries. Delicious.
this is my go to banana bread recipe now… i’m thinking of trying to adapt it to muffins, is there anything i should modify for that?
Glad you like it! I actually went ahead and adapted it to muffins! Here’s the recipe: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-banana-chocolate-chip-walnut-muffins/
Simple one-bowl recipe and truly delicious!!! I added walnuts and vegan chocolate chips. So addictive! I will throw away every other recipe!. 😊
You were not exaggerating, this is the BEST banana bread! Like you, I have tried many, many banana bread recipes and none compare to yours. First, let’s start with the fact that this contains 3 whole bananas…YES! I knew it was legit from the start. Not too much oil, brown sugar…oh my…this is a keeper. Thank you so much for sharing with the world. This will be go to from now on.
This is such an easy yet delicious recipe.
Definitely my go to recipe for banana bread.
Oh dear, this is delicious!
I had never had banana bread because it’s not just a cake typical of where I’m from (Portugal). I thought I wouldn’t like it very much because I don’t like ripe bananas or cooked bananas, but since I had 2 bananas looking not so great, I decided to give it a try.
I had to make the adjustments for just 2 bananas and added roasted peanuts instead of walnuts.
This is fantastic, absolutely brilliant and so easy and quick! Thank you!
Excellent banana bread!
Thank you so much for this banana bread recipe! It truly is the best I’ve ever tried. I made it last week with 5 kids home due to the pandemic. It was gobbled up in a day! I am planning to make it again today. We all loved the brown sugar topping! Just delicious! Thank you, thank you!
This banana bread recipe was soooo delicious, I truly enjoyed it . Thank you!!
I loved the addition of the brown sugar on top, but sadly found the banana bread too salty for my liking. It’s not inedibly salty, but it’s quite noticeable and detracts from the taste of the bananas and walnuts. Salt is such a subjective thing as we all have different tolerances, but I suspect I wouldn’t be alone in finding 1tsp too much, so wanted to mention it. This recipe definitely has great potential and I think that once I adjust the salt to suit my tastes (decrease to 1/2tsp), it’ll be an easy five stars. 😊
I totally agree – I tasted the batter and almost spit it out! I’ve made a lot of vegan banana bread in my day and its never tasted salty. This was barely edible. I should have compared to other recipes, I thought 1tsp sounded like a lot I’d be curious to know how 1 tsp was decided upon for this recipe. So disappointing to waste a whole bread because of too much salt but this was horrible. :(
I’ don’t have vanilla. Otherwise I made it accordingly. It turned out with a brown thick putty like inside rather than a bread.
Yum! Simply yum. Subbed with coconut oil and walnuts with choc. chips. It came out so good! Moist and delicious.
This is my favorite recipe for banana bread! I’ve made it 5 or 6 times then made it today as muffins. Baked for 20 min at 375 oven in a standard muffin tin. So good, can’t even tell it’s vegan. Thank you!
My bread is crumbly and tastes bland. Very disappointed.
so good!! can i use less flour or is this much required?
Thank you! This much is require, at least as far as I know. I haven’t tested the recipe with less.
I love that you are sharing a vegan banana bread recipe, as its one of the easiest and most delicious quick breads to veganize. Unfortunately, the 1 whole teaspoon of salt ruined the recipe for me. I should have cross-checked with other recipes before cooking, because once I did, I found that most other recipes call for between 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of salt (and absolutely none of them call for as much as 1 tsp). Can you tell me why you put so much salt in? Do you generally put more salt in your recipes than others do, or was there a reason you felt more salt was necessary for this? Since it’s such an unusual amount I’m curious about the reasoning. I totally understand that taste is subjective and some people love more and others less of salt and sugar, but this was excessive and ruined the flavor balance of the bread. I guess its a lesson in being familiar enough with ingredients to know what each of our own tolerances is. :)
As you said, taste is subjective. And as you can see, there are a lot of good reviews from people who loved this recipe. I’m sorry it’s not for you!
I just made this bread today. My husband, a banana bread expert (taster category) said it was the best! I’m shocked that a vegan loaf was so tasty. A little sweet for me…a little less white sugar nexT time.
My boyfriend, the carnivore: *walks downstairs* (incredulous and slightly mocking tone) “Are these vegan?”
Me: “ya…” (Hadn’t tried them yet)
Him: “OMG OMG OMG! Can you make more?!”
Boom. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
I have this baking in the oven as I type this. It came together so quickly and easily. I didn’t have brown sugar, so I substituted coconut sugar, and I omitted the sprinkle on top. I am curious to know the protein content of this recipe. It appears to be missing from the nutrition chart.
Opps! It’s 6 grams. I just added it – thank you for catching that!
THanks for a great recipe–glad I chose this one. Appreciate that it tolerated my major experimentation!
Made a double recipe, but only had 5 bananas so I threw in around 1/2 c- 3/4c pumpkin puree. No sugar (keeping our immune systems up during covid times), used 1/3 c maple syrup. Added some flax (1/4 c?) mash into the banana and let it sit for a few minutes. Used a little less than 4 c flour (double recipe) as I was using whole white wheat flour. Used 1.5 t soda and 1/2 t baking powder (I don’t like the bitter taste when there’s more than a t or so of b soda).
I then put the mixture in huge spoons on a baking sheet–like giant scones or biscuits. Not the prettiest, but they baked in around 25 minutes and the hungries were waiting!
great!
Made this tonight with my 12 year old son. It was Absolutely divine. We had a blast making it and it was super easy for a not great baker like myself. Came out beautifully. Thanks so much! Will be making this again soon.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been looking all over for a good vegan banana bread recipe. It tastes great but is way too dry for me.
I’m surprised you thought it was dry, everyone who tried this thought it was the opposite. People commented on how moist it was, maybe just personal preference.
Mine turned out really dry as well it was almost crumbling when you ate it. I tried slathering on a bunch of butter and it was a bit better but it was pretty hard to eat.
I have only made banana bread a couple of times but I’m so glad I found this recipe!! I will make it a lot more often! It was perfect. The only thing I added was a few walnuts with the sugar on top but other than that I wouldn’t change a thing! :)
I made mine whole food plant based. Here are the subs I did:
-raw sugar for granulated sugar
-maple syrup for brown sugar
-unsweetened applesauce for oil
-almond flour for all purpose flour
-raw sugar sprinkled on top
Next time I may use a little more applesauce to make it more moist. The flavor was really good! Thanks for sharing!
This is really good!
It may sound dramatic, but this is the best banana bread I’ve ever had. This is my fourth time making it in the past month, and my dad (who normally isn’t huge on banana bread) is absolutely obsessed. Love flaunting that it doesn’t even have eggs in it, too! Thanks so much for this, saving this recipe for life!
I am not a vegan, only 1 person is in my 4 person household. I was skeptical of this tasting satisfying without butter. Shockingly, this is one of the best banana breads I have ever tried. I followed the recipe exactly except used choc chips instead of walnuts. It even smells buttery – maybe it’s the vanilla. Anyways, kudos to you.
I have been making another vegan Banana bread for my husband that he loved….but I thought I would try something different. I think yours is now the new favorite ! The Brown sugar on top gives a nice little crunch. EVERYTHING YOU MAKE has been a home run for us! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Amazing – I ran out of flour and used pancake mix so not entirely vegan as there is dried egg in the pancake mix. Omitted nuts b/c I hate nuts in anything other than salads and spreads. Best banana bread I’ve ever made. Only needed to bake for 35min.
Could you use this recipe for zucchini bread? If you can how much zucchini should I use
Love this recipe!!!
So glad you like it! I’d actually recommend trying my vegan zucchini bread recipe: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-zucchini-banana-bread/
Thanks for the recipe! A lot of vegan recipes call for an acid such as vinegar to pair with the baking soda base. How well does this bread rise? I’m nervous to try it without the vinegar, so I’m going to add a little vegan “buttermilk” to go with it…
You can leave out the vinegar – the bananas are acidic enough for the baking soda to react. Enjoy!
TRULY THE BEST!
I doubled the recipe & made some modifications because I didn’t have brown sugar, so I did part organic cane sugar and part maple syrup instead! For my oil I used coconut oil, everything else was the same though & man it’s delicious and made a beautiful brown loaf. Thank you!!!