I recently had a major realization about eggless banana bread: You don’t actually need an egg substitute to make a great loaf! That’s right—you don’t need to make a chia egg, buy any applesauce, or shell out $10 for a little bottle of vegan “eggs.”
You’ve already got everything you need: just some extra banana and a tad more flour. It’s as simple as that!
That’s not to say that you should just take your favorite banana bread recipe and substitute extra ingredients (it’s a bit more of a science than that). But you can borrow mine! I tinkered and tested until I got the texture just right. And it happens to be vegan—what’s not to love?
Jump to the recipe if you’re ready to hit the ground running, or read on for more details.
One very important note…
Don’t over-mix this one!
This is good advice for just about any quick-bread or cake. But it’s especially important here. Without the eggs, the batter is at higher risk of becoming gluey and glutinous. I have a whole post about avoiding over-mixing, which you can read/watch.
As long as you sift your flour, mix the wet ingredients well, and then mix everything just enough to bring it together, your loaf should turn out with a moist and tender crumb. If you over-mix, you will end up with large pockets of air and a tough, dry texture.
A few ingredient notes:
It’s vegan! (as long as you use the right mix-ins)
This loaf happens to be both dairy-free and egg-free, and it’s vegan as long as you don’t add any animal-product-containing chocolate chips.
Oil is better than butter
I didn’t really set out to make a vegan banana bread recipe, but over the years, I’ve found that I strongly prefer banana breads made with oil instead of butter. Oil leads to an optimal texture, and its flavor is somehow more buttery than butter itself. I love olive oil in particular, but you could use a neutral oil if you prefer.
Milk has no place in banana bread
My biggest banana bread hot take is that milk, yogurt, and other bland liquids (or semi-liquids) should be 100% off-limits. If you want a loaf with a ton of banana flavor, nearly all of the moisture needs to come from the mashed banana. Adding milk (or yogurt or sour cream) means you must add less banana, and thus its flavor gets watered down.
Here, we have an opportunity to add even more banana flavor, since we’re not even adding eggs. This version of eggless banana bread turns out even more banana-ey than one made with eggs, which is an extra bonus.
More banana breads!
These are not all eggless, but you can easily use this eggless recipe as a base, while incorporating some other mix-ins and flavorings into your loaf.
Onto the banana bread inspiration:
- Bakery-Style Banana Nut Bread
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Olive Oil Banana Bread
- Pistachio Banana Bread
Eggless Banana Bread (with no extra ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup [320 g] mashed banana from about 3 to 4 very overripe bananas
- 1/2 cup [105 g] neutral oil or olive oil
- 2/3 cup [130 g] granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 2/3 cups [215 g] all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Optional: 1 ripe banana, split lengthwise
- Optional mix-ins (see notes***)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F [180° C].
- Grease an 8 x 4 inch [20 x 10 cm] loaf pan.*
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the mashed bananas together with the olive oil until very well combined. Add the sugar and salt, and whisk together until completely incorporated.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.**
- Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Do not over-mix (stop mixing as soon as there are no dry pockets of flour).
- Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan.
- Place the banana halves cut-side-up on top of the loaf (if using).
- Bake for about 65 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out with batter, it needs more time, but if it comes out with just some crumbs, it’s ready to take out.
- Remove from the pan and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
* To make this into muffins instead of a banana bread loaf, place 9 muffin liners in a muffin tin (homemade parchment liners or store bought paper ones). If using parchment ones, drizzle them lightly with olive oil. Evenly distribute the batter between the 9 liners, then top each with a 1/2 in [13mm] banana slice. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
** If you want to save on dishes, place a fine mesh sieve over a paper towel and add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to the sieve. Sift the dry ingredients directly onto the wet ingredients (and don’t forget the dust that filtered onto the paper towel too).
*** 1/3 cup [85 g] chocolate chips and/or 1 cup [100g] coarsely chopped walnuts.
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