Would you ever guess that this loaf of banana bread is healthy?!
Not only is it vegan and made from whole-wheat flour, but it does not contain any refined sugar, oil, or dairy!
I love bananas, in fact I think they are my favorite fruit (at the moment)!
I love them right out of the peel, dried as chips, frozen and dipped in chocolate, sliced on my almond butter toast, blended in my smoothies, and of course hot and gooey in my banana bread.
I had a huge bunch of bananas that were about to go bad yesterday, and my freezer was already filled with a bag of frozen bananas, so I decided to experiment with my very first vegan baking recipe from Love Food Eat. I love vegan baking because it’s always a challenge to substitute dairy products, and you can lick the entire bowl of batter without getting sick! While I was at it, I wanted to attempt to make the healthiest banana bread possible, without the use of oil, butter, shortening, eggs, or sugar!
Vegan Banana Bread
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 cups very ripe mashed banana
1/3 cup Medjool dates – finely chopped
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, combine ground flaxseed with water. Set aside and stir occasionally until it forms into a sticky/gooey texture. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon). Mash the banana and chop dates. Add mashed banana, dates, and flaxseed mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until it turns into a dough. Lightly coat a baking pan in nonstick cooking spray. Pour the dough into the pan and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 55-60 minutes until edges are golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Natalie
May 12, 2012 at 9:30 am (13 years ago)This looks delicious! How did it turn out? I was wondering if there is anyway you can substitute the flax seeds for chia seeds? Let me know! By the way, I am a big fan of your blog! Keep up the good work!
Catherine
May 12, 2012 at 12:25 pm (13 years ago)Hi Natalie!
Thank you so much, I absolutely love hearing from readers 🙂
The flaxseed acts an an egg substitute or “vegan egg” so I am not sure if chia seeds would work. I haven’t tried before, but it could be a fun experiment! I think I would grind them in a blender and then combine the ground chia seeds with water, but I’m not sure if the seed:water ratio would be the same. A few people have made it already and posted on the Facebook fan page! So exciting 🙂
Let me know if you give it a try though!
xo
Christine @ Oatmeal Bowl
May 18, 2012 at 2:32 pm (13 years ago)Thank you for sharing your recipe. Looks delicious!
Catherine
May 18, 2012 at 2:36 pm (13 years ago)Thanks Christine! I want to try every banana bread recipe that you posted!
PS love the name of your blog, too cute!
Ashton
May 22, 2012 at 3:06 pm (13 years ago)Are the medjool dates 100% necessary?
Catherine
May 22, 2012 at 6:05 pm (13 years ago)I think that the dates add a little extra sweetness in the bread, but if you use extremely ripe bananas, the bread might be ok without dates. I have not made this recipe without them, but definitely let me know if you give it a try!
Ashton
May 24, 2012 at 11:53 am (13 years ago)Thank you! I’m gonna try it 🙂
Kaitlin
May 23, 2012 at 1:56 pm (13 years ago)Catherine!
Your page/blog is so cute! Also, for the banana bread ive done a similar one using unsweetened applesauce and stevia. But since stevia is super strong, don’t use too much.
Anyway keep up the great page 🙂 hope all is well!!
Catherine
May 23, 2012 at 2:09 pm (13 years ago)Thanks Kaitlin!
I love subbing applesauce for oil in baking! It makes everything so moist!
xo
Ashley
June 28, 2012 at 10:13 am (12 years ago)What’s the calorie content? I notice you don’t post this information for any recipe… How come?
Thanks!
Catherine
June 28, 2012 at 11:29 am (12 years ago)I don’t count calories, I pay close attention to portions and servings 🙂
Sophie
July 11, 2012 at 6:31 pm (12 years ago)This was SO good. So moist and flavorful, I dont think anyone would guess it didn’t have eggs, oils or sugar in it.
Yum yum
Catherine
July 11, 2012 at 6:41 pm (12 years ago)I’m so glad you loved it as much as I did Sophie! Vegan baking can be quite amazing! xo
Allison
July 31, 2012 at 9:04 pm (12 years ago)Do you have the nutrition information for the vegan banana bread?
Catherine
July 31, 2012 at 9:22 pm (12 years ago)Hi Allison! I do not provide the nutrition information for my recipes!
Madddy Dennison
August 26, 2012 at 10:41 pm (12 years ago)I just made this tonight and it was fantastic! Thank you for the great recipe!
Catherine
August 27, 2012 at 8:43 pm (12 years ago)Yayyy! It’s one of my favorites! xo
Rach
August 28, 2012 at 3:22 pm (12 years ago)http://gloriouslyarranged.blogspot.com/2012/08/vegan-banana-bread.html
I tried it and linked back to you!
So yum. 🙂
Catherine
August 28, 2012 at 9:54 pm (12 years ago)Ohh my gosh thank you so much for sharing my recipe, you are so sweet! Your Banana Bread turned out excellent! xo
Sara
September 5, 2012 at 9:31 am (12 years ago)I made this last week and subbed in chia seeds for the flax because that is all I had. It is one of the best recipes I have ever tasted and even my junk food loving friends agreed it was delish too!!! Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes!
Mirani
December 23, 2012 at 10:23 pm (12 years ago)This banana bread was eaten with pleasure by everyone in my family! Along with the dates, I added some chopped dried apricots, and used chia seeds mixed with water instead of flaxseed. 🙂
Maria
January 9, 2013 at 7:46 am (12 years ago)I am a new vegan and i was looking for recipes to try out.. I am so happy i found this blog.. i got so many wonderful recipes 😀 Thanks so much!
Kathy
February 1, 2013 at 11:46 am (12 years ago)Wow, this is good. I am not vegan, but have been eating healthy for the last 3 weeks. I was surprised by the taste. I added some black walnuts which put it over the top. My new banana bread recipe. Thanks!!!
Õnne
February 14, 2013 at 3:33 am (12 years ago)Greetings from Estonia and thank you so much for such an easy recipe which tasted real good! I used fig fruits instead of dates and it tasted good as well 🙂
Catherine
February 14, 2013 at 2:33 pm (12 years ago)Hi from Los Angeles! I’m so happy you loved the recipe! I’ll make sure to let other know that figs work well too! xo
Samantha
February 19, 2013 at 9:28 am (12 years ago)I brought this to a party and everyone was very surprised to hear it was a vegan recipe. The only thing I will do different next time is add more cinnamon and maybe all spice or nutmeg. Over all I was very impressed, thanks!
slcb @ seeminglyrandom
February 28, 2013 at 11:38 am (12 years ago)hey!
thanks for all of your hard work in coming up with healthy recipes! i happened upon your blog this morning and i’ve read through your bios and several recipes so far… definitely put you in my reader.
i’ve been fat since a baby, skinny to the point of abuse (like you talked about in “down the rabbit hole”), and am back at more-than-pleasantly plump. tried fads, but those always led to ultra-fast, but temporary, weightloss.
now i’m at the point of making gradual changes for permanent loss. i’m not vegan, but am definitely finding that i’m gravitating to more “plant-based” recipes on my trek to wellness.
okay, enough rabbit trailing (no pun intended… ;): i noticed in another recipe that you used maple syrup instead of dates? i don’t have dates here, but i have the syrup. can the substitution be made in this recipe as well? just curious.
thanks!
Brenda Lau
May 8, 2013 at 1:31 pm (12 years ago)Just wondering, if I were to use ground oats to substitute part of the flour, how much/to what ratio should i do it? (:
Emma
November 15, 2013 at 5:13 pm (11 years ago)This looks amazing – thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been looking for a great healthy banana bread recipe for ages, and this one definitely fits that bill.