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Tuck into this Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread made with a simple dairy-free and egg-free batter swirled together into a beautiful marbled pattern. Topped with plenty of vegan chocolate chips this loaf makes for a decadent sweet breakfast treat! Oil-free option included. Jump to Recipe
If you like Banana Bread in general and the chocolatey kind in particular, then I have a treat for you today! Marbled Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread, ladies and gents! Doesn’t marbling just make everything look better? And honestly, the looks DO matter, especially when we’re talking sweet and decadent vegan treats! This gorgeous Chocolate Banana Loaf combines the goodness of dark chocolate and ripe bananas to form a loaf of sliceable banana bliss.
This Marbled Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread is so rich and decadent. Despite the fancy marbled swirl design, it’s actually quite easy to make. I am not a fan of making intricate, layered cakes and fancy desserts – I am not a pastry chef and my time is limited and I am pretty sure some of you can identify here! But I still want my baked goods to look pretty and this vegan chocolate banana bread is the kind of minimum-effort -> maximum-effect recipe I LOVE.
So how do I turn this humble vegan banana bread in a fancy marbled loaf? Well, you simply layer the dark and bright batter in your loaf pan, drag around a toothpick in the batter, and it will bake up into something gorgeous and coffee shop-worthy.
This vegan chocolate banana bread recipe seriously feels like you’re eating an actual slice of cake, it’s that moist and decadent.
Despite being fluffy and moist, baking this dairy-free chocolate banana bread doesn’t require opening a jar of applesauce that will then be forgotten in the back of the fridge for weeks. Also – no flax eggs needed!
Ingredients for making Vegan Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread:
- mashed banana – we use it both for flavor and sweetness so the bananas should be ripe. Use 2 large or 3 medium ones. They are great egg replacers so for this recipe, there’s no need for adding flax eggs.
- additional sweetness is added by mixing in either 1/3 cup of light brown sugar or coconut sugar as well as 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
- For some extra flavor, I like adding vanilla extract and cinnamon or both. You could also add some nutmeg or chai spice.
- Adding 2 tbsp of oil to the batter makes for additional moisture.
- We are using 1/3 cup almond milk and 1 tsp vinegar instead of cow milk or buttermilk! You’ll see it works like a charm.
- I use a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat or spelt flour to make this loaf a bit more wholesome and add 1/4 cup of almond flour for additional moistness
- The gorgeous rise in this vegan banana bread is achieved by mixing baking powder and baking soda
- To achieve that gorgeous marbled effect, we “dye” part of the vegan banana bread batter with cocoa powder. I use unsweetened all-natural cocoa powder for this recipe to make this loaf extra chocolatey.
Tips for making this recipe:
- To make this refined sugar-free, use coconut sugar.
- Want to make this loaf oil-free? You can omit the oil and add a tbsp of unsweetened shredded coconut instead.
- This loaf makes a great gift, and leftover slices can also be frozen for a rainy day when you need something sweet.
- I decided to add some vegan chocolate chips to the top both for presentation and because in my book there’s absolutely no such thing as too much chocolate. Feel free to skip them. You can also use chopped up bars of vegan chocolate instead of chocolate chips.
- To make this banana chocolate loaf extra fancy, you could frost it with vegan chocolate frosting like a cake, or serve it with jam or vegan butter. If you frost it, you can skip the chocolate chips.
How to make Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread:
Preheat the oven to 365F (185 C) and line 9×5 inch pan with parchment. In a bowl mix all the wet ingredients until well combined
In another bowl mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Add 1 3/4 cup of the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredient bowl and mix in, making sure not to overmix. Add the rest of the dry flour mix 1 tbsp at a time, until batter is stiff like a muffin batter.
Divide the batter into two bowls.
For the chocolate layer, mix the cocoa in a small bowl with 3 tbsp of boiling water, mix this into the first bowl.
In the second bowl, add 1-2 tbsp of boiling water and mix in so that mixture is not that thick.
Now you can assemble the loaf as you like with whatever pattern. I usually alternate the batters and spread them out for a marble effect.
Once all of the batter is finished, top with the mini chocolate chips.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the loaf. Cool the chocolate banana loaf for 10 minutes before taking it out of the pan, cool completely before slicing.
How to store Vegan Banana Bread:
You can store this vegan chocolate banana bread on the counter for a day in a covered container or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Single slices can be frozen.
More Vegan Breakfast Bakes from the blog
- Banana Walnut Breakfast Loaf. Gluten-free
- Banana Oat Quinoa Quick Bread bar.
- One bowl Pumpkin Bread
- Turmeric Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Loaf.
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Vegan Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 1 scant cup mashed banana, Use scant cup, 2 large or 3 medium (if your bread tends to bake gummy use 3/4 cup)
- 1/3 cup sugar, such as light brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract , or 1/2 tsp cinnamon or both
- 2 tbsp oil, omit to make oil-free, add a tbsp of shredded coconut for additional moisture
- 1/3 cup almond milk, or use other non dairy milk such as light coconut or soy
- 1 tsp vinegar
Dry ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, I usually use 1 1/2 all-purpose and 1/4 cup of whole wheat or spelt or all 1 3/4 cup all purpose
- 1/4 cup almond flour, , or use more flour for Nutfree
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup boiling water
Topping
- 1/4 cups vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 365F (185 C) and line 9x5 inch pan with parchment.
- In a bowl mix all the wet ingredients until well combined
- In another bowl mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
- Add 1 3/4 cup of the dry mixture to the wet ingredient bowl and mix it in. Add the rest of the dry flour mix 1 tbsp at a time, until batter is stiff like a muffin batter.
- Divide the batter into two bowls.
- For the chocolate layer, mix the cocoa in a small bowl with 3 tbsp of boiling water, mix this into the first bowl of batter
- In the second bowl batter, add 1-2 tbsp of boiling water and mix in so that mixture is not that thick.
- Now you can assemble the loaf as you like with whatever pattern. I usually alternate the batters and spread them out for a marble effect. Once all of the batter is finished, top with the mini chocolate chips.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes. Check with a toothpick from the center of the loaf
- Cool the loaf for 10 minutes before taking it out of the pan, cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
- To make this refined sugar-free, use coconut sugar.
- Want to make this loaf oil-free? You can omit the oil and add a tbsp of unsweetened shredded coconut instead.
- This loaf makes a great gift, and leftover slices can also be frozen for a rainy day when you need something sweet.
- I decided to add some vegan chocolate chips to the top both for presentation and because in my book there’s absolutely no such thing as too much chocolate. Feel free to skip them. You can also use chopped up bars of vegan chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Or walnuts.
- To make this banana chocolate loaf extra fancy, you could frost it with vegan chocolate frosting like a cake, or serve it with jam or vegan butter. If you frost it, you can skip the chocolate chips.
- muffins: bake for 25-30 mins
- Glutenfree: try these Glutenfree banana breads from the blog.
Or use this blend and bake into marbles muffins for 25 mins. Mix 3/4 cup white rice flour, 1 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/2 tsp citric acid and 1 tbsp chia seeds/flax seed meal. Use 1 3/4 cup of the flour mix and add more as needed.
- another reason for banana breads not rising or being too dense is baking powder. Old baking powders tend to not be able to help the bread rise enough.
- ovens also differ in their heating so if the bread is gummy at the bottom, it might have needed extra bake time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Loved it ! ..although i completely missed vinegar in the ingredients until I saw one of the comments below. I’d assume vinegar helps rise up the bread? Coz mine doesnt look that well risen ..it baked well and tastes yumm..not too sweet or not too dry. Thanks!
I used 3 medium bananas and it was a bit more than a cup but I still went on with the recipe. Followed the rest exactly except used 1/4 sugar. It rose so so beautifully and it is just DELICIOUS! Thank you !!! (Just to clarify the texture was a bit gummy and had more banana flavor but we love that especially with coffe hehe (●ˇ∀ˇ●)
I have tried so many vegan banana bread recipes in my life, but this is the only one I’ve ever tried where the bread actually came out fully cooked – not soft in the middle! Love it. I realized too late that I didn’t have enough AP flour in the pantry, so I used a combination of AP flour, whole wheat flour, almond flour, and glutinous rice flour (ha!). It still turned out great. I will say though, I almost doubled the recipe and I still didn’t have enough batter to really marble it. I just layered the chocolate on top, so it’s like a two-tone bread. Still delicious!
like a marble rye. Nice one Cat
Might be the flours making a thicker batter. Two tone is great too!
I really enjoyed making this marble loaf cake. Although it didn’t rise exactly as shown in the picture, I still liked it. My baking soda and powder were new. There was a problem with the cocoa. It tasted bitter no taste. What brand do you recommend? I will try again but next time instead of cocoa, I’ll add melted chocolate.
Cocoa powder does have bitterness, Did you top with the chocolate chips or the frosting ? I reccommend using brands such as Equal Exchange or Chatfield’s or switch to a dutch process for a sweeter style.
Delicious recipe! Not to mention beautiful also because of the marble appearance! I made this yesterday and took it for my niece’s birthday, and she literally stuffed her face with this banana bread!
That’s awesome!
Is there a replacement to baking powder? I only have baking soda!
baker’s yeast
This looks so delicious, cant wait to try it.
thanks!! it definitely is delicious
Can I use oat flour instead of the almond flour? I would love to try this recipe! 😍🍌🍞
Yes
What can i use if i don’t have all purpose flour at home? I have whole wheat atta / oats / almond meal / Pancake mix? Would any of these work? and how?
You could use oat flour but only in addition to all purpose or whole wheat. Atta has too high of a gluten content and would work better in a traditional bread recipe. Almond meal would work but as a component – not on its own. Pancake mix is very sweet and wouldn’t work because it would change all of the amounts of the wet ingredients and sweeteners in this recipe.
Followed exactly other than using soy milk instead of almond. Outside was kind of hard and dry and inside gummy and not
Moist. Not sure what happened.
If it didn’t rise much at all then the baking powder was probably old. Or the batter needed more flour(flour measuring errors or type of flour might not absorb as much moisture).
Absolutely love the recipe ! But … my bad I only put baking soda and forgot the baking powder so it didn’t rise much. Still delicious though 😉
Oops! Glad you enjoyed it!