Easy vegan banana bread - this is the best vegan banana bread recipe! It is so quick and simple to make, perfectly moist, tender, fluffy and full of banana flavour. It is the perfect way to use up those brown bananas and is really adaptable, add whatever mix-ins you like! Eggless and dairy-free with NO weird egg replacers.
I've posted quite a few different recipes for various flavours of vegan banana bread before; but I realised recently that I have never actually written up the recipe for my basic, easy vegan banana bread.
This easy vegan banana bread may be basic, but it is anything but boring. It is a super simple recipe that uses just regular store cupboard ingredients but results in a beautifully moist, tender, fluffy, flavourful banana bread that easily rivals any egg and dairy laden variety.
All you need to whip up a loaf is:
Bananas - the more ripe and brown they are the better!
Light brown soft sugar - brown sugar gives the banana bread flavour and extra moisture, but it will still work well with white sugar if you don't have brown.
Oil or vegan block butter - you can use a neutral flavoured oil such as sunflower, vegetable or canola oil, or use melted coconut oil or melted vegan block butter. All of these options work well. (Oil might give a sliiightly more moist texture than butter but both are good. The one in the photos was made with melted butter (Naturli Vegan Block)).
Plain flour - I like this vegan banana bread best made with regular plain white flour but you can also swap about a third of it for wholemeal flour if you like. Or replace the plain flour with white spelt flour.
Non-dairy milk: soy milk is best for baking as it has the highest protein content but any variety will work (except tinned coconut milk).
Cider or white wine vinegar: a little bit of vinegar reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to help the banana bread rise. You could swap it for a teaspoon of lemon juice if you don't have vinegar.
Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda: these are the raising agents that make the banana bread light and fluffy.
Vanilla and cinnamon: I like to add a dash of vanilla extract for extra flavour but you can leave it out if you don't have it. I kept the cinnamon fairly minimal to enhance the banana flavour rather than overpower it but you can add more if you like. A ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg would be a lovely addition too!
Salt: I find that the flavour of most baked goods is enhanced by the addition of a little bit of salt.
How To Make Easy Vegan Banana Bread:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
Make sure that you have preheated your oven and greased and lined a 2lb loaf tin.
Start by whisking together plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl using a balloon whisk.
Next, mash your bananas very well with a fork and add them to the bowl of flour along with light brown soft sugar, your choice of oil or melted butter, non-dairy milk, cider or white wine vinegar and vanilla extract.
Gently whisk everything together until no dry lumps remain but be careful not to over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough.
If you are adding any mix-ins, fold them through now.
Pour the batter into your greased and lined tin and spread it level. Bake for about 50-60 minutes until the banana bread is springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top starts to get too dark before it is ready you can loosely cover it with tin foil.
Cool in the tin for ten minutes then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.
Optional Mix-Ins:
This easy vegan banana bread is delicious as it is but it also works really well with mix-ins. Why not try adding about 125g of chocolate chips, roughly chopped nuts, raisins or other dried fruit?
Can I Freeze It?:
Yes. this easy vegan banana bread freezes really well. Either place it in an airtight freezer-proof container or ziplock bag or wrap it well before freezing.
Allow to defrost at room temperature. Once defrosted it is nice if you give it 10 seconds in the microwave to refresh it.
More Vegan Banana Bread Recipes:
Vegan chocolate chip banana bread
Vegan banana cake with chocolate peanut butter frosting
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Easy Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 250 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 330 g (3 medium) very ripe banana
- 175 g (1 cup) light brown soft sugar
- 120 ml (½ cup) sunflower oil or another neutral oil OR melted coconut oil OR 120g vegan block butter, melted
- 60 ml (¼ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best)
- ½ teaspoon cider or white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease an approx 11.5 x 21.5 cm / 4.5 x 8.5 in loaf tin (2lb loaf tin) and line with a strip of baking parchment.
- Place the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Mash the bananas well with a fork then add them to the bowl of flour along with the sugar, oil or melted butter, milk, vinegar and vanilla extract.
- Whisk until no dry lumps remain but be careful not to over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. If you are adding any mix-ins fold them through now.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for 50-60 minutes until firm and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then carefully turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Once cold, store in an airtight container for up to five days.
Notes
Optional Mix-Ins:
This easy vegan banana bread is delicious as it is but it also works really well with mix-ins. Why not try adding about 125g of chocolate chips, roughly chopped nuts, raisins or other dried fruit?Can I Freeze It?:
Yes. this easy vegan banana bread freezes really well. Either place it in an airtight freezer-proof container or ziplock bag or wrap it well before freezing. Allow to defrost at room temperature. Once defrosted it is nice if you give it 10 seconds in the microwave to refresh it.
Kate
You must be a mind reader! I got your email just as I was looking for banana bread recipes to use up a glut of bananas that my other half bought in a panic. This one looks delicious!
Amari Young
I love this recipe, it's been my go to for years! However I have been advised by my doctor to go gluten free, and my attempts at making this recipe with Gf flour have lead to having a sandy texture and not rising. Any advice?
Hannah
Hi Amari, I haven't tried making this recipe gluten-free I'm afraid so I can't say for sure what is going wrong. In my experience, pretty much all gluten-free flours have a slightly sandy texture, they may also require a bit more liquid than regular flour. Are you using a GF flour blend such as Doves Farm and are you adding xanthan gum?
Paxton
50min burnt my muffins 30 would be better. 170 in non fan force
hannahhossack
Well yes, 50 minutes is the baking time for the recipe as written; ie a loaf cake which is completely different to muffins. I would have recommended 20-30 minutes for muffins.
Restricka
Oya literal burn
Scarlet
Really easy and really tasty! Mine only needed 40mins in the oven but I think it may have been because my tin was a little wide!
Emma Tickner
Great recipe. Just waiting for my loaf to cool down enough before we get stuck in.
Angie
OMG this is so yummy! Thanks for sharing! Will add walnuts etc for next round! =^.^=
Angie
I reduced the sugar by one quarter and added 100g chopped walnuts and its yummy! Thanks again for this wonderfully simple recipe! :)~
jacqueline walsh
About to make this but wondering if you put in middle or top of oven as last banana bread recipe i tried the top nearly burnt but the bottom wasnt fully cooked. It was on the top oven shelf..... fan assisted. Thankyou
hannahhossack
Hi Jacqueline, I always bake on the middle shelf, never the top of the oven. You can cover the top of the banana bread with tin foil for the last 20 minutes or so of baking if the top starts to get too dark before it is cooked through.
Raahat
Followed this recipe, added a handful of walnuts, and baked for 30 mins in a round cake tin. Turned out delicious and so moist!! Everyone loved it. Thanks again 😀
Tamara
Amazing recipe - best banana bread ever!! Light, moist, sweet and delicious. I added extra cinnamon and nutmeg, as my partner hates bananas so I need to disguise them, and it was perfect. Made it as a thank you for friends and they loved it too.
Emma
This recipe is amazing! Hands down the best banana bread I've ever eaten. Thank you so much for posting this!
Gillian Masefield
Great recipe. I didn't have any baking powder but it came out perfectly anyway. So easy
Kate I
Fab recipe. My tastes run a little less sweet so I reduced the sugar by around 1/3 (no substitute) and then doubled all quantities (including the "new" sugar measurement) to make a big tray bake and increased the cooking time by around 10 mins. Worked perfectly and was gobbled up really quickly by the hoards!
Clare
We love this recipe. It is moist and delicious and really easy to make! The only change I make (when I remember) is to sprinkle demerara sugar on for a slightly crunchy topping.
Geneviève
Great recipe! I just made a loaf and half of it is already gone, everyone loves it at home. I sprinkled some oats on top and that looked really good... 50 minutes baketime was perfect. Thank you very much for this recipe! I will definitely be doing it again 🙂
Amanda
Followed the recipe to a T and my family loved it. Happy to find a vegan banana bread without aquafaba or flax eggs!!
Melony Skeldon
This recipe is absolutely delicious I’ve just cooked it and we had a slice all nice and warm. I think I might have under cooked it and I didn’t use parchment so it didn’t turn out in one piece. However it hasn’t distracted from the taste or light texture it’s just tweaks for me to remember for next time. Thank you
Debbi
I love all your recipes - I put blueberries in this one and it’s totally delicious
Angelina
This is such an amazing recipe! I reduced the sugar to 80g since we prefer just a little sweet, added more mashed banana up to 400g, and added 200g chopped walnuts and it's so crunchy and yummy! It's very filling too so it's helping in losing some weight accidentally! hahah Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! =^.^=
Kim
Made this twice this week! Lol! It is now a family favorite. I bake mine in an 8 in round cake pan for 40 min and it was perfect.
Daisy
I made the recipe exactly as ingredients stated, even using a 2lb tin. It is absolutely delicious and light. However, I did change the method of preparation slightly. I once read that if you coat the flour with oil first when making vegan cakes etc, the oil coats the protein in the flour and slows the gluten, making the cake softer and less likely to be tough.
So I mashed the banana in a separate bowl and then whipped it hard with my whisk to make it nice and light. I added the melted vegan butter to the flour first and whisked it into breadcrumbs, then added the sugar. Lastly, I added the banana and soya milk and gently whisked it all together. It came out very light! I would like to see how it freezes but don't think there will be any left!
Sue
Worked really well and was delicious despite having to whip the cake out of the oven (it had only been in a few seconds) and hastily stir in the forgotten sugar.
Carole
Really good recipe. I am getting requests to make this from non vegans. I throw in a handful of vegan chocolate drops