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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!
Awesome recipe! Waiting for my bananas to ripe… ;D Would be great if next time you would include some photos of the process for us non-bakers to see the texture of the batter and etc. 🙂
Hey Caitlin! This is not really a question to this amazing banana bread but i don’t know how much is 1 cup… I don’t have those “cups” at home so i never know how much i have to use. It would help a lot if i woulf know how much ml water fits in 1 cup for example:) Sorry if my English isn’t perfect, i’m from Germany.
Hi Zoey, I can’t really give you the mL of oats needed because it is a solid, not a liquid! However, you would need about 90 grams or 3.17 oz of oats to make 1 cup. There are lots of measurement convertors like this online for future reference 🙂
1 cup equals 250ml
Well done Caitlin. I’m really impressed with this recipe. It’s the best oil free banana bread that I’ve tried. It wasn’t stodgy or dense at all. My kids loved it too! I used peanut butter as I didn’t have any almond butter, and it worked great. It didn’t really taste like peanuts, but I’m going to buy some almond butter and try it with that instead. Thank you!
So glad you and your children liked it Libby! 🙂
Hi Caitlin,
I’ve tried 2 vegan banana bread recipes now (this is the 2nd) and left them in for a good 80minutes and the bread is still not cooked in the middle, any suggestions? I followed all the ingredients except I used regular sugar.
Thanks!!
Hi Claire, do you live at a high altitude? That is strange! If the bread is not too crispy on the outside already, you could try raising the oven temp to 370 or so.
I just made this! I used tahini and Sugar in the Raw, and it came out just fine! I’m pretty excited about it, and will totally be making it for my family members too. Thanks for the recipe!
Hooray! Hope you all enjoy it 🙂
OMG I just made this recipe…and all I can say is…I’m addicted!! Good job Caitlin, you did it again! 🙂
So good, right?! Thank you 🙂
Making this for the second time! it’s such a hearty and satisfying recipe that I love to have at home after night shifts at work. Instead of sugar, I added a packet of Vega Vanilla Protein and Greens powder, and I love the results it gave. This is definitely a staple in my recipe rotation now. So much healthier than packaged vegan bars and so much tastier. Thanks, Caitlin!
I’m so glad you like it Nora! Adding protein powder is a neat idea!
Hi Caitlin! I have already made this recipe four times (one is currently baking in the oven, I will bring it to a picnic tonight) and I absolutely love it! I added some chocolate chips into the loaf today and am very excited to see how it turns out. Sugar substitutions that worked really well for me were xylitol and date sugar (which is essentially dried and ground dates). Thanks to you I am slowly getting back into baking more!
Chiara, I am so glad you like it! I think chocolate chips would be a fantastic idea 🙂 And thank you for the information on the sugar subs!
I really wanna try this recipe out soon!! I was wondering if it would be a lot easier to just use pre-made oat flour? It’s the same exact thing it’s just blended for me already. If so, how much oat float does it end up being considering that the oats take up more space in the cup than flour? Kinda confusing question sorry!! I’ll probably end up just making the oat flour myself.
Hi Anna, I answered this question in one of the comments above!
I made this…and promptly ate half of it. Is that normal? Thank you so for creating something so simple, so easy, and so delicious.
hahaha I have definitely done the same thing, Audra. I’m glad you liked it!
I’ve made this twice in the last week. Oops! 🙂 And my (totally not even close to vegan) dad loves to sneak a slice or two (or maybe half the loaf). It only lasts a few days in our house. Thanks so much for this recipe! 🙂
So glad you like it Anna! It disappears like lighting over here too 🙂
I just made this banana bread this afternoon and it is wonderful! Many oil-free recipes I’ve tried came out mushy or just simply would not bake all the way, but this one was just right. Fluffy, banana-ey, and delicious! The only difference from the recipe is that my almond butter was the crunchy kind, so I ended up with some almond bits throughout- which totally works!! Thanks for a great recipe. 🙂
I love the idea of using crunchy nut butter! Glad you enjoyed, Olivia 🙂
This is the best banana bread I’ve ever made by far. It has the perfect sweetness and fluffy texture, and it’s way better than the other vegan recipes I’ve tried. HIGHLY recommend(:
Hi Caitlin! I’ve been following your instagram account for while and I’ve totally been obsessed with your food, and tried multiple of your smoothie and oatmeal bowls. This is the first time I tried one of your baked goods and it came out amazing! Keep up the awesome work! Side note: I’m not vegan, but prefer healthy options like your banana bread 🙂
Thank you so much Emma! I’m happy when anyone makes my recipes 🙂
This banana bread looks perfect! I definitely would like to try it out someday!
Caitlin, this was so great! I made it once with cacao nibs and once with raisins. Thanks for posting! More gluten-free vegan recipies please! I would also love some high calcium recipies. Thanks for making veganism accessible for those of us without great kitchen skills or tons of $$!
Kerry, cacao nibs sound BRILLIANT! I’m going to have to do that next time 🙂 And you are so welcome!
I agree baking is difficult for me and wheat sensitivity and celiacs affect my family. I will add pecans and enjoy. Do you have a pumpkin recipe my other favorite bread
I made it !!! It is the best!! I made my own almond butter with my thermomix, I would totally recommend you try it. I Also would try adding a little cinnamon and cardamum to make it more flavorfull!!
Sila, that sounds so delicious! Cardamom is one of my favorite spices
Thank you for making me believe I can make banana bread finally suiting my needs 😀 Definitely first thing I’ll do when I come back home from holidays!
Absolutely obsessed with this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing! I made some the other day for some family. Now I am craving it today! Next time I make a secret batch for myself alone! ?
This looks PERFECT! Going to make it this afternoon, can’t wait to snack on it all week.
Hope you enjoy!