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.
Hi Alissa!
I dont have parchment paper…i have an aluminum foil baking pan…can I just grease the pan with coconut oil??
Im making your recipe today it looks so good! I made some adaptations of my own and cant wait to try it!!
That should work just fine! I mainly prefer parchment because it makes it easy to lift the loaf out of the pan, but you can certainly grease it.
Hi, Alissa…
I plan to make your recipe today but want to know if I can substitute coconut sugar for granulated sugar?
Please advise.
Deborah
Hi Deborah! Coconut sugar should work just fine. I hope you enjoy it!
This recipe was awesome and ridiculously easy. I only had frozen bananas and was too lazy to wait for them to completely defrost, so they were still a little frozen in some spots which may have reduced some moisture in the bread. I also cut a bit of the oil out (did about 3/4 the amount) and added a bit of almond milk because the mix was understandably a lot thicker than yours. I added chopped cashews and subbed maple syrup for vanilla extract (didn’t have any). It still came out perfect. Absolutely fool proof and so easy with minimal dish clean up…my favorite kind of recipe!
Yay! Great modifications and I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, I didn’t make this bread yet, but my question: can you freeze it? Thank you!
Yup! It freezes great!
Could I trouble you to provide a weight for the amount of banana used?
I’m afraid I don’t have a medium sized banana on hand at the moment, but according to healthline it should weigh about 118 grams.
I made this as the vegan option to replace the scone at my chorus’s Jingle Bell Tea. I got rave reviews and requests for the recipe, so thank you!!
I made a couple of modifications – In addition to the cinnamon, I added 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to make it have a more spice cake flavor and added 1 apple cored and diced (peel on) since the scones were cranberry orange so wanted a fruit mix-in as well.
So moist and delicious!
That sounds like a delicious variation! I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks Joy!
This is great! Thanks!
Glad you like it!
first time making something vegan! The bananabread looks beautiful, I think it’s just a bit dry. I’m thinking I may have overmixed the batter a bit? It may be more moist towards the middle of the loaf as I ate an end piece this morning. Any tips to make the bread more moist, it may just be my inexperience though… Also did a mix of chopped pistachios and walnuts and sprinkled a bit on top with the brownsugar and it make a beautiful little topping crust. Great flavor, I had a lot of fun in the kitchen last night!!
Glad you had fun! Usually if it’s too dry it’s a result of the bananas not being ripe enough (they need to be super soft with lots of brown spots) or mismeasuring somewhere. Could it have been either of those things?
I substituted the white flour for bran to make it more healthy but the mixture ended up so dry it was like cookie dough. I added a lot more oil which made zero difference. I was unsure about adding milk to get it to be a little more runny since no mention was made of milk in the ingredients I didn’t want to mess up the recipe completely. Its now in the oven.i have very little faith it will be edible. It’s my first attempt at vegan baking. My daughter is a vegan so I wanted to make something for her to enjoy as well.
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Sorry to hear that! I wouldn’t recommend substituting all of the flour with bran. You could experiment with replacing just a portion of the flour with bran – try 20% to start, but there’s never a guarantee that the recipe will turn out well.
I really hope this works out for me! It’s baking in the oven right now and I’m bringing it to an office breakfast potluck tomorrow morning. I have vegan coworkers so I thought I’d give it a shot. I’ll report back tomorrow when I get to taste it!
Happy Holidays Alissa,
I would like to use some whole wheat flour.
What ratio of white & wheat flour do you suggest?
Can’t wait to try making it this week!
I’d try half and half! I’d love to hear how it turns out!
So delish!!! My third time making this recipe. My only issue is that is that the batter is always SO thick to the point where ingredients don’t mix evenly at all. So I’ve always had to add a good amount of liquid (usually some oat milk creamer or almond milk) to get it all to blend. So strange. I wonder What the heck im doing wrong! Other than that it’s always a success! Got one in the oven now. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you like it! Banana bread batter is very thick, and will usually be a bit lumpy, so you might not be doing anything wrong at all. :)
I made this yesterday, and it was not just my first time making banana bread, but my first time making any kind of bread. It came out perfect, and everyone loved it! I added pecans and vegan chocolate chips and it was so good.
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Ashleigh!
Can I make it gluten free?
You could try substituting an all-purpose gluten-free blend. I haven’t tried though, so no promises!
This a great recipe. However, I found it hard to know when the bread was done. I baked it in a heavy, shiny, grey nonstick pan. The first time, I pulled it out at 45 minutes, and it was too dry. The second time I tried the recipe, I pulled it out at 35 minutes due to the toothpick coming out clean, but it was a little doughy in the middle. Other than that, it was delicious and easy to bake. I put a note on my copy of your recipe to bake at least 40 minutes and maybe longer, but not 50. (I use an oven thermometer to make sure oven is actually 350°.)
Before baking, I poured in half the dough without nuts, then the other half after mixing in 1/2 cup chopped nuts, as we are a mixed household. It was perfect.
I shared my photo on the Vegan Baking page on Facebook with a link to your page.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for the share!
Do you know if it would work with Spelt flour?
It should! I’ve used spelt flour in similar recipes with no problem.
While granulated sugar is typically not vegan because it is bone-bleached, this recipe is killer! I like to add a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper for a hot finish!
Oh great idea! Cayenne pepper sounds like a delicious addition! Glad you like it. You can use organic sugar to keep this vegan – it’s processed without animal bones. :)
This is outstanding! The brown sugar on top is a great idea. This will be my go-to banana bread recipe from now on.
So happy to hear that! Thanks Lorraine!
I made this gluten free using Bob’s red mill. My bananas weren’t over ripe so I figured it wouldnt be as banana-y. However after trying the finished product it tastes like salt. I even put less than it called for. What could have gone wrong?
You definitely need to use overripe bananas – otherwise they’ll be too starchy and the texture will be all wrong. I could also be the flour – I haven’t tested this with any gluten-free varieties so I can’t say for sure if they work or not.
I’m happy to report that this recipe works beautifully with gluten-free flour (I’m based in Australia & used the White Wings brand of GF plain flour). I added honey instead of granulated sugar to compensate for any extra dryness & added chopped, dried dates at the liquid stage to plump them up a little. I forgot the vanilla & brown sugar crust but no matter — it still turned out great. Thank you, Alissa!
Glad you enjoyed it!!
I reckon I’ll swap the granulated sugar with maple syrup or brown rice syrup next time to make it truly vegan :)
You can just use organic sugar – it’s not processed with animal bones like regular sugar. :)