Eggless Banana Bread
Updated: October 13, 2022, By Swasthi
This Eggless Banana Bread is so good & perfect!! Made with wheat flour, it’s moist, delicious and sure going to please everyone. What more perfect use for overripe bananas than banana bread? Some may say that is perhaps a good enough reason to allow bananas to over ripen in the first place, and after having a slice of this delicious eggless banana bread, scented with cinnamon and vanilla, you will likely agree.
It is a perfect way to start your day with a cup of coffee, and equally enjoyable for a sweet treat in the afternoon. Any way you serve it, this vegan version is as wholesome as it is delicious.
The star of this bread is always the bananas and the best are the ones that have become undesirable to eat out of hand. By the time the skins have darkened considerably and they are covered with spots they are perfect for this recipe.
After all, what those spots indicate is a higher and higher in antioxidants & sugar content. The good news is that not only are they softer at this point and easier to incorporate into your baked goods, but they also sweeten your bakes naturally.
If you find yourself with overripe bananas on your hands, yet not prepared to bake banana bread, feel free to peel and freeze them for later so that the next time you are ready to bake, just thaw them a bit before incorporating them into the recipe.
Once you’ve tried this recipe with its flexibility and great flavor, you will look at over ripe bananas as an opportunity to create a banana bread that is really delicious. That it offers a good deal of nutritional benefit is certainly a bonus that will keep you baking it time and time again.
Part of the appeal of this banana bread is the ease with which it comes together.
Ingredients you need
Cinnamon : Perhaps the most traditional spice to use in banana bread is cinnamon and there is good reason for that. Besides being a warm spice that nicely compliments the sweetness of the banana, it boasts a number of health benefits including antioxidants & reduces inflammation.
Other than cinnamon, other warm spices such as nutmeg, allspice and clove also work well.
Flour : This recipe uses wheat flour which has the bran and germ extracted before the wheat is milled into flour. Alternately, whole wheat flour can be used, which is higher in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate.
It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than regular all-purpose flour, though the flavor will differ and the texture of the bread will be rather dense. So use little more water or milk to bring it to a consistency.
Alternatively, a mix of equal parts white and wheat flour can be used with good results. For those who are interested in making this gluten free, substituting a gluten-free flour will also yield great tasting results.
Vinegar :Perhaps a somewhat surprising ingredient in this recipe is the vinegar which is really not so much for flavor as it is for leavening. More specifically, the baking soda which lightens and adds color to this banana bread relies on an acid to react with.
In some recipes, buttermilk or other acids may create the same effect. Keeping this vegan, however, necessitates that we use a non-dairy acid and while vinegar is used here, lemon juice will create similar results with great success.
Baking powder : Baking powder is an optional ingredient in this recipe. If used, it will further lighten the banana bread, though omitting it is fine as well. The result without it is a slightly denser loaf, but assuredly, not one that is any less delicious.
Sugar : When choosing how to sweeten this banana bread, organic cane sugar was a natural choice, both for flavor, as well as health benefit. It is every bit as sweet as refined white sugar, but because it is less processed, more of the molasses and the nutrients remain intact.
Brown sugar would work, but the result will be a darker loaf with more moisture due to the molasses content.
Water or other liquid : While we chose water as a liquid for this banana bread, optional dairy, nut or oat milk will achieve great results with the added benefit of flavor and nutrition. The great thing is that you can use it to suit your needs.
Chocolate : If you wish to take your banana bread into a different direction, adding a handful of chopped bittersweet chocolate gives it an elevated flavor that borders more of a decadent dessert with the benefit of added antioxidants from the chocolate.
Photo Guide
How to Make Eggless Banana Bread (Stepwise photos)
Preparation
1. Grease a 8 ½ by 4 ½ loaf pan. Set aside. Ensure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Preheat oven to 340 degrees F (170 C) for at least 15 minutes.
2. Starting with a large bowl, peel and add the ripe bananas to it.
3. Mash them well with potato masher or a fork. Measure them. We need 1.5 cups mashed bananas for this. A little more is fine.
4. Add ¾ to 1 cup sugar. If your bananas are too sweet & you prefer your banana bread to be low in sweet, you can use ¾.
5. Pour ¼ cup water or milk, stirring well to fully dissolve the sugar. This should only take a few minutes.
6. Add 1/3 cup oil (80 ml) & 1 tablespoon vinegar.
7. Next goes in ½ tablespoon vanilla extract. Give a good mix.
8. Setting the wet ingredients aside, in a medium size bowl sift 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ to ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon baking soda and optional ingredient ¾ teaspoon baking powder.
9. For a lighter banana bread, repeat sifting the ingredients.
Make batter
10. Next, add about ½ of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring with a spatula until nearly combined.
11. Fold in the other half or dry ingredients, stirring thoroughly, yet taking care not to over mix.
12. If the batter is too thick pour 2 tbsps water or milk. I add 2 tbsps water. If using all-purpose flour you may not need.
13. We are looking for a ribbon consistency here. This is the consistency mine had.
14. Once the batter is completely mixed, pour it into a prepared loaf pan and add chopped walnuts on top. Tap the pan a few times to release trapped air bubbles.
15. Place into an oven preheated to 340 degrees F (170 C) for 60-63 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
After removing the banana bread from the oven, place the loaf pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. To remove from the pan, invert the banana bread onto a plate or cutting board. Resist the urge to cut this bread before it is completely cool at which time you should use a serrated knife to slice it carefully.
Storing & heating
This eggless banana bread keeps up to 2 days at room temperature on a plate covered with a cake cover/ dome.
It can also be refrigerated for upto 4 to 6 days. It tends to dry out during refrigeration. So reheat it in a microwave for 40 to 60 seconds. Alternately you can reheat it on stovetop.
Bring 1 ½ cups water to a rolling bowl. Place a trivet/ rack and then place the bowl of cake on the trivet. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Turn off the stove. Cover and leave it for 7 to 10 minutes. You will have a soft and fresh banana bread. This banana cake also freezes well for up to a month.
More banana bakes,
Banana cake recipe
Eggfree banana muffins
Eggless chocolate banana cake
Banana pancakes
Chocolate banana cake
Pro Tips
- Measuring flour correctly: Fluff up the flour with a fork and then spoon it to the measuring cup. Level it with a straight edged spoon or a knife.
- For a lighter banana bread use both baking soda and baking powder. You can skip baking powder but you will have a slightly denser loaf. Do not skip baking soda, the recipe won’t work without it.
- For best results, measure the mashed bananas instead of going by the number of bananas. The size of bananas differs depending on the variety and country where they are grown. For accurate results 2 to 3 large bananas and then measure them.
- Do not over mix the batter, just mix until well combined.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Eggless Banana Bread
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 240 grams wheat flour (2 cups, or all-purpose flour)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder (optional, refer notes)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder (optional)
- ⅓ cup oil (80 ml) or ½ cup melted butter
- ¾ to 1 cup organic sugar (adjust to taste)
- 1½ cups banana (mashed or pureed, 2 large bananas)
- ¼ cup water (+ 1 to 2 tbsps to adjust the consistency, or milk)
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (minimum 5% acidity)
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ to ½ cup walnuts chopped (optional)
Instructions
Preparation
- Grease a loaf pan (8 ½ x 4 ½ inches) and set aside. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature before you proceed.
- Preheat the oven to 340 F or 170 C for at least 15 minutes.
- While the oven heats, begin to make the batter. Into a large mixing bowl, add bananas and mash them very well.
- Add sugar and pour water. Whisk well to dissolve the sugar completely.
- Then pour oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Whisk and set this bowl aside.
- Place a sieve oven another large bowl, add flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Baking powder is optional and can be added for a lighter banana bread.
- Sieve all of them well.
How to Make Eggless Banana Bread
- Whisk the liquid ingredients once more and add ½ of the sieved flour. Incorporate the flour and then add the second rest of the flour. Fold it until just combined.
- If using wheat flour, add 2 tbsps more water. Mix the batter ensuring you don’t overmix it.
- Transfer the batter to the greased loaf pan. Tap the pan to the kichen counter a few times. Then sprinkle chopped nuts.
- Bake it for 60 to 63 minutes until a tester inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean. You may need to bake a little longer as it depends on the oven.
- Place the pan on a wired rack and cool for 10 minutes. Then invert eggless banana bread on the rack and cool it completely before slicing.
Notes
- This recipe works with all-purpose flour, wheat flour and whole wheat flour as well. Using whole grain flour will require 2 tbsps more water.
- Measure flour: Fluff the flour in the pack or jar with a fork and spoon it to the measuring cup and level it with a straight edged knife or spoon.
- Measure bananas: Mash the bananas very well and measure them.
- You can add ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
Iโm Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโs Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
All of your recipes that I’ve tried are absolutely fantastic
Thank you Shazima
Hi! Could I use oat flour instead of whole wheat/AP flour?
Hi Dee,
You can replace a part of the wheat flour with oat flour.
Hi Swasthi..Thanks for an easy eggless recipe. I tried it last week. Taste wise it was good but the cake turned out quite dense. it was moist but a bit heavy and didn’t have the cake crumb like consistency and texture.. followed the procedure as per the recipe. didn’t over mix the batter..the only change I made was that I used maida instead of whole wheat (atta). Would that make such a big difference in the texture. Thanks and rgds..Priya.
Amazing banana bread recipe. Loved your explanation for why we add each ingredient..loved it.
Thanks Deepa
Thanks for the recipe. My banana bread turned out quite good and I followed the recipe to the T. 3/4 cup Sugar worked out and was of right sweetness for us. I love that this recipe uses less oil butter . Will be making this often
Glad to know Ritu
Thank you!
Tried this bread today….it was awesome. I cut out the sugar completely and used jowar flour – the end result was really soft and moist. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I am rating this a four star because I feel adding the sugar would have made it as sweet as a cake.
Chitra, I am.gluten intolerant..do you.mean you used only jowar flour in the same quantities keeping all else the same? Pls.let me know. Thanks.
Thanks for this recipe. It was delicious and my family loved it
Glad to know Alia
Thank you
Hi, my beead turned out dense. Though recipe and loaf tin was same. Should i have addrd more water because of wheat sometimes is different and need more water. Or more banana? I used 2 banana.
Hi Namrata
Banana bread is usually denser than banana cake. If this is what you mean (slightly denser and not light), then it’s just fine. But if it is dense, hard and dry as well then yes it needs more water. You can also add more banana or a mix of both. I use 2 large bananas. The batter must be of pouring consistency. As you said it depends on the flour. More bran in the flour, then more water needs to be added. Keep trying a few more times to get it right. I usually take about 1 to 2 days to reply the comments. Sorry to keep you waiting. Hope this helps
I followed the โStep by stepโ section of your recipe. The bread turned out a little sweet(probably because bananas were already sweet). There were kind of black spots all over in the bread. It could be possible that I did over mixing of the batter. Upon looking at the โrecipe cardโ, I realized that I had missed adding vinegar (PN:this step is missing in the step-by-step section).
I will definitely try it again – without forgetting vinegar and of course with less sugar.
Thank you for the recipe?
Hi Aarkay,
My Apologies! I have edited to fix that. Thank you so much for letting me know!
Hi Swasthi,
Thanks for sharing vegan recipes.
My bread turned out to be dense.
Should i be adding more water?
Should the batter be pouring consistency?
And from inside it was nicely done but outside crust little hard.
Your suggestions please.
I made it today. We loved it! Best of all no eggs and very easy to make. Thank you so much Swasthi
Welcome Teresa!
Glad to know
Hi Swasthi if I need to halve the recipe what would be the pan size and oven temp?
Hi Abinaya
Yes you can use a 6 inch pan and bake for 25 to 30 mins. For fan forced oven 160 c works well. The baking time is just my guess, keep checking after 25 mins. Bake until the tester comes out clean.
i don’t hv jaggery powder . how can i use jaggery chunks ,do i hv to melt it or sth else??
can i use jaggery in every bread nd cake?
Hi Ram,
You can grate the jaggery and dissolve it with the liquid ingredients. Substituting jaggery for sugar may not always yield good results. It depends on the recipe.
Hi Swasthi,
Can I make the same recipe in a pressure cooker?
Hi Shravani,
Yes you can bake it in pressure cooker. If you are new to baking in cooker, you can check this post cooker cake.
How long does it stay ? Banana bread. Why to add lemon juice ?
Hi Komal
Lemon juice activates the soda and makes the bread light and soft. It keeps good for 8 days in the fridge and 2 to 3 days at room temperature.
I made these to banana muffins and they turned out good. I doubled the recipe and refrigerated for later. Thank you.
Welcome Tina
Glad to know they turned out good. Thanks for the comment.
Hello Swasthi. Can you share a recipe to make cakes without an oven, e.g in a pressure cooker?
Hi Ruchika
Yes I can share but I need sometime. Thanks
Hi Swasthi,
Do make whole wheat bread? If so can I have he recipe please.
Yummy banana bread. My liked it a looot…thank you
Welcome Shravani