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Simple, wholesome, and perfectly sweet, vegan chocolate chip banana bread. Made with coconut sugar, over-ripe bananas, and loaded with dark chocolate chips, this banana bread will fill your home with warmth. Best part? No mixer is needed. Only a couple of bowls, and a spatula. It’s an extremely easy recipe that you can enjoy all year long, for breakfast, brunch, a snack or even dessert. Serve a thick slice of this moist vegan chocolate chip banana bread with a generous spread of nut butter or vegan butter. And with a tall glass of oat milk or coffee.
This easy vegan banana bread recipe…
- is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas that you may have.
- is incredibly moist and fluffy.
- bakes perfectly every single time.
- made with ingredients you already have in your pantry.
10 simple ingredients for vegan chocolate chip banana bread
- Bananas: A few over-ripe bananas aka brown bananas. Bananas with lots of brown spots will work well too. And if you have an extra banana, you can slice it in half and place it over the batter before baking. Don’t have over-ripe bananas but still craving banana bread? Bake the bananas for 15 minutes until they become black all over. Allow them to cool slightly, and then just like that you’ve got bananas that are ready to use in this recipe.
- Flour: All-purpose flour aka plain flour for my UK folks.
- Sugar: To make this chocolate chip banana bread a little healthier, I used coconut sugar. But you can use equal amounts of light brown sugar or granulated sugar too, which will make this loaf a little sweeter too.
- Oil: I used coconut oil, but you can use vegetable oil, sunflower oil, olive oil or even vegan butter.
- Non-dairy milk: You can use any plant milk of your choice. Oat milk, coconut milk, soy milk, almond milk, etc. You’ll need it to be at room temperature, that way, once it’s combined with the other wet ingredients, the melted coconut oil won’t harden.
- Baking soda + baking powder: The combination of both will gift us with the fluffiest banana bread.
- Salt: Just a pinch for the batter, and then salt flakes to sprinkle over the freshly baked loaf.
- Vanilla extract: Be sure to use vanilla extract, and not essence!
- Ground cinnamon: It’s optional, but I really love the combo of bananas, cinnamon and dark chocolate.
- Chocolate chips: I love using dark vegan chocolate chips but feel free to use dark chocolate chunks.
- Apple cider vinegar: I know it may seem strange but you’ll need a dash of apple cider vinegar. When combined with the non-dairy milk of your choice, it’ll turn into homemade buttermilk. Cool, right?
How to make the best vegan banana bread loaded with chocolate chips
Start with making the homemade buttermilk by combining the apple cider vinegar and oat milk. I personally prefer to use buttermilk over flax eggs in certain baked goods like this loaf. The vegan buttermilk helps the banana bread to rise perfectly and gifts us with a fluffy, moist bread. Allow the homemade buttermilk to rest for at least 5 minutes before using.
In a large bowl, add the all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and ground cinnamon. Whisk until everything is combined.
In another medium bowl, add the bananas and mash them up. The mashed banana mixture doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth, in fact, I like to keep a couple of chunks in them. That way, with every bite you’ll get an extra hit of banana flavor. Pour in the vanilla extract, melted coconut oil, and homemade buttermilk, along with the coconut sugar. Give everything a good mix together with the mashed bananas. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and fold together until everything is nearly combined. Add in the dark chocolate chips and fold until no streaks of the all-purpose flour are visible, and no longer as we don’t want to overmix the batter.
Time to bake
Transfer the chocolate chip banana bread batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. For a pretty, extra chocolaty bread, sprinkle more dark chocolate chips over the loaf. I go kinda heavy-handed them because, in my opinion, there’s no such thing as too many chocolate chips.
Bake the sweet quick bread for 45-50 minutes or until a knife (or toothpick) comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
Allow the banana bread to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then transfer onto a cooling rack to cool for a further 5 minutes, or so. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with salt flakes, I know this may seem weird, but there’s something magical about having melted dark chocolate chips with a little hit of salt. It won’t make it taste salty but enhance the chocolate flavor. And just like that – you have a homemade loaf of chocolate chip banana bread that’s homemade and a little healthier.
The best way to serve this vegan chocolate chip banana bread is to cut it into thick slices, and serve it with vegan butter, peanut butter, almond butter or even a little drizzle of maple syrup. And with a tall glass of oat milk or coffee.
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temp for 2-3 days or keep refrigerated for up to a week. I like to reheat the slices in the microwave for around 10 seconds. This way, the chocolate chips to become all gooey and the slice will taste just like it was freshly baked. YUM.
Tips on making the perfect loaf of banana bread
- Bananas: For the best results, make sure your bananas are over-ripe! It’s the secret to a perfectly moist loaf of banana bread.
- The wet ingredients: The non-dairy milk needs to be room temp! If it’s not, and it’s chilled, it’ll harden up the melted coconut oil.
- Mixing: Try not to over-mix the batter. To avoid doing this, only mix the wet and dry ingredients together until nearly combined. Once you add in the dark vegan chocolate chips, you can then mix everything together until completely combined.
- Baking: After the 45-minute mark, insert a knife or a toothpick into the centre to see if it’s done. If the toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs, it’s time to remove it from the oven. You don’t want the banana bread to be dry!!
Once you try this vegan chocolate chip banana bread recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! I try my best to respond to you all. Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram – I can’t wait to see your images!!
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Ingredients
- 3 over-ripe bananas
- 3 tbsp oat milk
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 80 coconut sugar or light brown sugar
- 60 g coconut oil (melted)
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt (plus salt flakes to sprinkle the freshly baked loaf with)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- 100 g vegan chocolate chips (plus more for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/356°C and line a loaf tin with parchment paper.
- The batter: To make the homemade buttermilk, combine the oat milk nd apple cider vinegar in a small bowl. In another bowl, mash the bananas, then add in the melted coconut oil, homemade buttermilk, vanilla extract and sugar. In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and fold together until nearly combined. Add in the vegan chocolate chips, and fold until well combined.
- Baking: Pour batter into a pre-lined loaf tin, sprinkle over more chocolate chips (I go heavy handed!) Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean once inserted in the center.
- Final touches: Sprinkle the freshly baked loaf with sea salt flakes, allow to cool slightly, then serve warm!
Nutrition
- Calories: 320
