Fluffy. Moist. And totally vegan.

This is IT.

The BEST and fully vetted vegan banana bread recipe you’ve been searching for.

The one vegan banana bread to rule them all,
The one vegan banana bread to find them,
The one vegan banana bread to bring them all,
Into your kitchen and bind them!

[If you don’t get that reference, I wonder if we can really be friends…?]

I’ve tested and re-tested and re-re-tested vegan banana bread recipes since I adopted a vegan diet back in 2016 (this is an older version that’s still really good!) and this is hands down the BEST vegan banana bread recipe I’ve ever made in my life. It’s also the best vegan banana bread I’ve ever EATEN in my life. I am willing to bet that this will become the only banana bread recipe you’ll ever need – vegan or not.

In fact, it’s so so so good, a friend of mine who owns one of my favorite restaurants in the world actually asked if she could sell it at her restaurant!!

So, if you want to be chowing down on your own BEST vegan banana bread EVER, wait no more…

Let’s get into it!

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Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links for products I use and love. If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I may earn a small affiliate commission, perhaps enough to buy some extra gochujang or gochugaru 🙂

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What Makes A Good Vegan Banana Bread?

The most important aspect of the best banana bread recipe (vegan or not) is the depth of flavor. When you bite into that first moist, fluffy morsel, your entire body should be buzzing with banana flavor. I cannot STAND it when I try a loaf of banana bread that only vaguely hints at something sort of like banana. I’m sure you know what I mean. Even before I went vegan, the grocery store seemed to specialize in these anemic, flavorless varieties of dry banana bread and it’s only gotten worse since I went vegan.

A delicious banana bread and, in particular, a delicious vegan banana bread, will have the following attributes:

• Exploding with banana flavor
• Moist, but not overly dense
• Fluffy, with a bit of bounce

This recipe for vegan banana bread will cover all the tricks I’ve been hoarding up my sleeve for the past two years, after I developed it, including the equipment I use, the egg replacement I’ve found to be the BEST, as well as the various substitutes for ingredients I’d recommend (because I know you all always love to test my substitution skills!).

Special Equipment For Making The Best Vegan Banana Bread.

Yup–I’ll bet you didn’t expect a “special equipment” section for banana bread. But, like I said, this ain’t your everyday banana bread recipe. This is the BEST VEGAN BANANA BREAD EVAR recipe. Hence, a short section calling out the need for a skinny loaf pan.

Most people and other recipes call for any old loaf pan. The most typical loaf pan is your standard 1 pound variety, that’s about 4 inches wide. I like to use a slightly skinnier version–one that’s more like 3.5 inches wide. Why? Well, another gripe I have with banana bread recipes is how they look so tall and gorgeous in the loaf pan, but turn into squatty trolls the minute you take them out. Have you ever noticed the amount of shrinkage involved with banana bread?

I’m no magician–this vegan banana bread will shrink a little too. But having a skinnier loaf pan will force the bread to go up instead of out. You can find the loaf pan I like to use for this recipe here.

Another recommendation (not requirement) is to use a scale. I know, I know–a scale sounds so fancy and the classic banana bread is really a rustic affair. I get it. And if you’re ok with a homey, pretty good banana bread–no scale required. But if you really want to knock your own socks off with this banana bread, a scale will make it a lot easier!

Key Ingredients And Notes On Substitutions For Vegan Banana Bread.

The following are a list of the key ingredients and recommendations on substitutions:

• Overripe Bananas. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but the key to banana-y flavor is overripe bananas–you know, the spotty bananas that your mom wants to toss into the garbage can. Don’t!! Use them to make this vegan banana bread recipe or throw them in the freezer to make this recipe later. Only have firm, non-brown bananas on hand? Poke em’ all over with a fork and zap em in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until they’re soft, or throw them in the air fryer at 300° F for about 8 minutes. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll be a lot better than using under-ripe bananas!

• All Purpose Flour. This vegan banana bread calls for all-purpose flour. Can you use your favorite gluten-free flour blend? Sure! But you will get the best results for this recipe using all-purpose white flour–a gluten-free version will not achieve the same height and fluff as with all-purpose flour. That said, it’ll still be absolutely banana-y and delicious!
• Silken Tofu. If you want structure in your baked goods, you need protein. A lot of people use flax egg or plant milk or aquafaba for their egg replacer (and I use some of those too). But I prefer silken tofu to help provide a little protein and fat, just like a real egg. If you don’t have silken tofu, you can also use soft or medium firm tofu. If you don’t have any tofu, you can substitute with a high-protein non-dairy milk (like soy milk) or yogurt.
• Aquafaba. I like to think of aquafaba (the liquid inside a can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans) as the “egg white” of my egg substitutes. While it has virtually no nutritional value or protein, it does have a nice, gelatinous consistency that helps to bind everything together. If you can’t get your hands on a can of chickpeas, you can substitute with a bit of non-dairy milk.
• Vegan Sour Cream or Yogurt. In order to ensure a moist crumb, you need an acid: cue sour cream or yogurt. I’ve used both and both banana breads turned out tender and delicious. Now, if you want to get real structure and a bit more protein per slice, use a vegan hi-protein yogurt. My favorite brand these days is Icelandic’s Oat Milk Skyr (which I’ve been eating a lot after my workouts)! The plain and the vanilla flavor both work really well with this recipe and they come with 12 grams of plant-powered protein per serving!

• Light Brown Sugar. Brown sugar will impart notes of caramel that you don’t want to miss out on in this vegan banana bread. I like light brown sugar for this recipe to ensure it doesn’t get overly heavy or dense. If you don’t have brown sugar, you can also substitute with coconut sugar, though you’ll likely end up with a denser loaf.
• White Granulated Sugar. This recipe also calls for some white granulated sugar. This will ensure that the loaf remains fluffy while retaining the right amount of moisture. If you’d like to use less sugar in this recipe, do not skip either the brown or white sugar. Instead, cut the white sugar amount in half. Do not try replacing the white sugar entirely with something else–you will get a very dense, squat banana bread. It will still taste delicious, though!
• Vegan Butter. This vegan banana bread recipe calls for melted vegan butter. I’ve played around with using oil and applesauce as my fat for banana bread and have found that vegan butter provides the best results when it comes to flavor and fluff-factor. That said, you can substitute with a neutral flavorless vegetable oil (like canola oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil–I would not use olive oil) if you don’t want to use vegan butter. You can also substitute with unsweetened applesauce (though, in that case, I would definitely cut the white sugar amount in half).
• Brandy. Yes, this banana bread recipe calls for a generous nip of brandy. The malty, auburn spirit helps to deepen the banana-y flavors, while also highlighting the caramel from the brown sugar. But, if you don’t want to use brandy, you can always substitute with unsweetened apple-juice.

How To Make Vegan Banana Bread.

First, preheat your oven to 400° F. Then, prepare your loaf pan by spraying it with a little cooking spray and lining it with parchment paper. This can seem annoying, but it will ensure that your banana bread doesn’t get stuck to the pan and it will also make it easier to slide in and out of the loaf pan (I like to put the loaf back in for storage).

Next, whisk together all your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – your flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt. Set this aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together your aquafaba and silken tofu to make your vegan “egg.” Mash up all your overripe bananas in a large bowl. To it, add the vegan “egg,” and the rest of your wet ingredients – your melted vegan butter, vegan sour cream or yogurt, vanilla extract, and brandy. Mix all the wet ingredients together until well-combined.

Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three parts–this will guard against over-mixing. You can use a hand mixer if you want, but I prefer just mixing with a wooden spoon or pastry spatula. You’ll want your dry ingredients to be just moistened. Keep in mind, this will be a thick batter!

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and place it in the center rack of your preheated oven. Bake for about 10 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 350° F. This initial blast of heat will also help get a little extra “poof” in your vegan banana bread. Bake for an additional 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of your loaf comes out clean.

Allow the banana bread to cool while still in the loaf pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. If you try to slice into your bread too early, you will risk having it fall apart, so don’t do that!

Voila! The BEST vegan banana bread you’ll ever have in your life!

Fun Add-Ins To Your Vegan Banana Bread.

Once you’ve mastered this vegan banana bread recipe and can testify, in court, on just how amazing it is, as is, you can experiment with fun add-ins!

I love nuts in my banana bread, but my husband does not. Therefore, I don’t get to add nuts as often as I would like. Walnuts make a perfect partner to the banana-y flavor of this vegan recipe and you can add about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to your dry ingredients. Add any more and you risk weighing the batter down with both the weight and fat of your nutty bits!

Now, my husband might be opposed to nuts, but he’s a big fan of vegan chocolate chips! Every once in a while, I throw in a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into the dry ingredients. I prefer using mini-chocolate chips, again, to ensure my bread remains light and fluffy, but chunky chocolate chips can make for a truly decadent and fancy banana bread.

A lot of fancy banana bread recipes call for adding a sliced banana right down the middle of the loaf. It definitely looks amazing and provides a nice caramelization to your loaf. If you don’t mind that it will weigh your loaf down, simply add a banana sliced down length-wise to the top of your batter right before placing it in the oven.

Ground cinnamon is a fantastic addition to this vegan banana bread recipe. In fact, you might be wondrin’ why it’s not included in the recipe! I like cinnamon, but I find that it can compete with the flavor of the banana. As a result, I don’t always add it. But if you like cinnamon, it’s a great addition to this recipe!

Frequently Asked Questions.

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Recipe Card.

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Questions & Comments