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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!
Made this delicious recipe last night, OMG!!!! I used half the amount of coconut sugar and added a little applesauce, maple syrup, cinnamon, and raisins. Delish! I have been on a banana bread kick lately and this was definitely my favorite recipe so far. Thank you!
Yum! Thanks for the review!
I didnt have any vinegar so i squeezed some lemon and used it as a replacement for the vinegar, i also added cacao nibs and some sliced bananas on top in came out great!
Yum! Sounds great, Jade 🙂
I have failed at a modified version of this recipe, repeatedly, and would greatly appreciate any advice.
The first attempt, was to the recipe, using coconut sugar. It was okay, but took more time than advised to bake.
Latest attempt:
1 cp. oat flour + 1/2 cp oats, 1 cp. coconut flour.
Reduced to two ripe bananas, to limit moisture, based on past experience of undercooking.
I am substituting organic, unsweetened applesauce for sugar, and 1/2 cp. garbanzo bean water (aqua faba) mixed (whisked with fork) with 1 tbsp. ground flaxseed.
Baking for 70 mins initially, up to 85 mins.
The last attempted loaf did not rise, and the middle was significantly undercooked, while the crust was overcooked.
Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!.
Instead of 6 T water, I used 6 T of aquafaba to soak the chia seeds. I cooked at 350 for 50 minutes, then covered for an additional 20 minutes.
Great recipe! I added a cup of fresh raspberries and half a cup of chopped dates….delicious!
Great idea, Christine!
This is an outstanding recipe and will definitely become my go-to banana bread! It’s fluffy, but still moist and my family is probably going to finish the loaf in one day! The best part is that it’s healthy but taste like the original!!
If I want to bake these in a 12 muffin pan, what would the cooking time be? And same temp? Thanks!
Hi Tina! Same temp, 35-40 minutes 🙂
Sorry, I forgot to rate the recipe. It’s definitely a 5-star!
Caitlin, I’ve tried many quick breads made from oat flour and your recipe is hands down the best! The bread was indeed fluffy, and doesn’t have the gumminess that oat flour breads usually have. There was also a nice crunch on the edges and from the unground oats.
I used two chicken eggs in place of the flax eggs, brown sugar (about 2 tbsp short of 1/2 cup as I prefer a less sweet bread), natural peanut butter and baked the bread in a 9” metal pie pan in a toaster oven for about 48 min and it turned out perfect. Thank you so much for experimenting and sharing the recipe!
I’ve made the bread twice now. I didn’t use coconut sugar and didn’t feel the need to replace it with any other sugary thing. I did replace almond butter with peanut butter, instead of vanilla extract I used 1 bag of vanilla sugar (~10grams) and instead of baking powder I used winestone (that’s the literal translation anyway).
First try I left out the 1/2cup of whole oats, I used ~6g of winestone and I baked at 180°C for 75min.It was tasty but the middle was a little wet and it fell together.
Second try I used all of the oats, used the remaining winestone(~12g) and I baked at 170°C for 75min and it came out much nicer, it is bigger and actually fluffy. The slice on the edge was heavenly, I just hope the rest of it is also baked otherwise I’ll have to tinker with the recipe a bit more.
Hi Simon, leaving the Coconut Sugar and some of the Oats out will definitely make a difference with how the bread bakes in the oven. I’m glad you found a method that is working for you with your modifications!
Has anyone tried to double this recipe? I’m not very experienced when it comes to baking but I’ve heard that one has to be careful when doubling recipes.
If you double it, I would still cook it in two separate loaf pans 🙂 but otherwise it should be fine!
Thanks Caitlin! I used buckwheat flour as oats don’t like me and peanut butter. This made a heavier bread but I’m still loving it ☺️
Absolutely the best vegan banana bread ever! I tried so many different recipes in the past and have few favorites. However, this one is the bomb!!! The texture, flavor, and the taste are perfect!
Thank you so much for sharing!
This was amazing! Exactly like the picture and so moist and fluffy I was literally jumping up and down! Banana bread has always had a sort of taboo on it for me so this saved my banana bread deprived life.
Thanks so much!
So happy to hear that, Daria! 🙂
gotta give it to you, caitlin. your recipes are all super easy to follow and i love the clean ingredient list. this bread turned out perfectly on the first try…which is great because we doubled the recipe!
we made a couple changes. added a pinch of cloves and cinnamon, subbed half hazelnut extract (cuz we ran out of vanilla). thanks a bunch!
ooh yum – that sounds great! Thank you Carmen!
Just made this. Had no coconut sugar so I used unrefined cane sugar. Made the almond butter myself. Used homebrewed kombucha instead of ACV and added chopped pecans. Everyone loved it even more than the one my wife makes with regular flour. Thanks for the recipe.
Sounds delicious! 🙂
Hello,
I made this and my family really liked it. This recipe is a keeper for us.
Is it possible to know the calories for a piece of this banana bread?
Thank you for this great recipe.
Hi Mina! I do not calculate the nutritional information for my recipes, but there are plenty of free calculators online where you can input the information yourself.
Made these for my mom for Mother’s Day, they are so good! I made them into muffins and cooked them for about 20-25 minutes and also added some stevia sweetened chocolate chips. Excellent recipe!!
Hi Caitlin,
Do you think coconut butter would work in place of almond?
Yes, it should be fine!
I made this and it was AMAZING! I did replace the coconut sugar with organic stevia. It was soooo yummy and I was super surprised at how moist it was, even without oil. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Dear Caitlin,
Thank you for the recipe! this was so delicious! I have tried different vegan options, and this one is by far the best!
The only thing that it did not raise at all (maybe 10% vs. uncooked butter). I followed all the steps in the recipe, and substituted almond butter with peanut one. What could be the reason?
Thanks,
Nina
Thanks Nina! It should raise some, but not very much. It can also depend on the altitude you live in