Vegan Maple Banana Bread
This soft and fluffy maple banana bread is made with just 8 key ingredients including real maple syrup (no maple extract needed here)! It has a similar taste and texture to my vegan banana bread, but with a deep maple flavor.
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 3 x (~360g total) medium very ripe bananas (about 1 2/3 cups of mashed banana)
- ⅔ cup (225g) maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons (45g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil or melted vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Dry ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (315g) all-purpose plain flour spoon and leveled (note 1, and for gluten-free option)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- ¾ cup (130g) roughly chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips or chopped walnuts, optional
To decorate (optional)
- 1 x (120g) medium ripe banana sliced lengthways and/or
- vegan chocolate chips chopped walnuts or rolled oats
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower third of your oven (lower than the middle, but not the far bottom). Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides. Or use a larger loaf pan. (note 2)
Make the maple banana bread:
- Add the bananas to a large bowl or stand mixer and mash until it forms a thick lumpy paste. Add the remaining wet ingredients (maple syrup, milk, oil, optional vinegar and vanilla) and mix until well combined. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Some lumps are fine, as long as they aren't lumps of flour.
- Optional: Add any nuts or mix-ins and gently fold them in.
- Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. If desired, top with an additional banana, or sprinkle with chocolate chips or walnuts.
Bake the banana bread:
- Bake the banana bread for around 60-70 minutes. During baking, if your banana bread is browning too quickly on top but isn't fully baked in the middle, carefully tent the pan with aluminum foil. The banana bread is ready when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out mostly clean (a few moist crumbs are fine).
- Allow the banana bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes then place it on a wire rack.
- Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the banana bread into slices and enjoy it warm or at room temperature. For neater slices, allow the bread to cool completely.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container or plastic wrap. It can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Allow it to come to room temperature or warm up a slice before serving.
Notes
- Spoon and level the flour: Please measure your flour accurately, otherwise your banana bread will be too dry. If you're using measuring cups, use the spoon and level method where you fluff up the flour in its bag, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Using the measuring cup to scoop flour out of your container will add too much flour to the recipe and make it dry. For the best results, use a kitchen scale and the grams measurements.
Gluten-free version: This recipe works well with King Arthur's gluten-free measure for measure flour. However, I recommend baking the loaf for around 65-70 minutes. - This is a tall loaf. If your pan is shorter than 2 3/4-inch (7 cm) and you're using mix-ins/toppings, your banana bread may overflow like a muffin. To prevent this, line your loaf pan so the parchment paper sits taller than the sides of the pan (to make the pan taller). Or remove 1/2 cup of the batter and bake it separately in a muffin pan.