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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!
Extremely fluffy and delicious! I just love it!!!
Yay!!! 🙂
Hi Caitlin I was wondering if I can make this bread without any sugar? Just the sweetness of the bananas? What do you think?
I don’t think so – the sugar plays a role in the structure of the bread as well
I love your recipes! Could you also introduce metric measurements? It will be of great help for some of us 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, Elena! We will definitely consider this moving forward 🙂
Hi Caitlin! I made this recipe today with buckwheat flour and it was amazing! So impressed by the fluffines!
Yay! 🙂
This bread turned out delicious. I Just wanted to say that I successfully used steel cut oats to make the oat flour and it was still fluffy, moist, and delicious. The oats just need to be blended for slightly longer in order to get them to a fine texture.
Great to hear that, Taylor!
The first gfvegan nonprocessed sugar bread recipe that WORKED!! Not gummy or gooey and just the right amount of sweetness as I don’t eat sugar. This bread is delish. Thanks so much for all your hard work getting this bread right. Much appreciated!!
Thank you, Brenda! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Delicious! I panicked because I had no ACV so I used fresh squeezed OJ instead. It rose beautifully and did not sink. I also used brown sugar instead of coconut and added Walnuts. So good. My first successful vegan banana bread. Thank you!
Woo! Thanks for the review, Shelly!
If I don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand, can I substitute it with something or leave it out, or do you think the recipe would flip without it?
You can substitute with lemon juice, or distilled white vinegar!
Could I use old fashioned rolled oats to make oat flour?
Yes! You can use rolled oats or quick oats, but not steel cut oats
Caitlyn you have out done yourself! Holy cow this banana bread is perfect! You can tell that it is not your standard oily sugary banana bread but that’s why it’s so good. Just the right about of sweetness! Thanks so much for this healthy banana bread recipe.
Thank you so much, Kim! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Can I add frozen blueberries to the batter? Or would it affect the structure?
That should be fine, I think you could add up to 1 cup – just fold them in right before baking!
This banana bread looks amazing! So rich and the texture is perfect ♥
Hey Caitlin! I’m stoked to make this tomorrow, just one question: if I use store-bought oat flour, how much will I need? I unfortunately only own a food processor which will probably have some trouble blitzing whole oats into a fine flour, and I already have some store bought oat flour lying in my cupboard.
You can use the same amount of Oat Flour – 2 cups!
Hey Caitlin, love your recipe. SOO YUMMY. I’ve been making it about twice a week. I note es yesterday though that you changed it slightly. Doubled the vinegar and added a tsp of baking powder. I had do do a triple take and eventually thought that I had somehow crossed into a parallel dimension in which the only difference is this change in recipe. I’m questioning the boundaries of our objective reality here and suddenly find that I can’t trust anyone anymore. I’m trying to find a way out but all I can do is hope that things will somehow return to normal. That I’ll wake up and realize that this has all been a dream. What is the truth? Either way, love the bread. Ps. I’m we add dairy free choco chips and walnuts. Serious yum yums.
Warm regards,
Pastor Smikel
Lol! Yes, I updated the recipe slightly – the flavors will still be the same, but the bread itself will be even fluffier now!
I made this 3 days ago and followed the recipe almost exactly (which I never do! lol) and it came out… perfect. I didn’t have coconut sugar so I subbed brown sugar (which I blended very fine) and omitted salt. I made it again tonight and this time decided to weigh the 3 bananas (14 oz), sub the nut butter for applesauce, use sucanet for sweetness and omit salt. I blended bananas, sugar, applesauce, baking powder, baking soda and apple cider vinegar in vitamix on low speed rather than mashing and hand mixing. I even added the sliced bananas like you did and it looked so gourmet. It turned out fluffy and moist… absolutely delicious! Thank you for this amazing recipe, Caitlin!
Great idea to use the blender to save time! I’m glad you enjoyed the bread, Tammy 🙂
I made this recipe once and very good! Probably the best texture of vegan and oil-free banana bread????So you think date sugar would work?
I haven’t tested it, but if it has the same consistency of brown or coconut sugar it should be fine!
Oh my goodness – this recipe is so perfect! Definitely my go-to banana bread recipe now! I made it with flax, peanut butter, and added dark chocolate chips and it was bombbb
AMAZING! I used cashew butter and it worked super well. Thank you for sharing this tasty healthy recipe 🙂
YUM!
Do you use raw apple cider vinegar?
Yes, I do
It is so nice to have someone who eats the way I eat, and knows how to make so simple, though tasty, recipes. Everyone always behaves as though it is impossible to eat tasty food that is vegan, gluten free and oil free. Your recipes are the proof that it is not right!!! Thank you!
I wanted to ask how many ml do you have in your measuring cup?
And another question, if I have a really ripe bananas, can I drop off the sugar? Or should I put something else instead? Because it has its volume…
Thanks a lot, you are a great inspiration ❤️
Hi Marva! You can reduce the sugar if you’d like, but I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out. It does help add texture and fluffiness to the bread.
Hi Caitlin! Thanks for your answer!
And how many ml do you have in your measuring cup? (It changed from country to country and I am already confused)
1 cup is ~236 ml
Thanks! I can’t wait to make it ????