Vegan Banana Bread

This deliciously moist vegan banana bread will become a favorite in no time! It’s easy to make and has just the right banana flavor.

Everyone needs a good banana bread recipe. And if you’re trying to eat more plant-based foods, here’s the good news: it’s easily made vegan. Yes, this vegan banana bread tastes just as good as a standard loaf (or better?). Just like our vegan cornbread and vegan apple muffins, people will say, “I’d never think this was vegan!” Because baking without eggs and butter is just as delicious. Promise! Here’s how to do it.

For gluten free, go to Healthy Banana Bread.

What’s in this vegan banana bread?

There are a few tricks to vegan baking, but no weird ingredients or tricks. It results in a loaf that’s perfectly moist, lightly caramel flavored, and bursting with banana flavor. In fact, this might be my favorite banana bread recipe (though I do enjoy this Healthy Banana Bread quite a bit). Here’s what’s in this vegan banana bread:

Flax seed (for flax eggs, see below)
All purpose flour
Rolled oats
Bananas
Neutral oil
Brown sugar (or substitute coconut sugar)
Baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt

It’s a simple recipe but it results in a truly beautiful loaf that works every time! It’s full of banana flavor because it uses a load of bananas (about 4 to 6, whatever makes 2 cups mashed). This also helps to make it very moist.

What’s a flax egg?

Flax egg can sound odd if you’ve never worked with them before. What is a flax egg? A flax egg is a mixture of ground flax seed and water that can be used as a substitute for an egg in baked goods. When the flax seeds are mixed with water, they become thick and gooey and work as a binder in baking.

This egg substitute is all natural and fits into virtually any diet (gluten-free, Paleo, Whole 30, vegetarian, vegan, and dairy-free). How do you do it? Simply combine ground flax seed and water for 15 minutes: the flax egg ratio is 1 tablespoon ground flax seed to 2 1/2 tablespoons water. For more, go to How to Make Flax Egg.

Where to find flax seed? You can find flax seeds at any major grocery, whole or ground (you can grind it yourself in a blender or coffee grinder). We keep our ground flax seed in the refrigerator and have it onhand any time we need to bake.

Flax egg — Make sure to use ground flax seed! When it combines with water, it forms a gel.

Overripe bananas are key!

This is a non-negotiable! We know that it’s hard to wait for bananas to ripen. It’s a variable process, so you never quite know when they’ll be ready. BUT! It’s very important to have overripe bananas fort his vegan banana bread. You must wait for the bananas to be overripe to get that lovely banana flavor and the beautifully moist texture.

Note: This recipe also calls for more bananas than you’d normally have in a banana bread recipe. You’ll need to have 4 medium or 6 small on hand, enough to make 2 cups mashed.

Do you have a gluten-free version? Or a natural sweetener?

We do! Our Healthy Banana Bread recipe uses only rolled oats and is made in a blender to make a light and moist dough. That recipe also uses maple syrup as the sweetener. For this recipe, we wanted to make it like a standard banana bread (including sugar!), but a vegan version of that. So head over to our healthy version for those tweaks.

A few variations: muffins! Pancakes!

Banana muffins anyone? Or pancakes? We’re big banana fans around here, so we have a few other ways you can make use of your bananas:

Healthy Banana Bread Muffins They’re made simply in a blender with oats and bananas! Use the flax egg option for vegan.
Banana Blueberry Muffins Again using the oat and banana trick, but with blueberries! Use flax eggs for vegan.
Banana Oatmeal Pancakes These deliciously easy banana oatmeal pancakes are made in a blender using oats and bananas: no flour! Use flax eggs for vegan.

Banana pancakes — Try Banana Oatmeal Pancakes with a flax egg for a vegan variation.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.