This fluffy vegan blueberry banana bread is insanely easy to make with simple & healthy ingredients! It’s the perfect vegan breakfast treat!
My recipe is so versatile that you can easily adapt it to your needs such as gluten-free, sugar-free or even oil-free! You can also add things and change the flavour if you like (see variations)!
I love having banana bread for breakfast and therefore I’ve baked this goodie heaps of times. It has never failed me no matter what I changed, subbed or whatever! Curious?? Let’s get started then!
Ingredients
- bananas
- plant-based milk (such as almond milk or soy milk)
- vegetable oil (I prefer olive oil)
- maple syrup (optional)
- all-purpose flour (gluten-free, if needed)
- baking powder
- cinnamon (optional)
- salt
- fresh blueberries (or frozen)
(see recipe card for quantities)
Bananas: The bananas don’t have to be brown and spotty or overripe. This recipe works wonderfully with just ripe, yellow bananas too! If they’re too hard to mash with a fork, use a stick blender!
Vegan Milk: It doesn’t matter which milk you choose. If you wanted to, you could easily just use water too. Coconut milk does make the banana bread a bit moister due to its high-fat content.
Vegetable Oil: I prefer using olive oil for cooking and baking. But feel free to use sunflower oil, coconut oil or canola oil if you prefer.
Maple Syrup: This healthy blueberry banana bread doesn't require any sweetening as the bananas and blueberries already have a lot of sweetness.
However, I do like it sweeter every now and then and I add maple syrup, only using 2 tablespoons (30ml). See 'substitutions' for sugar options.
Plain Flour: You can use any popular plain or all-purpose flour. Whether white flour, whole wheat flour or spelt flour - they all work in this recipe. For gluten-free see 'substitutions'.
Why no Flaxseed Egg? I know, many other bloggers use ground flaxseed eggs in their vegan recipes but we don't need them for this banana blueberry loaf! We've got the bananas that already do the job!
Equipment
The loaf tin/pan that I used for the banana bread in the pictures is only small (22 x 11.5 x 6 cm / 8.8 x 4.5 x 2.4 inches) because I like having taller slices.
You can absolutely use a larger tin as well. The banana bread will just be a bit longer and flatter. I find that the baking time stays the same. No matter how big or small the loaf tin that I’m using is.
Instructions
Step One: Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F. Grease an approx. 9-inch loaf pan, or if using a non-stick, there is no need to prepare it. The banana bread will come out easily. Otherwise, line the loaf pan with parchment paper.
Step Two: Peel the bananas and put them in a large bowl. Mash them with a fork or what I like to do is use a potato masher (it’s just quicker that way). If the bananas are too hard, or not quite ripe, use a stick blender to mash them.
Step Three: Add plant-based milk, oil of choice and maple syrup, if using, to the mashed bananas and combine.
Step Four: Now, add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt) on top and mix them a bit together before combining them with the wet ingredients underneath.
The batter should be moist, a bit fluffy and thick. Very similar to muffin batter, I’d say. Now, stir through the blueberries.
Step Five: Spread the batter in the prepared loaf tin. Bake for about 50 minutes. The crust should be all brown and firm, but yet springy, to the touch.
Step Six: Leave it in the tin for about 5-10 minutes before removing it. Let it cool down on a cooling rack. You can slice your banana bread after about 20 minutes.
Serving Suggestion: Spread some peanut butter or vegan butter on your slice of banana bread, top with seasonal fruit and some plant-based yoghurt to have yourself a wonderfully yummy breakfast or a healthy snack!
Substitutions
Gluten-free: I’ve tried a few different gluten-free flours. My absolute favourite is plain buckwheat flour like in this vegan buckwheat banana bread! But a regular gluten-free flour blend or a mix of different flours will work, too.
I don’t quite remember what I used to do exactly, but I know that I’ve made my classic vegan banana bread with a mix of sorghum, tapioca, quinoa and buckwheat flour. I think it was equal parts (¼ cup each).
Oil-free: To make this vegan blueberry banana bread oil-free, simply swap the vegetable oil with 120g / ½ cup of dairy-free yoghurt! You can also substitute the oil with more milk AND use coconut milk!
Maple Syrup/Sugar Options: If you like your banana bread on the sweeter side, you can add ¼ - ⅓ cup brown sugar, white sugar or coconut sugar (for a healthier alternative).
Sugar-free: Super easy: leave out the maple syrup. That’s all you gotta do. You may sweeten with a sugar-free sweetener like stevia. But I don’t use that so I don’t know how much of it to use.
Vegan Milk: I often don’t even use milk in my banana bread—just water, actually. It’s not that much we put in anyways and I don’t think you can taste the difference.
Variations
I love, love, love banana bread (did I mention that already…?). So, no wonder, I’ve got heaps of recipes here on my blog (and more to come).
Chocolate Chips: Simply swap the blueberries with 80g / ½ cup vegan chocolate chips.
Double-Chocolate Berry: I love this vegan double-chocolate banana bread recipe because it includes a yummy chocolate icing/frosting!! You can also add the blueberries to the recipe to make a choccy blueberry banana bread!
Pumpkin: I use fewer bananas (only 2 large, yield 300g), less oil (only 60ml / ¼ cup), add 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice and 300g / 1 cup pumpkin puree. The full recipe follows soon!!
Other berries: Instead of blueberries, you can also use other berries if you want! Although, I do find that blueberry and banana are simply the perfect match!
Storage
You can keep this vegan blueberry banana bread in an airtight container or a bread bag in the fridge for up to a week. Alternatively, you can freeze it for at least 6 months!
My Top Tip
To make your banana bread rise like crazy (just like mine!), add about ½ teaspoon bicarb / baking soda! I use homemade baking powder that only contains bicarb and cream of tartar, which means, it’s very active! A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar works wonders too!
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- 1 loaf tin mine is 22 x 11.5 x 6 cm / 8.8 x 4.5 x 2.4 inches
Ingredients
- 4 medium bananas ripe, yield about 400g when peeled
- 125ml / ½ cup plant-based milk
- 80ml / ⅓ cup olive oil or other vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup optional
- 300g / 2 cups plain flour gluten-free, if needed, see notes
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon bicarb/baking soda optional
- 200g / 1 ½ cups blueberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F. Grease the loaf tin.
- Peel the bananas and put them in a large bowl. Mash them with a fork or a potato masher.
- Add plant-based milk, oil of choice and maple syrup, if using, and combine.
- Now, add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt) on top and mix them a bit together before combining them with the wet ingredients underneath. Stir through the blueberries.
- Spread the batter in the prepared loaf tin. Bake for about 50 minutes. The crust should be all brown and firm, but yet springy, to the touch.
- Leave it in the tin for about 5-10 minutes before removing it. Let it cool down on a cooling rack. You can slice your banana bread after about 20 minutes.
