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.
Hi.
Which gluten free flour can l use instead of wheat ?
Will the baking time be the same?
Thanks
Amrita
some readers have used bob’s gluten free baking flour. a few readers have used coconut flour, but i have never tried with coconut flour. you will need to add some coconut milk or water to get a batter consistency as coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquids.
This is amazing banana bread! I cooked for my mom and younger brother and they loved it! I didn’t add nuts and I ran out of vanilla extract, but it was still delicious! This is definitely something I’ll be making again! Thanks so much!
Welcome Ally. Glad to know that banana bread still came out well. Do try some more cake recipes especially the eggless banana cake recipe.
Great vegan recipe 🙂 can we use coconut palm sugar instead of white sugar?
Thanks Bharathi. Yes you can use.
This recipe is very good. I used white sugar and add some treacle to make it like brown sugar as I have a lot of treacle toi use up! I used frozen bananas as a good way of storing them when getting bit too ripe and want to use them later. I do not put seeds in it but on top I use linseeds and they look very beautiful after cooking as go a golden colour. The keeping of this is very good and it cuts well. Well done for this recipe all who contributed to it!
thank you vicky for this feedback. even i freeze bananas when they get too ripe. treacle is a lovely addition to the bread recipe. thanks for sharing.
Hi,
Tried this recipe with whole wheat atta and 2tsp baking powder since I didn’t have baking soda with me. Also I baked it in the pressure cooker following your tip (empty cooker with salt in it). It turned out really good. My husband and one year old son absolutely loved it. Thanks dassana for the recipe and the pressure cooker tip. You are amazing. Much love.
Welcome Sharon. Glad to know that everyone liked banana bread recipe. Thanks for your appreciation.
Really great…The best banana bread I’ve made so far…No doubt I will stick with this recipe from now on but I’m planning to substitute oil wth apple sauce … Thanks so much for all your hard work..God bless you and yours
Welcome Nithya. Glad to know this. Thanks for your kind words and blessings.
Great recipe. Even while baking the whole room was filled with such yummy aromas. Me and my husband could barely wait for it to come out of the oven. Only change I did was used jaggery instead of sugar. And turned out simply awesome. Loved the recipe. It’s gonna become a staple in my house now.
Thanks Priyanka for sharing this awesome feedback and your variation. Do try some more baking recipes.
Can you please tell me the final weight in grams of the cake made using this recipe?
kirti, i do not know the weight in grams as i have never measured the banana cake.
I just took this out of the oven! While it has great flavor, with only adding cinnamon and vanilla extract, the texture is a bit off. IT is very dense for sure. But it feels a bit undercooked which isn’t an issue since there aren’t any harmful ingredients if undercooked. I think my next batch I’ll use veg oil rather than coconut oil. First time baking with coconut oil. Either didn’t used enough or just unsure about it. I added a little chocolate chips. Which helps with the flavor. Definitely didn’t add a full 1/2c of brown sugar as didn’t want it too sweet. Thanks for the recipe! Definitely trying it again with veg oil. Turned out great for my first time making vegan banana bread and first time making banana bread HOME MADE not boxed. Love it!
thanks ashlee. if you bake for some time, you won’t get the undercooked taste or texture. you can use any neutral flavored oil. flavorings of your choice can be added. i usually prefer both vanilla, cinnamon and sometimes a bit of nutmeg powder.
most welcome and happy baking.
I have this bread, exactly as written, no substitutions, every morning with my morning coffee. It is easy to make. It is so tasty and texture is perfect. I use pure canola oil.
Hi. Can u please tell baking time for Microwave.
for baking in microwave, you can use baking temperature of 170 to 180 degrees celsius. bake using the convection mode of microwave oven. also preheat oven at the same temperature of 170 or 180 degrees celsius for 15 minutes.
can I use butter in this recipe instead of oil? this will be my first time making banana bread without eggs and I have always made it with butter so I was curious about that 🙂
you can add butter in this recipe.
I gotta say this is the best banana bread recipe I’ve come across – simple yet delicious! I am just wondering is there any healthier option to substitute cooking oil? As I’d like to cut down on cooking oil usage.
thanks a lot. you can add some 1/4th cup unsweetened apple sauce and reduce the oil to 1/4th cup. or you can even just reduce the overall oil to 1/4th cup. the batter may look slightly dry, so in this case you can add some water to get the batter consistency.
Not the OP, but thank you for this tip! I tried making this and it’s now my favourite banana bread recipe (because it tastes good and it’s vegan!). I will try 1/4 cup with almond milk next time, and top the batter with bananas + cook for 40 minutes. Thanks for such a great recipe!
welcome sooah. of course you can add almond milk next time and place banana slices on the batter. thanks for the feedback on the recipe.
Sorry but kya aap ye btayenge k baking powder ki jagah hum yeast use kar sakte hain.Agar Haan to kitna.
is recipe main instant yeast nahin use kar sakte hain. instant yeast agar use karte hain, toh puri recipe change hogi.
I like your recipes.all are easy n simple.i want to try this banana bread without baking powder.can I use instant yeast.plz tell me
with instant yeast, the recipe will change. so in this recipe instant yeast cannot be added.
I tried this receipe many times it came out really gud…today I thought before making the receipe I really want to thank you….
thanks nithu for this feedback. nice to know.