Moist, fluffy, and perfectly sweetened, you will love this vegan applesauce banana bread! It is an easy one-bowl recipe that only calls for simple ingredients and is ready in an hour.
Whenever I have some overripe bananas, I will make a loaf of this amazing applesauce banana bread! It is wholesome and healthy, yet tastes incredible. I love having a thick slice for breakfast slathered with my chocolate hummus and a glass of protein hot chocolate.
Besides making banana bread, you can also use your ripe bananas to make applesauce banana muffins or a batch of my banana flapjacks!
[feast_advanced_jump_to]💚Why you will love this recipe
- A healthier version of banana bread that is low in sugar and fats
- Moist, tender, and incredibly delicious
- Easy to whip up and ready in an hour
- Stores well and is freezable, making it a great meal prep recipe!
🍌What you will need
📃Ingredients notes and substitutions
- Bananas - Make sure to use bananas that are ripe and spotty.
- Applesauce - Unsweetened applesauce is preferred. However, you can use sweetened applesauce if you like sweeter banana bread.
- Cashew butter - Can be substituted with other nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter.
- Oat flour - Use certified gluten-free oat flour if needed. To make your own at home, blend rolled or quick oats in a high-speed blender until it turn into flour.
- Plant milk - Any kind of plant-based milk will work here.
- Apple cider vinegar - To activate baking soda. It can be substituted with lemon juice.
🔪How to make
Start by mashing bananas until fairly smooth.
Add applesauce, cashew butter, milk, and apple cider vinegar. Stir to mix.
Add the dry ingredients and gently mix until everything is well combined.
Pour your bread batter into a lined loaf pan. Top with a halved banana if using.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before slicing. Your vegan applesauce banana bread is ready to be served.
✔Helpful tips
- Weigh out ingredients - I recommend using a kitchen scale like the Ozeri scale to weigh your ingredients, as it provides the best results. If you prefer to use measuring cups, be sure to follow the spoon and level method. Refrain from scooping ingredients directly from the bag or packing them tightly into the measuring cups, which can lead to incorrect measurements.
- Be careful not to overbake - Overcooking your banana bread can cause it to become dry and crumbly. To check if it's done, insert a toothpick down the middle. If it comes out clean, your banana bread is ready.
- Cooling banana bread - Allow your bread to rest in the pan for 10 minutes after baking, then transfer it to a cooling rack to cool down further. This is to prevent the bottom from turning soggy due to the accumulation of water vapor.
- Slicing the bread - It is recommended to let banana bread cool down completely before slicing. Cutting into warm bread might cause it to fall apart.
🍫Variations and add-ins
Chocolate chips - Pretty self-explanatory because who doesn’t love chocolate?! Add up to a cup.
Banana nut bread - Mix about 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts into your batter for extra flavor and texture.
Spices - I only use cinnamon, but you could add other spices that pair well with banana bread, like nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, or cardamom. A little goes a long way, and I recommend starting with ¼ teaspoon.
Berries - To give your sugar-free banana bread some extra color and sweetness, add a cup of frozen or fresh blueberries.
Sweetener - If you prefer a sweeter loaf, I recommend adding 2-3 tablespoons of granulated sweetener like coconut or cane sugar. You could use artificial sweeteners like erythritol or stevia to keep this recipe sugar-free.
Applesauce banana muffins - Pour the batter into a 12-hole muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180C/350F until cooked.
☕️How to serve
- Coffee - Serve a thick slice of vegan applesauce banana bread with a soy milk latte. For a high-protein option, check out my protein iced coffee.
- Smoothies - Pair banana bread with a protein-packed smoothie like my silken tofu smoothie or peanut butter oatmeal smoothie to make a filling breakfast.
- Nut butter and spreads - I enjoy spreading peanut butter or coconut almond butter on my banana bread! Vegan butter, cream cheese, and cookie dough hummus are other great choices.
- Jam - To further sweeten your bread, spread on your favorite jam or fruit compote!
❄Storing suggestions
Fridge - Store vegan applesauce banana bread slices in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Freezer - Wrap slices of banana bread individually with plastic wraps, then store them in zip-locked bags. They can be frozen for 3 months. You can also freeze the whole loaf of bread wrapped in plastic.
Reheating - Allow frozen banana bread to thaw overnight in the fridge, then heat it in the oven. Alternatively, you can microwave them straight from frozen.
❔Commonly asked questions
You can use frozen bananas to make banana bread. Let them thaw completely, then drain off excess liquid before using.
If your applesauce banana bread does not rise much or does not rise at all, you might have used stale baking powder and/or baking soda.
Place a small amount into some hot water to test if they are still good to use. Bubbles should form immediately. If not, it is time to buy some fresh ones.
First of all, you might have underbaked it. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick down the middle. If it comes out clean, your bread has done baking.
Other than that, you might have inaccurately measured the ingredients, throwing off the wet to dry ingredients ratio. Hence, I highly recommend weighing out your ingredients with a kitchen scale.
Applesauce provides moisture, yielding tender and soft baked goods. It is commonly used to substitute oil and melted butter to create lower-fat baked products. This ingredient is also widely used in vegan baking as an egg substitute.
🍽More breakfast recipes with applesauce
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Applesauce Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe bananas about 300g/10.5oz
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup cashew butter or other nut/seed butters
- 2 tablespoon plant based milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups oat flour use gluten-free ones if needed (180g)*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a 8.5x4.5 loaf pan with parchment paper, as shown in the process shots above.
- Add bananas into a large mixing bowl. Using a potato masher or a fork, mash until bananas are relatively smooth.2 large ripe bananas
- Next, add in the rest of the wet ingredients into the bowl. Stir to mix.½ cup applesauce, ¼ cup cashew butter, 2 tablespoon plant based milk, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Now, add your dry ingredients in and mix until everything is well incorporated.2 cups oat flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pour your batter into the lined loaf pan, and optionally, top with banana halves.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted down the middle.
- Let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a cooling rack. Let your bread cool down completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Weigh out ingredients - I recommend using a kitchen scale like the Ozeri scale to weigh your ingredients, as it provides the best results. If you prefer to use measuring cups, be sure to follow the spoon and level method.
- Be careful not to overbake - Overcooking your banana bread can cause it to become dry and crumbly. To check if it's done, insert a toothpick down the middle. If it comes out clean, your banana bread is ready.
- Cooling banana bread - Allow your bread to rest in the pan for 10 minutes after baking, then transfer it to a cooling rack to cool down further. This is to prevent the bottom from turning soggy due to the accumulation of water vapor.
- Slicing the bread - It is recommended to let banana bread cool down completely before slicing. Cutting into warm bread might cause it to fall apart.
Nutrition
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