This Banana Bread is by far the best vegan Banana Loaf recipe I have come up with, and I have made a lot of bread! Eggless and made with wholemeal flour, this delicious banana bread is light, soft, and perfectly sweet. One of my most popular baking recipes tried successfully by many of our readers.
About Eggless Banana Bread
Banana bread is an all-time personal family favorite. When I find myself pressed for time, which happens often, I throw this quick recipe together with overripe bananas and other pantry staples.
It’s no surprise that this vegan banana bread is one of the most popular baking recipes on my blog, alongside my mouthwatering Banana Cake and Chocolate Cake recipes.
About 9 years ago, I started to get requests for an eggless version of the classic banana bread recipe. And I tried — I tried many, many times to make the absolute best eggless banana bread — and I failed at least 6 times before finally getting it right!
Making an eggless or vegan cake or bread is always a challenge, as one wants the best texture and taste in the bread. I succeeded at making eggless and vegan versions, but I was never quite satisfied with the texture of the loaves.
I tried adding vinegar, buttermilk, cornflour and so many other ingredients, but it just never came to that perfect, moist bread. The loaf kept ending up dry and soft, but a bit dense and even crumbly at times.
So one day, I decided that I would simplify my ingredients list and that I would only use items that were easily available in my kitchen.
I even realized that I could puree bananas and use that as an egg substitute — which works perfectly for banana bread. Well, I added just bananas, oil and a few other ingredients from my pantry and the result was (finally) a moist, light, and soft eggless banana bread.
What ingredients should I use?
- Flour: I have made the bread with organic whole wheat flour, but if you want you can make the bread with all-purpose flour or half-half of both the flours. You can also use cake flour or pastry flour.
- Sugar: You can use brown sugar, organic unrefined cane sugar or granulated white sugar — all work well in this recipe.
- Oil: You can use any neutral flavored oil for this recipe. I have made this bread on various occasions with a variety of oils, including coconut oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil and even olive oil.
- Flavorings: I added cinnamon powder, nutmeg, and vanilla extract to this vegan banana bread, but both the cinnamon and nutmeg are optional.
- Sunflower Seeds: I have added sunflower seeds in the bread to make it more nutritious. However, you can easily skip adding them or add your favorite edible seeds or nuts.
How to make Banana Bread
Prep Oven and Make Banana Puree
1. First preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes. Next, while the oven is preheating, slice your ripe or overripe medium to large bananas into a mixing bowl.
Tip: I typically use about 4 medium or 2 large bananas for this recipe. In weight, the bananas (with their peels) are 300 grams or 10.5 ounces.
2. Then, add ⅓ to ½ cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your bananas. Here I have used raw sugar, but feel free to add brown sugar, white sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar, maple syrup or jaggery (Indian unrefined cane sugar).
With palm sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup and jaggery the flavors will be different.
3. Next, use a masher or fork to mash the bananas into a smooth consistency. If you prefer, you could also puree the bananas with sugar in a blender.
Tip: There should be no chunks left in the puree. However, fine threads of bananas in the mixture are fine. Additionally, you can use a blender to mash the bananas if needed.
5. Add ½ cup of oil to the mashed banana mixture. Use a neutral flavored oil, so that the after taste of oil is not felt in the bread. I prefer to use sunflower oil.
On various occasions I have also used coconut oil. But with coconut oil, on refrigeration the texture becomes dense as the coconut oil solidifies. So keep a note of this.
6. Now, stir briskly for about 2 to 3 minutes with a wired whisk or a spatula so that the oil mixes evenly with the banana puree.
7. Finally, stir in the following flavorings to your oil and banana puree:
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon)
- 2 to 3 pinches or ⅛ teaspoon of grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tip: That being said, both the cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder are optional.
8. Next, combine the flavoring spices and vanilla with the banana oil mixture. Stir and mix well!
Make Banana Bread Batter
9. Sieve 1.5 cups whole wheat flour (about 180 grams), ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1.5 teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt directly in the bowl.
10. Make sure the sieved dry mixture sits evenly on top of the wet mixture (pictured below).
11. After that, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients — don’t mix!
Tip: This folding step is most important — you want the whole bread mixture to be combined into one and mixed evenly, but you also want to avoid stirring because that will deflate the batter.
12. The folded batter should be fully combined but not flat (pictured below) and will have a thick consistency.
Note 1: Ensure that you do not overwork the batter as this will cause gluten strands to form in the batter which result in a doughy texture after baking. The batter should have volume and not look flat or stringy.
Note 2: If in case the batter looks very thick or dry then add about ¼ to ⅓ cup of water or preferred nut milk. Depending on the type of wheat flour, sometimes more liquids will be needed to get the right consistency.
13. This step is optional, but I always like the extra flavors nuts, seeds, or other ingredients add to vegan banana bread.
For this recipe, I included about 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds, but you can also add chopped walnuts, chocolate chips or any dry fruit or nuts of your choice like I have done in the video.
14. Fold the batter gently once again until the sunflower seeds are fully incorporated.
Bake Eggless Banana Bread
15. Pour the batter into a greased or lined loaf pan (8 x 4 x 2.5 inches) or a round cake pan (8 x 2 inches). Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean.
Tip: The temperature varies from oven to oven, so keep a close eye on your banana bread. Be careful NOT to open the oven until the bread is ¾ done.
When in doubt, use a skewer or toothpick — the benchmark is that a bamboo skewer inserted in the bread should come out clean with no wet or sticky batter clinging on it.
16. Place the loaf pan on a wired rack for the bread to cool. When the bread cools down, then remove the loaf from the pan.
17. Slice and serve your Eggless Banana Bread as is with tea or coffee or as a sweet snack.
The remaining loaf, you can wrap in a cling film or keep in an air-tight box in the fridge for about more than a week. Warm the bread before serving.
Expert Tips
- Warm before serving: If coconut oil is added to the bread, it solidifies when refrigerated, hence the bread also becomes dense when you refrigerate it. So before serving just warm up the bread, and it will have its natural texture back.
- Adjust sweetness: Sweetness of the bread can be adjusted as per your preferences.
- Keep it simple: You can skip adding sunflower seeds.
- Flour options: I have made the banana bread with whole wheat flour, but if you want you can make it with all purpose flour or half-half of both the flours.
- Bake time: The timing varies from oven to oven. Depending on the temperature in your oven and the size of your pan, the bread might take less or more time than what I have listed in this recipe.
FAQs
I have not added any other ingredient besides the usual bread ingredients in this vegan banana bread. I had flax meal but still I wanted to make a bread without flax seed meal as many of us do not have these readily available in their kitchens.
Your banana bread can last 1 to 2 days after baking if properly stored. Simply wrap your loaf in plastic wrap and leave it on the counter. In the fridge it will last for more than a week.
Whisking disturbs the combined ingredients and causes the dough to lose air that helps it to rise. When using the folding method instead, you preserve more of the volume and will have a fuller banana bread.
Banana bread is the perfect recipe to use when your bananas are past eating raw. I generally use overripe bananas — it’s better to mash and make a delicious loaf of banana bread than waste bananas that are too brown to eat!
Banana bread comes under the category of sweet breads. Unlike a banana cake that is more sweeter with a light and soft crumb, a banana bread is less sweeter with a slightly denser crumb.
More Sweet Breads To Try!
Bread Recipes
Bread Recipes
Bread Recipes
Bread Recipes
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Eggless Banana Bread Recipe (+ Vegan & Whole Wheat)
Ingredients
For making banana puree
- 4 bananas ripe or overripe, medium sized – 300 grams (with peels)
- ½ cup raw sugar or brown sugar or granulated white sugar
- ½ cup sunflower oil or coconut oil or any neutral flavored oil
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon) – optional
- 2 to 3 pinches grated nutmeg or ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg powder – optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Other Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour – 180 grams
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt – optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds – optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
- Grease a bread loaf tin or a rectangular cake pan with oil. You can use the rectangular cake pan of size ( 7.5 x 4 x 2.5 inches) or round cake pan (7.5 x 2 inches).
Making Banana Puree
- Take sliced bananas and sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Mash the bananas well with a vegetable masher or puree them with a hand blender or a regular blender.
- Now add the oil, vanilla, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder to the banana. Mix thoroughly with a wired whisk or spatula so that the oil is mixed evenly with the banana puree.
- Sieve the whole wheat flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt directly in the bowl containing the mashed bananas.
- Now fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not mix. Do this cut and folding technique properly, so that all the ingredients are mixed evenly.
- This folding step is important as you want the whole bread mixture to be one and mixed evenly.
- Keep in mind not to overwork the batter as this will result in gluten strands being formed in the batter, that will make for a doughy texture in the bread. The batter should have volume and not look flat or stringy.
- If the batter looks very thick or dry then add about ¼ to ⅓ cup of water or preferred nut milk and gently fold again.
- Lastly add the sunflower seeds and fold once again.
- Pour the bread mixture into the loaf pan.
Baking Banana Bread
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 to 40 minutes or till a toothpick or a bambook skewer inserted in the bread comes out clean.
- The timing varies from oven to oven. Depending on the temperature in your oven and the size of your pan, the bread might take less or more time than mentioned here.
- So take your call and keep an eye on the bread. However don't open the oven untill the bread is ¾ done.
- The benchmark is that a tooth pick inserted in the bread should come out clean.
- Place the loaf pan on a wired rack for it to cool. When the bread cools down, gently remove the banana bread from the pan.
- Slice and serve banana bread.
- The remaining banana loaf, you can wrap in a cling film or keep in a box in the fridge. You can choose to warm the banana bread before serving.
Video
Notes
- If coconut oil is added to the bread, it solidifies when refrigerated, hence the bread also becomes dense when you refrigerate it. So before serving just warm up the bread and the bread will have its natural texture back.
- Sweetness of the bread can be adjusted as per your preferences.
- You can skip adding sunflower seeds. You can also choose to add nuts or edible seeds or dry fruits of your choice. Walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, raisins, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds are some good options.
- I have made the banana bread with whole wheat flour, but if you want you can make it with all purpose flour or half-half of both the flours.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for 1 slice of banana bread made with sunflower oil and raw sugar.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Eggless Banana Bread post from the archives was first published on October 2012. It has been updated and republished on November 2022.
Can we make this recipe in cooker what kinds of suggestions will u give
i have never made this recipe in cooker. but some readers have tried. just bake this banana bread the way you bake cakes in a cooker. i have a post on making pav in a cooker. you can use the same method and bake cakes. here is the link – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pav-recipe-in-pressure-cooker/
Hi Dasanna, can you please clarify the amount of flour needed? I see it’s 1.5 cups (which is technical 250+125 g) but it says 1.5 cups or 180g. Can you please clarify.
Wonderful recipe. Hare Krishna.
Thank you,
Divya
divya, 1.5 cups is the cup measurement. in weight, 1.5 cups of flour comes to 180 grams of flour. 1 cup is 150 ml and not 150 grams. each ingredient weighs differently when using cups. eg 1 cup whole wheat flour weighs, 120 grams and 1 cup rice weighs 200 grams. hope this helps.
hare krishna.
Dear Dassana,
Tried this today – awesome ☺. Love that it uses no maida. Bonus for me is that it uses oil – i don’t always have butter at home.
Only change i made was adding flax and sesame seeds as that’s what was there at home. Thanks for recipe.
pleased to know this shubhi glad you modified the recipe and you are welcome always 🙂
Thank you so very much for this recipe! It is by far the best banana bread I have made so far. It was so simple and easy with few ingredients. The pictures at each step are appreciated. I used unbleached, unbromated bread flour instead of whole wheat flour and the results were wonderful. My family loved it!!!!
glad carla your family loved the bread 🙂 thankyou for your kind and honest words.
This is hands down my favourite banana bread recipe, thank you!
I love the simplicity of the ingredients, it came out very moist and absolutely delicious.
I used coconut sugar, and I toasted the sunflower seeds before adding them. But really, no alterations are needed. It doesn’t even need chocolate chips – actually they would get in the way of the lovely flavours.
I’m glad I found you again, I plan to make this bread again today, and check out what else you have 🙂
thank you natasha. felt nice to read your comment.
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe, every one at my house loves the cake. Right now I am trying the basic egg less chocolate cake, I am sure it is going to be delicious as the banana bread. Just fantastic.
thankyou ana for trying so many cake recipes 🙂 surely try and do let us know how they turned out. you are always welcome.
Dassana,
Thank you for this amazingly SIMPLE, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS recipe. My parents and kids loved it!
Thank you also for taking the time to photograph every step … it was totally dummy-proof! I followed each step exactly.
Just wish all recipes were like this (SIMPLE, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS) and posted like this — the world would be a much better place!
All the best,
C
we are quite glad and pleased to know this nirvana 🙂 that your folks loved the eggless banana bread recipe. thankyou for your kind and positive words. god bless you 🙂
Thank you so much! It was fabulous. I used half coconut oil and half rice bran oil. Turned out delicious and even my non-vegan friends couldn’t fault it.
thanks emma for this positive review.
This recipe is too good to be true. I would give 6 stars if there were one. I made it with regular AP and it came out so good. I do have question though, can we use puree pumpkin instead of banana in the equal amount? Im pumpkin bread fanatic.
thanks a lot bailey. pumpkin puree should work. since i have used pumpkin purees in baking recipes, i think it will work in this one too.
Hi Dassana,
Im happily report to you that I uses pumpkins instead of banana, add pumpkin spice, 1/4 cup pumpkin seed, 1/4 cup of date, use coconut oil. I measured exact same ratio of your recipe. It comes out pumpkiny, moist, no eggy taste. It is simply the best vegan pumpkin bread recipe I have ever had. THANK YOU for doing all the works and let us enjoy it. I really want to send you the pictures of the texture.
Bailey
wow. thats great to know. since pumpkins are in season here too, i should also try. i will give a try and also add the recipe on the blog. thanks a lot bailey. you can send me the pics at vegrecipesofindia(at)gmail(dot).com
I substituted apple sauce for oil, and also 3 kinds of flour for the wheat flour equally (rye, oat and corn (all organic) since that’s what I had on hand), and it came out very good. it also had a nice rise to it. thanks for the recipe
thanks for the feedback and for the sharing the variations.
Amazing vegan recipe. I made half the recipe, followed swetha’s 1/8 almond milk and 1/8 oil, and added some vegan chocolate chips to the batter and the end result was absolutely delicious. Thank you for this!
hey allen thankyou for trying them and pleased to know you liked them 🙂
Thank you for this yummy recipe. I am not a good baker but it came out pretty well.
My kid loved it!
pleased to know this Neha 🙂 your kid loved the eggless banana bread.
Do you have experience using frozen banana with this recipe? I looked through all the comments and don’t see anything about that. I know it’s common to freeze over-ripe bananas for banana bread, so I did it, but I have never actually tried to do it before and wasn’t sure if I should make any adjustments to the recipe or what.
laura, no i have never tried with frozen bananas. in case you try then do share your experience.
I used frozen bananas and it came out great. I just let the bananas defrost for about an hour in a bowl. Make sure to use the liquid that accumulates from defrosting!
thanks ally 🙂
Many thanks Dassana. A perfect winner. I used 1/4 oil and 1/4 almond milk. Little wheat flour and rest maida. Jaggery instead of sugar.
Foolproof yield.
Cant thank you enough.
welcome swetha. glad to know this. thanks for sharing your version.
Tried the recipe and I must say it’s pakka. Flavor was nice and surely will try again.
Thanks Shree