This recipe of vegan banana bread is to die for!
I love banana bread. When I first switched over to a plant-based diet (about two years ago), it wasn’t the cheese, the dairy ice cream, or even the peanut m&ms that I craved – it was the banana bread.
Ever since high school, I stood by Mark Bittman’s banana bread recipe from “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.” His bread is buttery, lightly sweetened, and the addition of coconut flakes puts it over the top. You just can’t beat it except, perhaps, by making it vegan.
Two years ago, such a task seemed daunting, if not impossible. How on earth do you bake without eggs? And what about the butter? How do you replace a whole stick of butter without compromising the taste?
Since then, I’ve learned that there are plenty of healthy alternatives which, when used appropriately, happen to taste fantastic.
Today, I am happy to share a vegan adaptation of the once-coveted Mark Bittman Banana Bread with you. In this version, I use a flax meal (or a “flax egg”) as an egg replacer and coconut oil instead of butter. I also sub out the granulated sugar for real maple syrup and use a mix of spelt and oat flour. I found that this flour mixture gives the bread the right consistency while adding a little more flavour. Whole wheat pastry flour can also work in place of the spelt flour – it offers a similar texture, and I believe it’s a little cheaper. You might swap the oat flour with regular whole wheat, but I haven’t tried this yet.
I hope you enjoy this version of vegan banana bread as much as I do! It’s got all the flavour and texture of the original, even without that stick of butter.
Best Ever Vegan Banana Bread
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of flax meal
- 4 tablespoons of lukewarm water
- 1 1/2 cups of spelt flour
- 1/2 cup of oat flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar (other granulated sugar can work as well)
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed until smooth
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil, as a soft solid
- 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup of natural maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup of shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Add the flax meal and water to a small bowl. Whisk, then set aside for about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Next, mix the bananas, coconut oil, milk, maple syrup and flax mixture in a separate bowl. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the vanilla, shredded coconut and walnuts (if using).
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes. You can test to see if the bread is done by inserting a toothpick in the centre. The toothpick should come out mostly clean when done.
- Once done, remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
