Calling all Banana Bread lovers! This homemade Vegan Banana Bread is super comforting, lightly sweet, and ultra-delicious. Sweet bananas, hearty oats, aromatic cinnamon, and rich walnuts are the star of the show. The amazing smells filling the air while this beauty is baking is guaranteed to bring the whole family running to the kitchen to stare at the oven door waiting for this yummy goodness to be done. Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or dessert, you can count on this bread to deliver a healthy, wholesome treat that your family will enjoy.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
You just can’t beat a great banana bread; especially one that is slightly dense, moist, and filled with amazing flavor and texture.
This bread is baked into something so utterly and completely delicious that we ate it all up in a flash! Dad was eating it like he was a food eating contestant! He literally inhaled 3 pieces before Mom and I could eat one.
Reader Kathy
When Reader Kathy wrote to us several months ago, she gave us a list of her favorite dishes that she wanted us to convert to Whole Food Plant Based and Gluten Free.
Her beloved granddaughter, Rachel, was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and has been having a rough time transitioning to eating gluten free. It’s not easy folks, especially for the little ones.
Kathy had been making a WFPB banana bread that contained wheat, but she was trying to also go gluten free to support her granddaughter and asked us if we could create a WFPB and gluten free banana bread recipe for her. Her granddaughter loves banana nut bread.
After reading Kathy’s email, Mom and I sat down and reviewed Kathy’s list of favorite dishes. We wanted to help. Our first dish conversion is our newly minted Vegan Banana Bread, but stay tuned for a number of WFPB conversions in the near future based upon Kathy’s list of favorites.
Wondrous Walnuts
The walnuts (or pecans) are optional, but we love, love, love the walnuts in this recipe! They just add this amazing buttery, nutty, lil crunch that adds so much flavor and dimension to this bread.
If you are a nut lover, then you know what I am talking about.
Fluffy versus Dense
We did several kitchen tests with this recipe. We made a lighter, fluffier version, but when it comes to banana nut bread, we all enjoyed a slightly denser version – hands down this recipe was the winner.
The texture is not gummy like you might find with gluten free baking. it is perfectly moist and completely delicious.
Freezer Friendly
This bread is perfect for freezing. We prefer to slice the bread, wrap them up in plastic wrap (or individual sandwich containers). Freezing them in slices makes it easier to grab a quick slice on the go for snacking, breakfast or dessert, without having to wait for the whole loaf to thaw.
Either way works great and ensures that you always have a tasty slice that is ready for your banana bread cravings – YUM!
I’ll let Mom tell you more!
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
Hi! Robin here.
I have been making banana bread since the cows came home (old timey expression – just means for a long time). Banana bread has been on our virtual white board for nearly two years, it took Kathy’s email to push it to the forefront.
We have literally hundreds of recipe ideas; things get moved around a lot!
Notes for Success
This recipe is super easy to make (in my humble opinion), but there are a couple things that you may find helpful.
- Use parchment paper – place it length-wise into the loaf pan. In other words, cut a nice length of parchment paper, cut it to fit the bottom and over the sides so it can hang over the long sides of the loaf pan. This will make it easier to remove the bread later.
- Cut a flat piece of foil, double it and lay it over top of the bread at the 30-minute mark in the oven to prevent the bread from over-browning as it is in the oven for 60 minutes.
- Really mash those ripe bananas into a pudding like texture, then measure.
- Score the edges of the banana nut bread not covered by parchment paper (two shorter sides) so when you lift up the bread by the parchment paper, they are free to move and not stuck to the sides.
We hope you give this deliciousness a try! We just know you are going to love it!
If you try this comforting vegan banana bread, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- Food processor
- Loaf baking pan
- Parchment paper
Vegan Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 60 Minutes
- Total Time: 70 Minutes
- Yield: 1 Loaf 1x
- Category: Dessert, Breakfast, Snack
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Calling all Banana Bread lovers! This homemade Vegan Banana Bread is super comforting, lightly sweet, and ultra-delicious. Sweet bananas, hearty oats, aromatic cinnamon, and rich walnuts are the star of the show. The amazing smells filling the air while this beauty is baking is guaranteed to bring the whole family running to the kitchen to stare at the oven door waiting for this yummy goodness to be done. Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or dessert, you can count on this bread to deliver a healthy, wholesome treat that your family will enjoy.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup rolled oats, coarsely chopped *
- ½ cup rolled oats *
- 1 cup almond flour, lightly packed *
- 2 Tablespoons flaxmeal
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- Pinch dried ginger (optional)
- 1/3 cup maple sugar *
- ½ teaspoon sea salt *
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- 1 1/3 cups very ripe mashed bananas (about 3 to 4 medium) *
- ¼ cup almond butter *
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ¼ cup organic maple syrup
Other Optional Ingredients:
- ½ cup to 1 cup chopped walnuts (+/-)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place oven rack in the center position.
- Line a bread loaf baking pan with parchment paper (length wise only is sufficient), set aside.
- Place 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into 1/3 cup plant milk, stir well, set aside.
- Place 1 cup rolled oats (not instant oats) into a food processor and pulse for 20 seconds, just to break up the oats. Then add to a large mixing bowl.
- Then add all the other dry ingredients into the same bowl as the coarsely chopped rolled oats, whisk to mix.
- Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl (including the plant milk/apple cider vinegar mixture). Stir by hand to incorporate. Stir in the walnuts.
- Spread the mixture evenly onto the parchment paper lined baking loaf pan. Optional: Sprinkle some extra chopped walnuts on top.
- Place in a preheated 350 F oven and bake 60 minutes until firmly set. Note: Set the timer for 30 minutes, lay a sheet of foil across the top to prevent over-browning at the 30-minute mark. (The foil does not touch the banana bread). Then continue baking for another 30 minutes, 60 minutes in total or until a toothpick comes out cleanly or with minimal crumbs.
- Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes, score the edges/corners not covered by parchment paper, then remove from the pan (by grabbing the parchment paper on both sides and lifting) and allow to completely cool or nearly completely cool before serving.
Notes
*Tips for Success:
- Use parchment paper – place it length-wise into the loaf pan. In other words, cut a nice length of parchment paper, cut it to fit the bottom and over the sides so it can hang over the long sides of the loaf pan. This will make it easier to remove the bread later.
- Cut a flat piece of foil, double it and lay it over top of the bread at the 30-minute mark in the oven to prevent the bread from over-browning as it is in the oven for 60 minutes total.
- Really mash those ripe bananas into a pudding like texture, then measure.
- Score the edges of the banana nut bread not covered by parchment paper (two shorter sides) so when you lift up the bread by the parchment paper, they are free to move and not stuck to the sides.
*Rolled Oats: Do not use instant oats for this recipe. Instant oats can result in a gummy texture. The total amount of rolled oats for this recipe is 1 ½ cups. One cup is coarsely chopped, the other half-cup is not chopped.
*Maple Sugar/Maple Syrup: We get tons of questions about sweetener substitutions. We totally get it. Some folks want to use all Medjool dates, while others want to use all maple syrup. We’ve tested this recipe using all Medjool dates and it comes out gummy. We also tried it with all maple syrup and it sunk in the middle. Additionally, date sugar just doesn’t work well with this recipe either. The best combination for this recipe is maple syrup and maple sugar. *** We also get a lot of questions about coconut sugar. If your diet permits, you can substitute coconut sugar for maple sugar. However, we have not tested with coconut sugar; many of our readers have let us know that coconut sugar works well as a substitute for maple sugar.
*Bananas: Use very ripe bananas. Mash them really well so the bananas have the texture of pudding, then measure out 1 1/3 cups of mashed bananas. Due to the wide varying sizes of bananas, we elected to go with an exact amount of mashed bananas measured in cups, rather than by the number of bananas used.
*Almond Butter: If your almond butter has been refrigerated, remove the amount needed for this recipe and allow it to come to room temperature. Or very lightly microwave it just to soften it up a little. You do not want melted almond butter, nor cold lumpy almond butter.
*Almond Flour: We often get questions about flour substitutions. We are a Celiac family. This recipe was specifically created to use almond flour. Unfortunately, we do not have any substitutions.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: Makes one loaf
*Storage: Store at room temperature for up to 5 days, freezes well.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
So I really wanted to use up my ripe banana but not fond of baking, less ingredients better for me but I used what I had and improvised. The bread was actually ok considering I used cream of tartar since I didn’t have baking soda or powder and I used stevia & honey since I didn’t have maple syrup. I also put all my wet ingredients together & didn’t notice until after that the apple cider vinegar should have sat on the side. Lastly I used 5 bananas. Since I enjoy anything baked almost immediately after it’s out the oven,… Read more »
Hi there Emilia 🙂
Baking is a science and when it comes to Whole Food Plant Based no oil and gluten free baking, it is super finicky. Meaning we do not recommend making any substitutions as sometimes even the smallest adjustment can drastically change the baking process. We can definitely see how with the adjustments you made that the bread would not form well. We do hope that you give this recipe another try with our ingredients/instructions. We appreciate you taking the time to write. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi!
My husband and I have started a whole food plant based diet very recently. Your recipes all look delicious and I’d like to try some especially the baked goods. My husband cannot eat any oils, butters or nuts and I noticed you often use almond butter. Is there anything you could recommend using instead of that?
Thanks,
Sandra
Hi there Sandra 🙂 Thank you so much for reaching out to us! We are so excited to be on this Whole Food Plant Based journey with you! All of our recipes are oil free and Whole Food Plant Based compliant. However, there are many branches within the Whole Food Plant Based Diet that are more restrictive than others. Unfortunately, this recipe was designed for using almond butter. The almond butter could possibly be substituted with another nut/seed butter. But we do not have a substitute for the nut/seed butter altogether. When it comes to Whole Food Plant Based and… Read more »
No problem. Thanks for replying!!
I have made this today, and followed the recipe exactly. But it did sink a wee bit in the middle, and also it did take longer than 60 mins to cook – I cooked for nearly 70 mins. Maybe I opened the oven to put the tinfoil on before it had finished rising?
Tasty though! Hubby especially loves it!
Hi there Kallie 🙂 We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this banana bread flavor and that your hubby loved it too! We aren’t sure why it sank a little in the middle. Did you modify the recipe in any way? Any changes/adjustments/substitutions can have a great impact when it comes to Whole Food Plant Based Gluten Free baking. Additionally, oven temperatures and altitudes can have an impact on the overall cooking times. We’d love to help you figure out what might have happened. Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and for taking the time to write. -Ameera… Read more »
After having success with your old fashioned maple pecan cookies, I would really like to try this recipe except I don’t have a loaf pan. I have a square 8″ pan. I looked into buying a stainless steel loaf pan but they were either sold out or will take 2 weeks to deliver given the pandemic. I am not sure I can wait that long. Could I still make this recipe using a square pan? If so, should I reduce the baking time and would I need to cover it with a foil given the reduced time?
Hi there 🙂
We sincerely apologize for the late response as Monkey has been on maternity leave and we are now just being able to address comments – thank you for your patience.
In regards to baking in an 8x8in pan, we think that it would work. You would need to reduce the baking time; unfortunately, we don’t have the exact time frame as we have not tried this method before.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi Ameera and Robin, First, congratulations, Ameera! I hope you are having a wonderful time with your baby. Second, I just wanted you to know that I did try your banana bread recipe, but as muffins. When I went to purchase the loaf pan, it wasn’t available so I purchased a muffin pan (I thought it might be easier to use the muffin pan instead of the square pan). I followed your recipe exactly as you stated but just reduced the baking time, and the banana bread muffins came out perfectly. My husband, who is not on the WFPB program,… Read more »
Hi there Lan 🙂
Thank you so much for your well wishes! We are SUPER thrilled to hear that you and your husband enjoyed our banana bread recipe! Love the idea of muffins – YUM! Thank you so much for sharing your adjustments with us. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Would it still work if I substituted rolled oats with oat bran?
Hi there Hazly 🙂
We sincerely apologize for the late response as Monkey has been on maternity leave and we are now just being able to address comments – thank you for your patience.
Unfortunately, oat bran would not work as a substitute in this recipe.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi! I absolutely loved this recipe! Other vegan banana bread recipes I’ve tried always turn out really dense..more like bread pudding. This one was light and fluffy. My kids even loved it. Thank you!
Hi there Rita 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you and your kids loved this recipe. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this banana bread yesterday and all I can say is WOW! The flavors are spot on. Even my non-plant-based husband loves it! I have not eaten any baked goods since the beginning of the year, so this was a big treat for me! Follow this recipe to the letter and you will be delighted with the results.
Thank you for your careful recipe development and your step-by-step directions and tips. I am also grateful for your gluten free recipes, as I recently discovered I can’t eat wheat.
Thanks ❤️
Hi there Linda 🙂
Woo Hoo!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this banana bread recipe. Thank you so much for your kind words! We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this a while back and it was fabulous! I didn’t have actual almond butter but I had some of the powdered almond butter that I reconstituted for this. The bread was nice and moist, not too banana-y and not too sweet. I’ll make this again.
Hi there Helene 🙂
Woo hoo!!!! We are so glad that you enjoyed this recipe. We have not heard of powdered almond butter – sounds so interesting! We are so happy that it worked out and you liked the flavor too! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your awesome feedback with us! *hugs*
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi, thanks for this recipe! Two questions: What are the dimensions of the loaf pan? Do you think it would work using almond meal (almonds ground finely in my Vitamix) instead of almond flour?
Hi there Jill 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We apologize for the late response. Our loaf pan is a traditional loaf pan (9in x 5in x 2.5in). Additionally, we have not tested this recipe using almond meal (ground almonds in a vitamix.) If you can get the exact same texture/consistency as a traditional almond flour, then we don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This is so yummy. I love that I can have a treat while eating a wfpb diet. And it be so satisfying and good.
Along with chopped walnuts on top, I also sprinkled some oat flakes and a tbsp of maple sugar. (Was trying to mimic what I used to do with turbinado sugar and oats back in my baking days.) ?
Hi there Sandra 🙂
WOOT WOOT!!! We are SUPER excited that you enjoyed this recipe. We couldn’t agree more about wanting a satisfying sweet treat on the WFPB diet and we are so glad this did the trick for you too 😀 We absolutely LOVE the idea of some oat flakes and maple sugar on top – Mmmm! We need to try that asap! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful adjustments and feedback. We always appreciate your kindness and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This is the best WFPB Banana Bread ever! I have tried different recipes for Banana Bread. The only changes I made was to mix the flax with a little water before adding, and no sugar, just the maple syrup! Fantastical!! We love the texture, and the taste. Always have a cup of tea and a slice of Banana Bread after lunch.
Hi there Janice 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled to hear that this is the best WFPB banana bread ever. *We are doing our happy dance* Thank you so much for sharing your adjustments and awesome feedback with us; we appreciate it!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This banana bread is the best(in my opinion) I have produced after many other
recipes! I have tried some of your other recipes and they all are full of flavour and
I highly recommend your site to anyone looking for gf, vegan options!
Thank you!
Hi there Marianne 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Can I thaw frozen bananas and use them?
Hi there Robin,
Thank you for your question. Yes! You can absolutely use frozen bananas in this recipe. Just make sure you thaw to room temperature.
-Ameera and Robin
I have made a lot of banana bread in my life and this was my first failure. It was sunken in the middle. I followed the recipe to the letter. The only thing I can think of is almond flour might measure differently. Was I supposed to pack it a bit? I measured it like I measure all flour I spooned it in and leveled it.
Hi there Janine,
We are so sorry that this recipe did not work out for you. We typically put “almond lour-lightly packed” in all our recipes that contain almond flour, but for some reason we didn’t on this one. However, despite the fact that the “lightly packed” was missing, literally hundreds have made this recipe without experiencing a sunken middle. Again, so sorry that happened to you.
-Ameera and Robin
This Banana Bread recipe is one of the best I have tried and I have tried A LOT of plant based recipes. I used the nutrient dense Cup 4 Cup flour and it was amazing!! The loaf was almost gone in about 1 hour :). Monkey and Me always delivers in the kitchen. The combination of ingredients is spot on every time. I don’t know how you do it, but it is a gift! Thank you so much for sharing. Love all of your recipes and am a huge fan!
Hi there Peg,
YAYYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for your lovely comment. We sincerely appreciate it.
-Ameera and Robin
I LOVE this recipe and many of your other recipes! THANK YOU!!!
Hi there Karen,
WOOO HOOO!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
You are one of my favourite websites for plant based receipes…I love the banana bread… it’s a favourite in my house. Usually I make 2 and freeze one. Thanks for the tasty receipes.I have tried a few and like them all……
Hi there Debbie,
We apologize for the late response, somehow this comment got away from us. We are thrilled that you are enjoying our recipes. Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
I love the flavor of this bread. However, it crumbles badly when I slice it. I let it cool completely and follow the instructions exactly. Any suggestions?
Hi there Gwen,
We sincerely apologize for the late response, somehow this review got away from us. We aren’t sure what happened when you made this recipe for it to fall apart. That has never happened to us and based upon the tons of review, I am thinking that perhaps it has not happened to anyone else. So sorry, wish we could help as that has never happened to us after literally making this recipe hundreds of times.
-Ameera and Robin
Loved this recipe with almond flour. I have never liked banana bread—we’re talking like 60 years — until this recipe which I made for my husband, which he also really liked. Since I don’t ever use maple syrup I used Swerve for both sugars and used water to replace the liquid from the syrup. It turned out great. I read the other person’s comment about the bread sinking in the middle and my guess is that she didn’t cook it long enough. Ovens vary. At 60 minutes the toothpick did not come out clean so I added 5 more minutes… Read more »
Hi there Rosie,
WOOT!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your changes. We are so happy that they worked out. We appreciate you taking time to leave us an awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
I am trying to plug this in to the weight watchers plan. Do you know how many slices this would yield in a loaf pan?
Hi there Laurie,
Thank you for your question. Each loaf yields about 10-ish slices. I hope this helps. Thank you.
-Ameera and Robin
I absolutely love this recipe (and many of your recipes!) Thank you!!!
Some slight variations based on what I have available. White vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar, macadamia nut butter instead of almond butter and coconut chips instead of walnuts. Ono grinds (that’s Appreciate the Good Eats in Hawaiian).
Hi there Kalena,
YAYYY!!! We are thrilled that you loved this recipe. We appreciate you taking time to leave us the fantastic review.
-Ameera and Robin
Loved it! Used one cup of dates instead of the sugar. Added pecans and raisins. Toddler approved.
Hi there Amanda,
WOOO HOOO!!! We are happy that you enjoyed this recipe and toddler approved as well. Glad the dates worked for you. Always good to know.
Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
I have made this at least a half dozen times and have yet to comment on these gems! Another wonderful recipe! I really appreciate the double and triple feature. Helps use up very ripe bananas!
Hi there Tina,
YAYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoy this recipe. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a fantastic review.
-Ameera and Robin