Blog — MELISSA RIEL

I don’t bake too often, but when I do, I love making banana bread. We always seem to have spotty bananas, so I always have the ingredients I need to make it. After becoming vegan, I went through a bit of trial and error finding a good recipe, but I’ve finally found one and I’ve been following this recipe for over a year now! I think I’ve found my perfect way of making this banana bread.

My go-to vegan banana bread recipe is by Oh She Glows. Angela, the author, blogger and chef, has such delicious recipes I’d definitely recommend giving her a follow or buying one of her cook books. She’s plant-based and seriously talented.

So, if you haven’t caught on yet; this is NOT my recipe. It belongs to Angela of Oh She Glows. Of course these are my photos though! ;)

Ingredients:

wet ingredients:

1 1/3 cups (320 g) mashed ripe banana
2 tablespoons (15 g) ground flaxseed
1/3 cup (80 mL) plant-based milk
1/3 cup (80 mL) melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons (30 mL) maple syrup
2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla extract

dry ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (60 g) coconut sugar
1/2 cup (50 g) rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups (210 g) light/white spelt flour or whole-grain spelt flour
Sliced banana, chopped walnuts, and/or chocolate chips, for topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with oil and set aside.
In a large bowl, mash the banana until almost smooth, and make sure you have 1 1/3 cups.
Stir the wet ingredients (ground flax, milk, melted oil, maple syrup, and vanilla) into the banana until combined.
Stir the dry ingredients (sugar, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour) into the wet mixture, one by one, in the order listed. Stop stirring when there are no flour patches at the bottom of the bowl.
Spoon the dough into the loaf pan and spread out evenly. Add your desired toppings and gently press them into the dough to adhere.
Bake the loaf, uncovered, for 45 to 55 minutes, until lightly golden and firm on top. The top of the loaf should slowly spring back when touched.
Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Then, slide a knife around the loaf to loosen it and gently remove it from the pan, placing it directly onto the cooling rack until completely cooled.
Slice the loaf once cooled. The loaf will keep in the fridge tightly wrapped for 3 to 4 days, or it can be frozen for 4 to 6 weeks.

Just a little note: I’ve actually made this with all-purpose flour because I didn’t have spelt flour (and let’s be honest, it’s a bit pricey), and it turned out totally fine and still super delicious. I’ve used all-purpose flour a bunch of times, and don’t mind the results at all. For me, adding 4 bananas and baking for 48 minutes makes the perfect loaf. It’ll take some trial and error, but you’ll find your perfect baking time too!