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This Vegan Banana Bread is fluffy, soft, and bakes up into an absolutely delicious treat. Plus, it’s actually healthy — you only need 9 whole food plant-based ingredients to make it! Gluten-Free, Refined-Sugar Free, Oil-Free, Nut-Free Option.
This Vegan Banana Bread really does check all the marks for a delicious loaf. It’s light, fluffy, perfectly sweet, has a tender crumb and makes for a good breakfast, snack, and dessert. What’s not to love?
Table of Contents
A Loaf That’s Good and Good For You
I have always had a love for banana bread (who hasn’t!?). However, when I adopted a plant-based diet in 2015, I did have one small problem – Vegan Banana Bread always seemed to fall flat. There are a plethora of vegan recipes out there, but none of them have ever seemed to knock my socks off.
Luckily, after months (and yes, I really do mean months) of testing, I think I’ve finally done it! This banana bread is tall, fluffy, not gummy whatsoever, and made from healthy, good-for-you ingredients!
What You Need for Vegan Banana Bread
In addition to ripe, spotty bananas, you’ll need just 8 other ingredients. Let’s go over what each ingredient is doing here:
- Rolled oats: We’re using a combination of both rolled oats and oat flour to make the perfect textured gluten-free, vegan banana bread.
- Coconut sugar: One of my favorite go-to ingredients to add sweetness, yet keep a recipe refined sugar-free. As a bonus, it is always vegan!
- Ground flax: The binder that holds this loaf together and gives it structure.
- Nut butter: In the spirit of keeping this recipe good for you, I’ve used nut butter in place of refined oil. Don’t worry, it still bakes up soft and fluffy.
- Baking powder + Baking soda: Essential to giving this banana bread a lift in the oven and keeping it from falling flat.
- Apple cider vinegar: Activates the baking soda and helps the loaf brown beautifully.
How to Make Vegan & Gluten-Free Banana Bread
- Blend the rolled oats using a food processor or blender until a fine flour.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining rolled oats, and salt until combined.
- Mash the bananas in a separate large bowl until even and runny in texture. Add the nut butter, sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and flax egg. Mix to combine.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir to combine until all clumps have dissolved. Fold in chocolate chips or nuts, if using.
- Pour the banana bread batter into the bread pan and spread smooth using a spatula.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer the loaf to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Slice and serve at room temperature with nut butter or vegan butter.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Use overripe bananas. As bananas ripen, the starches in the fruit break down and increases the overall sweetness. For best, sweet vegan banana bread, use ripe, spotty bananas!
- Check your baking powder’s expiration date. Baking powder’s leavening powers greatly diminish after the container has been open for a few months. If you’ve had the same tin of baking powder for over 4-6 months, it is best to discard and purchase a new one.
Serving Suggestions
Like my favorite vegan muffins, my favorite way to enjoy a slice of banana bread is with a spread of nut butter or soft vegan butter. It makes the perfect snack or easy vegan breakfast. Serve alongside a drink like my Beet Latte or Iced Chamomile Matcha Latte for the ultimate bakery-inspired experience.
If you’re looking for more Vegan Bread Recipes, you’ll also love this Vegan Zucchini Bread, Vegan Pumpkin Bread, Sweet Potato Bread and this Cranberry Orange Bread!
If you’re looking for more Vegan Bread Recipes, you’ll also love this Vegan Zucchini Bread, Vegan Pumpkin Bread, Sweet Potato Bread and this Cranberry Orange Bread!
How to Store Vegan Banana Bread
As with most of my quick breads and loaves, this vegan banana bread keeps best at room temperature covered with a loose fitting lid. Individual slices of banana bread will also freeze well for up to 2 months.
For best results, wrap individual slices of banana bread in plastic wrap to help prevent sticking and freezer burn.
Thaw frozen banana bread slices at room temperature until soft again, then heat as desired.
Substitutions and Variations
- Coconut sugar substitution: Use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar has a higher moisture content and will make the banana bread slightly more moist.
- Oat flour substitutions? As I have tested this recipe multiple times to ensure it’s deliciousness, I would strongly advise no flour substitutions. If you do decide to live life on the edge and experiment (and it works for you), please let me know in the comments below and I can update the recipe notes.
- Nut butter options: Any nut or seed butter will work, but I’d recommend using a neutral nut butter for the best flavor. A strong tasting nut butter such as peanut butter will greatly change the flavor. Some readers have also shared success replacing the nut butter with oil.
Recipe FAQs
This egg-free banana bread uses ground flaxseed as an egg replacer.
Oats in and of themselves are gluten-free, but they are often grown near wheat and can be cross contaminated. If you cannot tolerate gluten, make sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
Yes! A few brands such as Bob’s Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills sell a pre-made oat flour for purchase.
Absolutely. The best loaves of banana bread should be moist, but not wet. If you were to insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf it should come out fairly clean, with just a few crumbs.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Fluffy Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 Medium Bananas make sure they are very brown and spotty!
- 2 1/2 cup Rolled Oats divided (not Instant)
- 1/2 cup Coconut Sugar
- 1/4 cup Nut or Seed Butter*
- 2 tbsp Ground Flax OR Ground Chia Seeds + 6 tbsp Water
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Optional, but recommended
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl, combine the Ground Flax OR Ground Chia seeds with 6 tbsp water to form an “egg.” Stir and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of the Rolled Oats into a blender or food processor and blend until they form a fine flour, about 45-60 seconds.
- Place the Oat Flour into a medium sized bowl and add the Baking Powder, Baking Soda, remaining 1/2 cup of Rolled Oats, and Salt. Mix well and set aside.
- Add your ripe Bananas to a separate, large bowl, and mash with a fork until they form an even, runny texture. Add the Nut Butter, Coconut Sugar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Vanilla Extract, and Flax or Chia Egg to the bowl. Mix well.
- Slowly incorporate the dry flour mixture into the wet Banana mixture, stirring well and until all clumps have dissolved.
- Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined or greased 8″ bread pan, smoothing the top off with a spatula.
- Bake at 350F for 60-70 minutes, or until the top is golden brown, and a toothpick comes out cleanly or with minimal crumbs. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before slicing.
- Store in a container at room temperature for up to one week.
Recipe Notes
- Coconut Sugar may be substituted with Brown Sugar or Cane Sugar.
- You can use any Nut/Seed Butter that you’d like for this recipe, but this will affect the final taste. I prefer to use either Almond Butter or Peanut Butter, but you can also use Tahini, Cashew Butter, or Sunflower Seed Butter!
Love this recipe but my bread does not have a lot of rise. Is that normal?
It should have a decent amount of rise. If I had to take a stab, my first thought would be to make sure that when the wet and dry mixtures combine that they get mixed, into the bread pan, and into the oven quickly as the reaction with the vinegar and soda is what will make it start to react and rise.
Hi I love this recipe and make it all the time in a loaf tin. I’m wondering whether it would work as a tray bake using a 9×9” baking tray? If so how would you recommend cooking it, would I need to make any adjustments?
I think a 9 x 9 could work. It depends on the depth but I think even if the depth is low it should be enough room. Since it would be more spread out and less dense in the center you may need to cook it for slightly less time. Toothpick test would be a good indicator, probably checking it 10 minutes before you usually pull it out.
This banana bread is freaking delicious — my family gobbles it up in one or two days! I’ve made this several times already because I love it so much! This is the only banana bread recipe I will ever make
That’s so awesome! Thank you!
I’ve already made it twice, and it was absolutely delicious both times! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Really.
I made only one substitution, I used lemon juce instead of apple cider vinegar, as I don’t have apple cider vinegar.
Lemon juice works just as well! Glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe!
Can the banana be replaced by pumpkin?
I think that would work out. Obviously it would be a pumpkin bread at that point but you can apply the same sort of thought behind it!
Hi! I only have 2 medium bananas. How should I adjust the measurements? Thanks!
Hey there! If you need to compensate the recipe to your banana ratio then you could reduce everything by 1/3 (33%).
Such an excellent recipe! Amazing texture & flavour + has a perfect level of sweetness! 🙂
Thanks so much Caitlin.
So happy you liked it!
Subbed about half the oats w coconut four and still came out w the best texture yet. I have tried so many vegan banana bread recipes and this is the best.
Thank you! So happy you liked it!
Hi, I want to follow your recommendations. When I click on the almond butter it doesn’t bring me to just one. Is it Betsy’s best?
Thanks for pointing that out! We’ll see about getting that fixed. Otherwise any good smooth and drippy almond butter would be great!
Made this recipe into muffins tonight and did 2.25 cup rolled oats blended into a flour and subbed the rolled oat in the batter for walnut. Spooned the batter into 12 muffin silicone mold, topped with some more walnuts and baked for 18 min. Once done baking I let them sit in the tray for 5 min before I took them out and had them completely cool on a rack. So stinking good!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed them – thank you!
Hi Catlin
This is my favorite recipe, I did 4 bananas,2/12 flax egg instead and still came out delicious, added fresh blueberry, vegan dark chocolate chip and walnuts and made it as muffins .the non vegan guests love them so much they had seconds.
Thank you for the recipe ????
Love that you made it your own and that the non vegans loved it too!
Hi Caitlin.
i really love your bread!!!
i have a question my batter was more dense than yours on the video.. and the final result as well.
can i ask you how many grams or ounces of bananas did you use? can you please weigh it for me next time :)..
We’ll try and weigh some out next time, but we’ve always gone with just three medium sized bananas. Did you make sure yours had browned quite a bit? The browner the better, really. If they’re too yellow and starchy they won’t work very well. If they’re browning and spotty the sugars will have broken down enough to help add with the a better consistency.
I made this recipe as mini muffins this week and it was PERFECTION! Filled batter to the edge of the pan and baked for 25 mins. Sooo soft and springy. No one would ever expect they’re vegan. I added some mini choc chips to the second batch and OMG I regretted not making them all that way. ???? I love having them as a quick, healthy option for breakfast and snacks for my one year old. Definitely will be making these weekly!
Aw yay! So happy to hear that! Also, mostly everything is better with chocolate chips!
This was SO GOOD. I expected it to be gummy from the oats, but it’s not. A great snack to ease off the post-holiday treats. I subbed tahini for almond butter and added a handful of walnuts and chocolate chips. Think I’ll use peanut butter next time for a peanut-butter-chocolate-banana loaf.
Sounds awesome! Glad you were able to throw in some extra stuff for your preference. Thanks!
Hi
I just wanted to know if we could use a combination of any neutral flavour oil and a bit of peanut butter instead of just the butter .
You COULD but it was designed as an oil free recipe! Others have used some form of oil with success, so it shouldn’t be an issue!
I eat gluten on occasion but have been experimenting baking with different flours. I’ve made this exactly as written twice now and love it! Thanks for the inspiration!
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much!
Hi! How much does this banana bread weigh? I want to make it in the bread machine and I don’t know what weight button to press (1 lb, 1.5 lb or 2 lb). Can it be made in a bread machine?
Hi Oana! Sorry about that, I’m not sure – I’ve never made it in a bread machine. If you try it, let me know what works!
Can I make chia “eggs” for this recipe using whole chia seeds instead of ground ones? Also, will it be the same if i use white vinegar instead of apple cider?
You want to use ground for sure. Otherwise the binding of the whole chia seeds isn’t the same. If you only have whole, you can grind them yourself if you have a good blender or food processor for it. White vinegar should be fine, it won’t change the flavor drastically.
I make this almost every week. It’s a quick grab and go breakfast!
I’ve made it with quick oats and tahini, it came out great.
I like to top it with de-thawed frozen raspberries, maple syrup + a drizzle of tahini. So GOOD!!!
Love the loaded bread slice approach! Thank you!
Hi this recipe looks amazing! Do all 3 bananas go into the batter and then a 4th one sliced on the top? Making this today!
yes, the optional 4th banana goes on top 🙂