If your vegan banana breads turn out dry and crumbly, you need to try this Perfectly Moist Vegan Banana Bread recipe! It’s soft and fluffy and perfectly sweet! Best part? It’s 100% vegan, made with simple pantry staples and it smells absolutely heavenly when it’s baking in the oven!
I love to bake this Perfectly Moist Vegan Banana Bread on the weekend to use up any over-ripe bananas I didn’t get to during the week. There’s just something really nice about having homemade banana bread in the house and it’s perfect for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or as a warm dessert topped with ice cream!
This is the BEST vegan banana bread for when nothing but a classic piece of homemade banana bread will do. This diary-free and vegan version is made with simple pantry ingredients like over-ripe bananas, cinnamon and vanilla. It’s quick to prep and it smells so good when it’s baking in the oven! Just makes the house feel cozy, ya know?
I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients for Banana Bread:
This is everything you need to make Perfectly Moist Vegan Banana Bread: flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, melted coconut oil, water and very ripe bananas. Instead of eggs I use ground flax seeds and I love sprinkling some crunchy walnuts or vegan chocolate chips on top but that is completely optional.
How to Make Perfectly Moist Vegan Banana Bread
Instead of chicken’s eggs, I use a flax egg so start by mixing ground flax seeds with water and set it aside to thicken.
Then mash up the bananas and measure out one cup. Then set that aside for later.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then add some cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk it all up.
The cinnamon is subtle in this recipe but it really compliments the sweetness of the bananas and takes this recipe to the next level!
In another bowl whisk the sugar and melted coconut oil. I like to use refined coconut oil instead of virgin because it doesn’t add a coconut flavor to the banana bread.
Whisk until light and fluffy then add the vanilla and the thickened flax “egg.” Mix it all up until light and fluffy.
Then comes a special technique that makes the texture of this banana bread super moist and delicious. It’s really easy, it’s just about alternating the wet and dry ingredients.
To do this simply add half of the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir a few times to combine. Once mostly combined add th remaining dry ingredients.
The trick here is mix just until the dry ingredients are absorbed and then stop. Over-mixing leads to tough, rubbery banana bread!
Next add in half of the mashed bananas. Stir to combine and then half of the water.
Stir that in and finish with the remaining bananas. Stir until incorporated and finish with the remaining water. Mix until well incorporated.
*Pause to enjoy the delicious smell of the sweet and cinnamony batter* and then transfer the batter to a greased 8x4in loaf pan.
Sprinkle the banana bread with walnuts and/or chocolate chips if desired and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Pro Tip: Allow the banana bread to cool on a wire rack! I know it’s hard to resist digging in immediately – so no judgement if you want to go for it right away! – but waiting at least 30 minutes will allow air to flow all the way around the banana bread which helps it cool evenly….this creates a nice crumb structure and again, Perfectly Moist Vegan Banana Bread. I think it’s worth the wait for the professional bakery-style results 👩🏻🍳
Great for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or as a warm dessert with a scoop of vegan ice cream on top!
Watch How to Make Perfectly Moist Banana Bread:
RECIPE FAQs:
Can I use gluten-free flour?
I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour yet but I think using a 1:1 ratio all purpose gluten-free flour like this one from Bob’s Red Mill would work pretty well. Just don’t use a different flour like almond or coconut flour because that won’t work for this recipe.
What kind of coconut oil is best for baking?
Refined coconut oil is ideal for baking because it doesn’t import a coconut flavor into the dish. Look for “refined” on the label instead of “virgin.”
My can I use yellow bananas for banana bread?
Over-ripe, brown, spotty bananas are best for making flavorful and moist banana bread but if your bananas aren’t quite ripe enough yet, you might want to add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar to this recipe to balance the flavor.
Perfectly Moist Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
Vegan "egg"
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 4 tbsp water
Dry Ingredients
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp kosher salt I use Morton's
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ½ cup melted coconut oil refined, not virgin
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas) over-ripe and spotty work best for this recipe
- 1/3 cup water
Optional
- 1 handful chopped walnuts
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the ground flax seeds and water in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside to thicken. Peel and mash the bananas until nearly smooth. Then measure out one cup of mashed bananas and set aside.
Mix the Dry Ingredients
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
Mix the Wet Ingredients
- Add the sugar and medlted coconut oil to another mixing bowl and whisk for 1 minute. Tip: If the metled coconut oil is hot, let it cool down slightly before adding it to the sugar.
- Next add the now thickened flax "egg" and the vanilla extract. Whisk for 1 more minute until thicker and creamier.Note: don't add the bananas or water just yet 👩🏻🍳
Combine
- Next add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until almost all of the flour is aborbed. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and stir just until combined. The batter will look thick and shaggy at this point. Then alternate adding in the bananas and water. Start by adding in 1/2 cup of the mashed bananas. Mix well and then add half of the water. Finish by mixing in the remaining bananas, and then stir in the remaining water.
Bake
- Spray or lightly grease a 8x4in loaf pan and then add the batter to the pan. Smooth the top and sprinkle on walnuts if desired. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the loaf is deeply golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes on a wire baking rack.
Enjoy!
- Once cooled, just slice and serve!Hope you enjoy 😊
Notes
More Nikki Vegan Recipes You Might Like:
- Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Vegan Earl Grey Yogurt Cake
- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Nordic-Style Cardamom Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
- Old Fashioned Vegan Zucchini Bread
If you like this recipe please leave a comment and rate this post below! And if you’re on Instagram, tag me in a pic so I can see your recreation! @nikkivegan
For more free vegan recipes, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel here.
Hey! I’m Nicole and I make practical vegan recipes for REAL life. I cook with simple, easy to find ingredients and I’m passionate about creating delicious plant-based meals that everyone will love!
I hope you enjoy my recipes and videos :) Happy Cooking!
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If you swap the coconut oil for applesauce will it give the same texture?
Author
Hey Tara 👋 Great question! Yep, it will change the texture a bit because the oil holds moisture in a different way so it will make a difference. And although the coconut oil doesn’t impart a coconut flavor to the banana bread, fats in general to contribute to the overall flavor in a way that is going to be a bit different than applesauce too. That being said, applesauce is usually a good oil replacer so as long as your ok with a slightly different outcome, I’d say it try it out and see what you think! I haven’t tested this recipe without the oil so I would recommend trying it with half oil, half applesauce (a 1/3 cup of each) to see if you like the results first. Hope that helps 🙂 Happy baking!
I made this today and it was delicious! I really liked the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Made it. Loved it!
Can you use something other than sugar.
Author
Not for this one! For best results, I’d recommend sticking to the recipe as it was tested 🙂 Hope you enjoy!