Equipment
* optional
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3 banana, peeled and overripe with heavy dark speckling
- 75 ml neutral vegetable oil, liquid
- 75 g light brown sugar, packed
- 55 g granulated sugar
- 50 ml soy milk, unsweetened, room temperature
- 5 ml vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 240 g all-purpose flour
- 5 g baking soda
- 3 g baking powder
- 2 g ground cinnamon
- 3 g fine sea salt
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 232 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- 39 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 17 g
- Sodium
- 289 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 1 g
- Potassium
- 156 mg
- Calcium
- 38 mg
- Iron
- 1.3 mg
- Magnesium
- 16 mg
- Phosphorus
- 42 mg
- Zinc
- 0.2 mg
- Vitamin A
- 4 mcg
- Water
- 33 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) with a rack positioned in the center. Line a 21x11 cm (8.5x4.5 inch) loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing excess paper to overhang both long sides to act as handles.
Peel the overripe bananas and place the edible flesh into a large mixing bowl. Mash thoroughly using a fork until a smooth puree forms with only small, pea-sized fruit pieces remaining.
Add the neutral vegetable oil, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, soy milk, and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas. Whisk vigorously for 60 seconds until the sugars partially dissolve and the mixture becomes glossy and emulsified.
Hold a fine-mesh sieve directly over the bowl and sift in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and fine sea salt.
Switch to a silicone spatula and gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture from the bottom up just until dry flour streaks vanish. Do not overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared parchment-lined loaf pan and use the silicone spatula to gently smooth the surface from center to corners.
Bake on the center rack at 175°C (350°F) for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is deeply golden, well-risen, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumb specks.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a wire cooling rack. Allow the loaf to rest in the pan undisturbed for 15 minutes to firm up.
Grasp the overhanging parchment paper handles to lift the loaf from the pan, peel down the paper, and place the banana bread directly onto the wire cooling rack to cool completely for at least 45 minutes before slicing.
Chef's Notes
- Overripe bananas are critical for success: their starch has fully converted to natural fructose and pectin, which binds the batter and replaces the emulsifying proteins normally provided by chicken eggs.
- Liquid vegetable oil maintains softness and moisture in vegan bakes far better than solid vegan butter, as unsaturated fats remain liquid at room temperature.
- Never slice hot vegan banana bread straight from the oven; plant-based starches require ambient cooling time to set their internal structure, or the crumb will compress and turn gummy under the knife.
- For enhanced flavor depth, roast whole unpeeled bananas at 150°C (300°F) for 15 minutes until skins turn black if your bananas are not sufficiently speckled.
Storage
Refrigerator: 5 days — Store in an airtight container once completely cooled to maintain crumb moisture without spoilage.
Freezer: 3 months — Slice completely, wrap individual slices tightly in parchment paper and foil, and store in a freezer bag.
Reheating: Warm individual slices in a toaster oven at 150°C (300°F) for 5 minutes or microwave on medium power for 15 seconds.
Troubleshooting
Center of the loaf remains gummy and collapsed after baking
Cause: Excess moisture from unmeasured bananas, underbaking, or early slicing while the interior was still hot and steaming
Fix: Cut the loaf into slices and toast them in a dry pan or toaster oven to crisp and set the gummy crumb
Prevention: Weigh mashed banana flesh accurately to 340 grams, verify doneness with a skewer, and let the bread cool completely before slicing
Bread has a tough, dense, rubbery crumb rather than a tender cake-like texture
Cause: Overmixing the wet and dry ingredients, which activated excessive gluten
Fix: Cannot be fixed
Prevention: Fold using a silicone spatula only until flour streaks disappear; never use an electric mixer or whisk for the final stage
Exterior crust browns excessively while the center is still raw
Cause: Oven temperature running higher than calibrated or pan placed too close to top heating elements
Fix: Tent immediately with aluminum foil and reduce oven temperature by 10°C (20°F) to allow center to finish cooking
Prevention: Verify oven temperature with an independent oven thermometer and tent the top loosely with foil halfway through baking
Cultural Context
Banana bread surged in American home kitchens during the Great Depression of the 1930s, popularized by resourceful bakers who refused to discard overripe, softening fruit. The widespread commercialization of chemical leaveners like baking soda allowed quick breads to flourish without lengthy yeast proofing. In modern plant-based cuisine, banana bread remains a foundational recipe demonstrating how fruit puree and starches can yield rich, decadent cakes entirely free of animal products.
