Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread - My Vegan Minimalist (2024)

Published: May 7, 2020 · Modified: May 6, 2022 by Tajda Ferko This post may contain affiliate links

This vegan chocolate banana bread is packed with flavour and so easy you can even make it with your kids. It's a healthier, lighter version of traditional banana bread and can be served as breakfast, snack or dessert.

Why this recipe works

Wondering why you should pick this exact recipe? Let me tell you!

1. Super fluffy and moist, what banana bread dreams are made of!
2. The perfect way to use up those brown bananas.
3. Customise this base recipe to your heart's content - add any spices or flavourings to create your perfect chocolate flavour combination.
4. Easy and forgivable recipe
5. The texture is absolutely spot on!
6. This recipe isPACKED with helpful tricks and tipsthat will help you become a better baker.

And to make things ever better, you can find US and EU measurements below.

What goes into this recipe

Let’s pop the following ingredients onto our shopping list:

Hazelnuts: I used simple unroasted hazelnuts and chopped them very thin. These are optional, but highly recommended.

Dairy free milk: use any unsweetend and unflavour plant milk

To make this recipe you will also need the following equipment:

How to make vegan chocolate banana bread

It's super easy and done in just 6 easy steps.

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, soda bicarbonate, cocoa and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas. Then add plant milk, vanilla, oil, sugar and lemon juice and mix.
3. Add your wet ingredient mixture to your dry ingredients.
4. Mix until combined - you'll get a rich, dark brown, shiny mixture.
5. Optional step: chop your roasted hazelnuts. Cover them with a teaspoon of flour and add to your mixture. Mix again.
6. Pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin. Decorate with sliced banana and bake for 55-60 minutes at 180°C (375°C) fan oven.

My Top Expert Tips

I really want you to nail this recipe in your first go. Best way to do that? Read these tips below - they will really help you out!

1. Use Ripe Bananas

Ripe bananas give the perfect hit of banana flavour and sweetness whilst not adding starch to your batter as unripe bananas are higher in starch. If you don’t have ripe bananas you can try and ripen them faster.

Alternatively, use your unripe bananas and add a little more sugar to your bread. The banana flavour won’t be quite as strong but the chocolate will still come through beautifully.

2. Keep Your Bread Fluffy and Light

Try not to overmix your batter. The more you mix, the more gluten will develop, making your bread dense, hard and not airy.

The banana bread should be light and crumbly, almost cake-like, so you want low gluten development. If you mix it a lot you will be able to feel it working against you and getting tougher.

If you start to feel that, immediately stop mixing. Try to mix everything until just combined and the baking soda and self-raising flour will do the rest.

3. Coat Your Nuts with Flour

If you're adding nuts to your recipe (which I do recommend), always make sure to coat them in a teaspoon of flour before adding to your mixture. This will make sure they are evenly distributed throughout your bread.

4. Fix Your Dry Banana Bread

Your banana bread can be dry if you've left it in the oven for too long. It can also be dry if you've measured the cocoa wrong and added too much into the bater.

The good thing? You can still fix it even after baking. Simply warm it up in the microwave just before serving. This will take away some of the dryness. Then, top the bread with more fresh banana slices (or other fruit) and spread with jam or peanut butter for added moisture and freshness.

FAQs

Find more details on how to cook the centre and ensure your banana bread is done here and here.

Possible Variations

Don’t have all the ingredients in the cupboard or just want to experiment a little? Here are my tips on how to substitute some main ingredients of this fail proof chocolate banana bread.

• SUGAR –either caster sugar or muscovado sugar will work in this recipe as it's very forgiving. Just make sure to keep the total weight of the sugar the same (for those using US cup measurements caster sugar weighs more per cup than muscovado so keep that in mind and weigh the sugar out instead). Caster sugar only will create a slightly crispier top whilst muscovado only will give you a more rich, caramelly flavour.

• OIL –if you don’t have olive oil you can add in any vegetable oil like rapeseed or sunflower oil. I recommend an oil that does not have too strong a flavour as you want the main banana and chocolate flavour to really come through.

• SODA BICARBONATE –Don’t have any baking soda? Don’t worry you can substitute soda for baking powder. It will give a slightly lower rise but will not affect the taste, still creating a deliciously chocolatey banana bread.

• ALMOND MILK –Any plant based milk will work in this so feel free to use your favourite milk or whichever you have available.

• ALTERNATIVE FLAVOURS –Toasted almonds would work equally well but you can add in any nuts to this recipe. For the ultimate autumn banana bread, add some all spice (or pumpkin spice) and the bread will taste just like a pumpkin spice hot chocolate. For the Pimm’s or Terry’s chocolate Orange lovers out there, add in some orange essence and you’re ready to go.

Any other ingredients you’re missing at the moment? Get in touch via the comments below and I’ll see if I can find a good substitution for you.

If you like me banana bread, I'm sure you'll also want to try out my oat milk pancakes, blueberry muffin and super easy vegan chocolate shortbread.

If you made and liked my chocolate banana bread I would really appreciate it if you left a comment or a rating below. And if you're looking for more delicious vegan recipes, why not check out my Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook pages for more.

🍴Recipe