Easy vegan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread that’s 100% whole grain, perfectly sweet and moist, and takes less than 10 minutes to whip up! A healthy and super yummy banana bread recipe that will be the only banana bread recipe you ever need.
THOSE CHUNKS THOOOOOO.
I’ve always been a gigantic banana bread girl. But who in their right mind doesn’t like banana bread? I don’t get you.
This weekend was kind of wild. Not like I went out and had one drink too many kind of wild, although that sounds quite lovely. It was just super busy and ya girl is TIRED. As I’m writing this its 9:06pm on Sunday and I’ve never been more pumped to melt into my bed.
I worked at Alchemy all day on Saturday and spent the majority of yesterday in the kitchen cooking, photographing, and writing a bunch of recipes. Buttttt it was all worth it once my tastebuds met this tender, yumtastical, chocolatey vegan banana bread sent from the banana gods!
Now when chocolate chips are an option, I’m always there. I never saw the point of chocolate-less banana bread when it’s such a stupendous vehicle for it.
I chopped up a 72% dark chocolate bar from Trader Joe’s for this vegan banana bread (and also put some on top post-bake) but you could also use your favorite semi-sweet chocolate chips.
If you’re one of those interesting souls born with the chocolate lover gene, you can swap them out for yummy crunchy walnuts or pecans or simply leave them out.
So here we are today with a stupid easy, insanely moist, incredibly delish, 100% whole grain and vegan recipe for AMAZING healthy banana bread. It’s a big day for us!!
This baby comes together in like nine minutes, which is splendid since it has to bake for over an hour and then cool.
Bottom line—make this in the morning so you can munch on it by lunch time.
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread
This recipe is banana heavy because it’s BANANA BREAD, ya dig? Use the ripest bananas you have to get the most natural sweetness bang for your buck. Mine were pretty much black. It’s cool! Measure out the banana after you mash it as bananas greatly vary in size.
Achieve the perfect sweetness with organic cane sugar to keep this vegan banana bread recipe affordable and accessible for everyone. Maple syrup works beautifully as well! I tried this recipe with 1/3 cup maple syrup and while it was delicious, I did have to cook it for 1 hour 15 minutes.
You can also use white sugar or coconut sugar if you don’t have organic cane sugar. I used 1/2 cup which is just sweet enough for us. If you’re used to sweeter, more “classic” banana bread, use 3/4 cup.
Add filling fiber and antioxidants with whole wheat pastry flour while keeping the texture of this vegan banana bread light and fluffy. It also makes the flavor less “wheaty,” but regular whole wheat flour and of course all purpose flour works fine, too. I would recommend this flour to make it gluten-free.
Make vegan buttermilk by curdling almond milk with lemon juice. You can also use vinegar. Such a nice trick to have up your sleeve!
Add chocolate chips for the perfect flavor! You could also use walnuts or leave them out completely, but that’s not living now is it? I get the big bag of dairy-free chocolate chips from Costco (you can buy them on Amazon, too).
Can I Make This Bread Into Muffins?
Yes! This recipe makes incredible muffins. Simply follow the recipe and pour batter into a muffin tin then bake for about 23 minutes, or until golden brown. Insanely fluffy!!
How to Store Banana Bread
- The best place to store the bread is on the countertop in an air-tight container for up to three days. If you still have some left, you can store in the fridge for up to a week or more and it will stay moist.
- To freeze bread, simply wrap the loaf tightly in foil then in a plastic bag with the air squeezed out. It will stay fresh for up to four months. You can thaw it on the counter when you’re ready to eat.
Craving more bready goodness? Don’t miss my other go-to recipes!
- One Bowl Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Banana Bread
- Almond Flour Chocolate Banana Bread
- Chai-Spiced Carrot Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Icing
- Healthy Pumpkin Gingerbread with Maple Glaze
- Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Please let me know how this vegan banana bread recipe turns out for you by leaving a star rating and/or comment! Your house is about to smell soooooo good.
Print
Vegan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Vegan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread that’s 100% whole grain, perfectly sweet and moist, and takes less than 10 minutes to whip up! A healthy and super yummy banana bread recipe that will quickly become a favorite.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups very overripe bananas, mashed (3 large bananas)
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar (or 1/3 cup maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup avocado oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chocolate chunks or chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x5in loaf pan with cooking spray.
- Place almond milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl. Stir and set aside.
- Place bananas in a large mixing bowl. Use a potato masher or fork to mash them well. Add sugar or syrup, oil, and vanilla, stirring to combine. Stir in almond milk.
- Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir just until just barely combined (a few flour clumps are okay!). Fold in chocolate chunks, being careful not to over-mix.
- Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes for maple syrup version), or until a knife comes out clean. If your loaf looks like it’s getting too browned, quickly slide a piece of tin foil on top after 50 minutes. Once done, carefully remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool before slicing.
Notes
This bread is delicious with my Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting!
TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE: Do not substitute almond flour or coconut flour for the whole wheat flour; they are not even substitutes and your banana bread will not turn out. For a gluten-free version, readers have had success with 2 cups of 1:1 GF baking flour OR 1 1/2 GF baking flour + 1/2 cup almond flour.
MUFFINS: To make muffins, simply pour batter into a muffin tin and bake for 23 minutes, or until golden on top and a knife comes out clean.
STORAGE: Store leftovers on the counter wrapped in foil or in a sealed container for up to three days before refrigerating/freezing.
Keywords: vegan banana bread, healthy banana bread
This looks absolutely incredible! I can’t wait to try it!
I’m a banana bread girl too 🙂 Love this recipe!
Made it last night with my 3 over ripe bananas. Added roasted walnuts to the recipe. Delicious! 😋
★★★★★
Mmmm love roasted walnuts. Thanks, Therese!!
I’m a banana bread girl too 🙂 Love this recipe!
Need. To. Make. Honestly, I’ve tried “healthy” banana breads in the past and I SO appreciate that this is the real deal and has chocolate chips (critical IMO). Thank you for sharing!
I want to make this again and see if I can do better and then change my review but I’m disappointed :/ Right after they were cooled enough to eat last night, they were very tasty! But today… pretty chewy and not moist. I used coconut milk (from a carton) and coconut oil that solidified upon mixing it with semi-thawed bananas (whoops!) so I had to microwave the banana and oil mixture to liquify it all, which may have caused some problems? Or my milk choice? The granulated sugar I used was not organic and I used white all-purpose flour. Everything else was the same. I made muffins and baked them for 22 minutes- knife came out clean. I’d love to try again! I’ll definitely not make the banana and oil mistake again, but should I change something else? The bananas are a local kind (I’m in Hawaii) called apple bananas or manzano bananas. I used 4-5 since they’re small. Thanks for your help 🙂
★★★
Hey Lacey! Are the bananas sweet I’m assuming? The oil should be liquid. Granulated sugar and all purpose flour work fine. Maybe try baking them a bit less? I haven’t made them with coconut milk but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. Be sure not to over-mix the batter as that can make it tough. I’ve never heard of these being chewy and not moist so I hope this helps! Also are you storing them in an air-tight container?
Need. To. Make. Honestly, I’ve tried “healthy” banana breads in the past and I SO appreciate that this is the real deal and has chocolate chips (critical IMO). Thank you for sharing!
Do you have nutritional value for this ?
And can you sub almond flour for the whole wheat?
I don’t calculate nutrition info for a number of reasons but feel free to enter the recipe into an online calculate like my fitness pal. I haven’t tried it with almond flour so I can’t verify the results but let me know if you try it!
Do you have nutritional value for this ?
And can you sub almond flour for the whole wheat?
I don’t calculate nutrition info for a number of reasons but feel free to enter the recipe into an online calculate like my fitness pal. I haven’t tried it with almond flour so I can’t verify the results but let me know if you try it!
Could maple syrup or coconut palm syrup be used in place of organic cane sugar
I haven’t tried it with either sweetener as I wanted this to be like traditional banana bread but I’ll try with coconut sugar for my next batch and let you know!
Could maple syrup or coconut palm syrup be used in place of organic cane sugar
I haven’t tried it with either sweetener as I wanted this to be like traditional banana bread but I’ll try with coconut sugar for my next batch and let you know!
Making this IMMEDIATELY. Dreamy!!!
★★★★★
Let me know how you like it!!
Making this IMMEDIATELY. Dreamy!!!
★★★★★
Let me know how you like it!!
Girl, this looks amazing!!! I have at last 1 c of GF all purpose flour, & I read that fine almond meal could be used in place of some. I know you can’t advise since you haven’t tried it that way, but to your knowledge, would it work? I may make a special trip to the store for more flour anyway since it’s needed to keep on hand. ? Thank you for the recipe!!
Hmmm I think it’s worth a shot! Let me know how it goes 🙂 I get almond meal will make it extra moist.
Girl, this looks amazing!!! I have at last 1 c of GF all purpose flour, & I read that fine almond meal could be used in place of some. I know you can’t advise since you haven’t tried it that way, but to your knowledge, would it work? I may make a special trip to the store for more flour anyway since it’s needed to keep on hand. ? Thank you for the recipe!!
Hmmm I think it’s worth a shot! Let me know how it goes 🙂 I get almond meal will make it extra moist.
Mmm, who doesn’t love banana bread? Will give this recipe a go, sounds delicious! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Yay!! Hope you LOVE it!!
I just made this recipe and it is off the charts good, I used spelt flour instead and made muffins since they are easier to freeze. New go to staple for sure!!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much! If you could leave a star rating I’d be so grateful!
Mmm, who doesn’t love banana bread? Will give this recipe a go, sounds delicious! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Yay!! Hope you LOVE it!!
I just made this recipe and it is off the charts good, I used spelt flour instead and made muffins since they are easier to freeze. New go to staple for sure!!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much! If you could leave a star rating I’d be so grateful!