Banana bread is one of my favorite childhood treats. I remember baking it many times and trying to pack as much banana flavor into it as possible. But traditional banana bread isn’t very healthy. It’s made with white flour, oil, eggs and sugar. It’s also not usually vegan.
So I wanted to make a fat free oil free vegan version of banana bread and this one uses stone ground whole wheat flour. Even though it’s oil free, it’s actually very moist and a very similar texture to regular banana bread. I was really impressed with this recipe.
Instead of sugar I’ve used maple syrup, but you can also use another liquid sweetener such as honey or agave if desired, but since they are sweeter than maple syrup you should use a little less.
The best banana bread is made with VERY ripe bananas, who’s skins have turned black and are very soft. If you use regular yellow or spotted bananas they won’t be sweet enough for this bread. When bananas ripen the natural starch inside is turned into sugar by enzymes, so it’s important to let your bananas ripen a lot before using them.
The key to slicing fresh banana bread is making sure you let it cool completely before slicing it. It makes it easier to cut and you have less chance of tearing it.
Then you can wrap it up or store it in air tight containers.
Scroll down for the recipe.
Fat Free Whole Wheat Vegan Banana Bread
1 loaf (12 slices)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups overripe mashed bananas (about 3 large, 4 medium)
1/3 cup almond milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (or 1/4-1/3 cup honey or agave because it’s sweeter)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour (or other whole grain, or gluten free)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Note: for a sweeter (more traditional) loaf you can add an additional 1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C.
2. Combine wet ingredients in a large size bowl and mix together.
3. Combine dry ingredients into a medium size bowl and whisk together.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. If you want to add some dry ingredients such as fruit or nuts gently fold them in now.
5. Pour batter into a non stick silicone loaf pan or a lightly oil spritzed metal loaf pan. Use a spatula to smooth out the top. Sprinkle additional cinnamon on top if desired.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a knife in the middle comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cookie rack to completely before slicing.
8. Serve.
Additional Tips:
If you tend to have bananas that ripen and then turn black before you can use them, you can peel them and place them in a bag or in a plastic container in the freezer. Then take them out and thaw them for this recipe. It’s nice to have overripe bananas whenever you have an incling to make banana bread.
What’s your favorite addition to bake into banana bread? Walnuts? Raisins? Berries?
I searched and searched for a no oil low sugar banana bread and hit on this one. It’s a keeper. Husband approved so therefore grandchildren approved when they arrive for a visit. We had one piece and froze it til their visit. Mine didn’t rise as much as yours. I used spelt flour as a sub for the whole wheat. Next I’m going to try einkorn flour because it’s more like our original wheat and not as hybridized and easier for our bodies to digest. I’ll check back with my results. Thank you Veronica for this lovely recipe. I can’t believe I use to cook with all that oil! And all that sugar!
You’re very welcome
I make this all the time a freeze the individual slices for a grab and go snacks. But I never add the sugar. My kids and I love it like that!
Dear Veronica,
I am sooo happy with this NO FAT recipe! Thank you for sharing. It’s lovely.
🙂 Constance
Hey great recipe! Simply wondering what size loaf pan
Did u use?
Thank you
OMG ! I’m actually going to try it tomorrow 🙂 can’t wait 😀
These muffins look delicious! I was wondering if there is any way to half this recipe since I only want a few…do you think that it’s possible with this recipe?
I know it’s been several years since you posted this, but I just came across the recipe and tried it. Holy smokes…the banana bread turned out amazing! I made two loaves and they are both lovely. 🙂
This was amazing!
I love this recipe!!! My daughter even used this recipe for her 4th grade ‘how to’ speech. We love them as muffins and today we added blueberries, yum!
I’ve been looking all over the world for a low fat vegan banana bread recipe and this looks perfect.
I am a UK ‘follower’ and have several bread pans and don’t know which size you would regard as standard in the US. Can you please help? Answers in any units of measurement (yes, even pounds) would be fine as I can translate that OK!!
Just made these! I made 12 muffins. They smel great and they’re cooling right now! So excited!
what size loaf pan do you need for this banana bread? there are many size loaf pans.
thanks
This is now my go to banana bread recipe! It is perfect!! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for your recipe. I found this out last week and have been struggling to buy whole wheat flour where I live but I managed to find it anyway. I was afraid the bread wasnt gonna rise but then it did. Tasted nice too. Just one thing, i left the oven heat just as in your recipe and my bread came out crispy on the outside (which i loved) but kind of fudgy on the inside, not too bread-like. So may be next time i’ll tone it down a bit. I checked on myfitnesspal and it’s said to be around 166kcal per slice, rather healthy i suppose. Thanks so much again ^^
What can I substitute for the apple cider vinegar? I only have white vinegar and rice vinegar. Thanks!
I just made 12 muffins from this recipe today and added 2 Tbsp minced candied ginger, because I just happened to have some, at the end. I baked it for 18 minutes at 350 and it came out moist and yummy. I am just wondering about the nutritional value of each muffin or slice of bread. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
Veronica I love the taste of the bread, does not taste vegan at all. My bread does not look like your bread pictures, its still googy inside but the toothpick came out clean. Was going to cook it longer than 60 mins but it would have burnt. I used a glass load pan and reduced temp it by 25 degrees. Glass was the only pan I have to bake in. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks.. 🙂
Simply delicious!! I made these last night – four in the form of cupcakes, and the rest in the traditional form of banana bread. Since the proportions of my bread were probably smaller, mine ended up taking around 20ish minutes to fully bake.
As toppings, I added walnuts and pecans, raisins, and carob chips. I also made two of my cupcakes without adding agave nectar, and they turned out to taste “earthier” than the others, and overall, quite nice – still naturally sweet because of the bananas! For the entire batch in general, the texture is thick and moist, and the perfect amount of sweetness! (Not too sickly sweet.) Yum! Perfect for a breakfast snack, or something to share with friends!
I’m going to share some with my boss, and some other friends on a camping trip later – hopefully they’ll devour it 🙂 (I’m a vegan in a country where it’s very uncommon to be vegetarian, let alone vegan, so I’m trying to share as much vegan goodness with others as possible. :P)
Thanks, Veronica!
How do you think using date paste instead of maple syrup would turn out?
I’ve never used date paste in baking. It won’t be the same liquid content and will be much thicker so I don’t know how it will spread out in the mixture. All substitutions are an experiment.
I just made this recipe as a dozen muffins (baked 40 minutes at 400) and they turned out perfectly! As soon as they cool, I’m going to pop them in the freezer so they don’t dry out too fast. But I couldn’t resist eating one, and the flavor and texture were perfect. Thank you!
I meant 20 minutes, sorry!
I made these as muffins and only needed 30 baking time. They make a great breakfast or snack to go. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this over the weekend and it is excellent. Thank you so much for the recipe. I just love your blog. I was wondering if using half Soy Flour and half Whole Wheat Flour would work?
I have never used soy flour before so I am not sure. It might be drier as its a bean and not a grain.
Sounds yum, can’t wait to taste, I have some in the oven right now.
Of course the other great use for frozen black bananas is ice cream. Let them defrost just slightly then chuck in the blender. So creamy and yummy it’s hard to believe there is no cream involved. Add fresh fruit to vary the flavor. Here in the Southern Hemisphere summer I’m loving strawberry ice cream, no fat, no added sugars and no chemical numbers I can’t identify.
This is the best banana bread! I used palm sugar for the sweetener and it was really good! My husband loved it! Thanks for all your great recipes!
I made this again today and I was out of whole wheat pastry flour and I used regular King Arthur whole wheat flour instead and it was denser than using the KA WW pastry flour! Just thought I would suggest that for those that want a lighter loaf! Still good though!
Oh yes whole wheat pastry flour is much lighter. I find a hard time getting it, I only recently found it in bulk in Calgary. Previously I did not see it in Vancouver. It’s probably more available in the states.
Hey!
i baked this banana bread today, (thanks for the recipe!) and i used 1 cup of plain flour and one cup of wholemeal plain flour because i was experimenting, wasn’t sure how it’s gonna bake with wholemeal plain flour (that is not pastry flour).
it took almost 2 hours to bake!
is that logical?
happy new year
yael
*i baked
In Veronicas recipe she used whole wheat flour, so the difference should have been minimal for that substitution. She said that banana bread takes at least 50 to 70 mins to bake. Other factors that can affect baking are too much liquid, temp baked at, and altitude (higher alt takes longer)
Thanks for your feedback! Jody (Mom)
thanks for the reply!
i have another question..[=
why is overripe bananas are so important for the recipe?
i picked up some bananas that looked blackish but when i open them they were perfectly fine and yellow (but not green or something)
i used them anyway
maybe that’s why it took such a long time?
and that’s why it;s a bit dens? or maybe it’s suppose to be like that
Overripe bananas that are black on the outside have more flavor. That is why they are used in baking. If you use yellow on the outside bananas they arent soft or sweet enough and wont have much flavor when baked.
Banana bread is dense in general its like a cake loaf not a rising bread with yeast. Whole wheat flour makes it denser too anyway
Hi Veronica,
Thanks so much for the bb recipe! I added some freshly grated nutmeg and sprinkled some oats on top as well. It turned out yummylicious!
I LOVE IT , dear V eronica ! I simply love it !
…
As I am now – in need of Carbs – I would eat all of it at once !
…
And … I love too the Smell of it when its backing !
ALL MY RESPECT ,
Teresa
Hi Veronica, I made this recipe using Teff flour and it worked really well, ,thanks
Oh I’m glad. 🙂
Will be trying it as soon as I have enough bananas saved up. Thanks
Delicious! Nothing beats a good banana bread; love it topped with a dollop of peanut or almond butter!
I’m thinking coconut flour substitute for some of the ww might be a fun experiment and use pineapple juice instead of almond milk. Do you think chemically that would work? Kind of a pina colada/banana bread? I have coconut flour I haven’t tried yet.
I can’t say for sure. I have never used coconut flour. I don’t use a lot of coconut products, only occasionally because they are so high in fat. As for the pineapple juice, it is acidic so you wouldn’t need the apple cider vinegar, but as it’s quite a lot of it and only a little baking soda I have no idea how it would rise. It definitely would be an experiment and I am not a skilled chemist lol. Fat free and vegan baking is an experiment in itself, let alone gluten free vegan baking. Lots of trial and error I think.
HI Veronica,
Baking soda or baking powder for the recipe? Thanks
HI Veronica,
Is it baking soda or baking powder that we should add – I notice you have baking soda, is that correct?
Thanks
Yes baking soda.
Brilliant recipe!!!! One question, does stevia work to substitute liquid sweetener?
You can try it. I personally can’t use stevia as it gives me headaches. If you do add a bit of water to make up for it. I’m not sure how much you would add though.
Stevia doesn’t bake very well. It will become bitter when baked. The best alternative sweetener to use for baking is a Japanese product called Lakanto. It is available in North America exclusively from SarayaCanada. You can order it from their website, http://www.sarayahealth.com. Many of the raw food chefs like Cherie Soria use and recommend it highly, especially for baking. Hope this helps.
PS. I love your recipes Veronica, keep them coming. Have a happy Holiday!
Thanks for the info Marc! I didn’t know if using stevia would be good. Now I remember it should only ne used in raw or cold recipes and not be used in baking.
I just happen to have a bunch of banana’s that I was pondering on what to do with them, now I know! Thank you for the perfect timing of this recipe.
Thank you for making and posting this luscious looking/sounding recipe. I’ve been avoiding Banana bread due to never knowing how to ‘oil, fat free, veganize’ the recipe. Do you think this would work for pumpkin as well?
I’m sure using pumpkin instead of banana would be fine. It won’t be very sweet though so you may want to add more maple syrup or sweetener.