The Best Banana Bread (vegan & sugar-free!)

May 15, 2016

reading time: 2 min

EDIT: This recipe has been updated because I wasn't completely happy with the ooey gooey original version any longer. This one is still moist, but nice and fluffy – and still vegan and sugar-free of course!

When life hands you over-ripe bananas ... you make banana bread!

I mean, seriously. What do you do when your stored bananas are so over-ripe that they're practically black from the outside? In my house, we either freeze them for nicecream, or we make banana bread.

This time it was time for some simple and delicious banana bread. And it turned out perfect!

At this point there are already several recipes for banana bread on my blog, such as my gluten-free buckwheat banana bread and my peanut chocolate swirl banana bread – but this very basic banana bread has just stomped all other banana bread recipes into the ground. Why? Because it's sweet, it's soft, it's lovely moist, fluffy, and it's completely sugar-free. In other words: It's super healthy AND super good!! What more do you want?!

THE BEST BANANA BREAD

Preparation time: 60 mins
Main ingredients: banana, flour, nuts
difficulty level: easy
makes: 1 loaf
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, wheat-free, soy-free, sugar-free, low-fat, low-sodium

Ingredients

3-4 (over)ripe bananas *
60 ml (1/4 cup) sunflower oil or canola oil
60 ml (1/4 cup) plant-based milk (I like oat milk or almond milk, but any is fine!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
200 g (~1 1/2 cups) flour (I use spelt flour type 1050)
30 g (~1/3 cup) ground oats
50 g (~1/2 cup) ground almonds or ground hazelnuts
1 packet (15 g) baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
a pinch of salt
6 soft dates, chopped
3 tbsp chopped nuts, e. g. walnuts or almonds

optional topping:
1 banana, sliced
a few walnut halves

* In order to keep the amount of sugar in this recipe to zero, you need to use ripe or even overripe bananas on the brink of decay which is when they are really sweet. However, if you don't have super ripe bananas at hand, or if you like your banana bread very sweet, you may need to add some sweetener such as brown sugar, raw cane sugar, coconut blossom sugar, maple syrup, or agave syrup.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 °F / 180 °C.

In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas using a fork. If that isn't possible they aren't ripe enough and therefore not sweet enough (see notes above). Add oil, plant-based milk, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, ground oats, ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, and mix thoroughly. Lastly, fold in the chopped dates and nuts.

Pour the batter into a lightly greased or parchment lined loaf pan. If you like, place a couple of walnut halves and banana slices on top, and gently press into the batter.

Bake in the preheated oven at 350 °F / 180 °C for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let the banana bread cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

PRO TIP: Instead of the chopped nuts – or additionally (mind blown!) – you could sprinkle the batter of your banana bread with vegan chocolate chips if you want. Imagine them slowly melting... yum!

This fabulous fluffy, egg-less, dairy-free and sugar-free banana bread disappears very fast in our home and I need to make it again very soon. I like it best with a bit of vegan butter or nut butter, but it honestly tastes amazing as is :)

- This banana bread is not only great as a pick-me-up at school or work, but also the perfect road trip snack! In the picture below you can see what my boyfriend and I took with us when we went camping: a loaf of homemade banana bread, more bananas, grapes, some almond butter, fruit nut bars, and my recycled true fruits glass bottle which is perfect for putting in fruits such as sliced lemon and fresh basil! -