Impress yourself and your guests with this Vegan Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread recipe. It’s soft, fluffy, and has a perfectly moist crumb. Topped with coarse sugar to create the most delicious crunchy top.
We may be biased, but we think this is the best banana bread on the internet – and we don’t say that lightly. There’s something special about a warm slice of banana bread. It’s comforting, delicious and a great way to use up those old bananas you’ve had on your counter for way longer than you should have. In fact, we buy bananas for the sole reason of letting them go soft and brown to make this banana bread.
We took everything we look for in a banana bread recipe and packed it into this plant-based loaf. So what exactly makes the perfect banana bread? Banana bread should be moist, light, tender, packed with banana, and the one thing we find most recipes are missing – height.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Quick and easy prep.
- Crunchy top with a soft and pillow-y inside.
- Moist and tender crumb.
Top tips for making Vegan Marbled Banana Bread:
- Use overripe bananas. The key to a great banana bread is bananas that are VERY overripe. We’re talking almost entirely brown. There should be very few, if any, yellow patches visible.
- Use an electric mixer. Most people will tell you to mash bananas with a fork or potato masher but we say use an electric hand mixer. It gets the bananas super smooth and creamy and mashes them in just seconds.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Overworking flour develops gluten and can result in tough and chewy texture, which we don’t want for our banana bread. When adding the dry ingredients we recommend switching to a spatula and folding in the flour until no more dry flour is visible.
- Fill the pan. We love a large and tall banana bread with that classic loaf shape. To achieve this we fill our 8.5″Wx4.5″Dx2.75″H loaf pan about 3/4 full.
- Test doneness. There’s nothing worse than slicing into a banana bread loaf and discovering it’s under baked in the centre. To test doneness we insert a toothpick or wood skewer in the center, if it comes out clean it’s ready! We also like to gently press on the top, if it bounces back it’s fully baked. Finally, aroma is also a great sign of doneness. When your home is filled with a rich banana bread aroma it’s time to test.
- Let cool completely. Before slicing, let the loaf come to room temperature. This will make it much easier to slice.
Ingredient Notes:
- Overripe Bananas – As bananas ripen they get sweeter, so a banana that is completely brown is as sweet as it can get. These bananas make the best banana bread texture and flavour!
- Sparkling Water – Instead of eggs we use sparkling water in this recipe to get a soft and fluffy texture. We have also made this recipe using non-dairy yogurt instead of sparkling water if you prefer.
- Vegetable Oil – Use a neutral tasting oil as to not overpower the flavour of the loaf. We like to use vegetable oil for this recipe.
- Non-Dairy Milk – We opt for soy milk for this recipe, but any non-dairy milk should work.
- All-Purpose Flour – We use No Name Unbleached All-Purpose Flour for this recipe and highly recommend it.
- Coarse Sugar – For a crunchy topping we sprinkle coarse sugar over the top before baking.
Recipe FAQ:
What if my bananas are not ripe enough?
You have two options, wait a little longer or quicken the ripening process. To ripen bananas in a pinch we place them on a baking sheet and bake them in a oven preheat to 250F until browned. It should take about 10-30 minutes depending on how ripe the bananas are to begin with.
What if I don’t have an electric mixer?
You can use a whisk or a fork, you’ll just get an extra arm workout. Use whatever is easiest to get the bananas to a smooth and creamy consistency.
Can you freeze banana bread?
Yes! We recommend freezing it in slices as it will be easier to thaw and enjoy later. Just slice the loaf and freeze in an airtight container.
How to make Vegan Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread:
Vegan Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 300 g overripe bananas
- 1 cup sparkling water
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 125 g (⁓⅔ cup) brown sugar
- 5 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 450 g (3¾ cup) all-purpose flour
- 8 g (1¼ tsp) baking soda
- 12.5 g (2½ tsp) baking powder
- pinch salt
- 22 g (¼ cup) cacao powder
- demerara sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray and parchment paper to make removing the loaf easy. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add bananas and using an electric hand mixer blend until smooth. Add sparkling water, vegetable oil. brown sugar, and non-dairy milk – mix until combined.
- To the wet ingredients add all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine with the electric hand mixer until no dry flour remains. Careful not to overmix.
- Transfer half the batter to another bowl or container and fold in the cacao powder to one half.
- Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, add banana bread batter to prepared baking dish, alternating between chocolate and plain in a checkerboard pattern. Using a knife or a wooden skewer swirl the chocolate and plan together to create a marbled look. Top with a generous amount of demerara sugar.
- Bake in preheated oven for 55-70 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when you poke it through the centre.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from the baking pan and slicing.
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