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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!
Hi! I so want to try this recipe! There only thing, I live in Brussels, Belgium. And I’ve been looking for apple cider vinegar for a while but can’t seem to find it! Can I substitute it for anything else like lemon juice or another vinegar maybe? Thank you so much for all the effort and dedication you put into your channel and blog! I admire you for being vegan and admire you for the amazing personality. And you’re not the only one who eats raw greens straight out of the bag without anything on top.? I never miss a video and it’s becoming hard to find videos of yours that I haven’t seen yet!
ILY
Hi Sofia! The bread may not be as fluffy, but you can leave the apple cider vinegar out – it just helps it to rise some. Thank you for the kind message! 🙂
Oh god you replied this just made my day tbh. ❤ And I have news : I JUST FOUND A HUGE BOTTLE OF APPLE CIDER VINEGAR OMG. I’m eating breakfast (I live in Europe) and my feet are impatiently tapping the floor so that I stuff my face even faster and get on with baking. Now, I just have one last question : Does it freeze well? You know those mornings when you have nothing to eat, you just pop out a couple of thick slices of banana bread and you’re set. ILYSM
Hey Caitlin, love your blog!
I have made the banana bread three times now and the first time it was perfekt and then the other two times it was very mushy and more fudge than fluffy… Do you know why that might have happened? 🙂
Kinami, I’m sorry that happened! It could be your bananas are too large, because that might create more moisture and make the bread more dense. Generally speaking, it should be about 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas for this recipe!
this. is. phenomenal. I keep eating more because I’m utterly in shock.
So glad you enjoy it Kylie!
Just made this but only used 3 tbsp almond butter/peanut butter, 1/3 cup coconut sugar and then added 1/4 cup applesauce with the chia seeds instead of water and 1 small yellow squash.
Baked for about 65 minutes in a glass baking dish and it came out PERFECT!!
HANDS DOWN… this is the BEST banana bread recipe I have ever eaten. My roommate makes it all the time. I am going to try and make it into muffins and maybe add some zucchini, applesauce and walnuts!!
So glad you like it Lacey! Sounds like a yummy idea 🙂 Maybe I’ll have to turn that into a blog recipe!
Would it be alright to leave out the coconut sugar completely?
Courtney – You could reduce it to 1/3 cup, but I would not leave it out entirely.
Hi! can we use quick oat instead of rolled oat?
thank you!
Hi Valerie! I would recommend Rolled Oats for this recipe. You can use Quick Oats but the bread will not be as fluffy
Thank you so much for this recipe, I’ve made it twice in the last 5 days! I also added in walnuts and sprinkled oats on top ?
Hi Caitlin! Can I substitute the almond butter with pb2? Or the fats from the natural almond butter are neccessary for this recipe? What can i use instead of any butter? I only have pb2 🙁
Hi Claudia, unfortunately I would not recommended substituting PB2, as the fats are essential to helping the bread rise. Otherwise it will be soggy and dense.
The best banana bread!! It came out perfectly. Thank you for the recipe 😀
So glad you liked it 🙂
My favorite vegan banana bread!! Thanks for making this awesome banana bread!!! ??❤️? Love your work ?
Yaaay! thank you Dina!
I made this banana bread for the first time today, and with my close-to-none baking skills, somehow managed to pull it off! If I can do it, that most definitely says something about the recipe! Thank you so much Caitlin, will most definitely be making many more of your recipes xoxo
Yay! So glad you liked it girl 🙂
Hi Caitlin! I watch your YouTube videos religiously 😀 btw, and here I sat for an hour searching the web for a good recipe for my ripe bananas. I wanted to avoid oil and refined sugar, but no dice! Then lo and behold I thought, “That Caitlin will have something!” And this recipe is perfect!! I’m off to bake NOW but wanted to give you a shout out for being such a lovely vegan with the best recipes!!
Thank you Miranda, hope you enjoy it!
I made this using tahini instead of almond butter and it turned out really good! However, it did have an aftertaste of baking powder. Are we supposed to use 1 tablespoon as the recipe calls for, or maybe just 1 teaspoon? I’m not sure whether that was a mistake. Thank you Caitlin!
Hi Mariana, I usually use 1 tablespoon, not 1 teaspoon.
Your baking powder may have aluminum in it
can u opt out the coconut sugar entirely? or can I add like ⅓ cup of honey/ maple/agave ?
i don’t rly like it to be very sweet so pls help me!!
Shannon, you can reduce the coconut sugar to 1/3 cup if you’d like, but I would not add a liquid sweetener.
Really love this, but currently I only have instant oats in my pantry, would that work? I googled for conversion btw rolled and instant oats but didn’t find what I need.will you give me some advice?
While it’s not recommended you can use instant oats, they just cook through and get softer more quickly. Measurement should be the same!
I followed the recipe exactly and as someone who is new to vegan baking, I’m so surprised at the taste. This is actually the best banana bread I’ve ever had, non-vegan banana bread included. It’s delicious! Might try adding vegan choc chips like another user has and make them as muffins next time so I can grab them on the go. Thank you so much for sharing this!
That is awesome, Teresa! Many people have been making it with chocolate chips….I need to give that a try!
Hi Caitlin! Hope you are well?. Just made this tonight and it was like a flavor explosion in my mouth! I’m new t vegan baking and love it! Thank you for continuing to inspire me!
I subbed the butter for coconut yogurt, and used maple syrup instead of the sugar. I increased the flour a bit , oooh I’d it good. Much longer time to bake though and probably not as fluffy as yours but a good first effort!
Kristen, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! That sounds so yummy!
Love the banana bread!
I used peanut butter, a chia egg, and sugar in the raw for my banana bread and it came out awesome! I’m new to plant based eating and this was delicious 🙂
Glad to hear it Marissa!
Ahhh this was amazing. I added vegan chocolate chips and I regret nothing. I live at high altitude and had no problems with using the recipe as directed. Thanks so much, Caitlin!
So glad you enjoyed it Tanya!
Caitlin you’re a goddess! This seriously is the perfect vegan banana bread, I agree with everything you said about how dense and gummy other recipes are–but yours is fluffy and delicious! Thank you for sharing your banana bread wisdom with the rest of us! This will now be my go-to!
Thank you so much Kara, I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I do! 🙂