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This Vegan Gingerbread Banana Bread recipe combines soft and moist Banana bread with Spiced gingerbread for the ultimate holiday treat.
If you like gingerbread and bananas, you will love this vegan gingerbread banana bread! This banana bread recipe is perfect for the holidays and like any banana bread recipe, it is ideal for using up those brown bananas at the bottom of my freezer!
If you are like me and have a treasure trove of frozen bananas or overripe bananas, this easy loaf cake recipe is for you.
Make one big gingerbread banana loaf for yourself, and a couple more for gifting!
I love this delicious loaf cake just slightly warm from the oven with a dollop of vegan butter – but I like it equally well a day or so later when it has had a chance to sit for a while. The flavors are out of this world and get ever more pronounced with time.
That gingerbread spice, the banana and that touch of malty molasses. DELISH! Especially around Christmastime, I try to add molasses to as many recipes as I can. I used classic thick and dark cooking molasses, which is what you use in regular gingerbread for that magnificent warming molasses flavor. If you want a lighter flavor, use fancy molasses. It will make the loaf sweeter and lighter.
MORE VEGAN BREAKFAST BAKES FROM THE BLOG
- Marbled Banana Chocolate loaf
- Banana Walnut Breakfast Loaf. Gluten-free
- Banana Apple Bread
- One bowl Pumpkin Bread
- Turmeric Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Loaf.
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
I like that this banana bread is super flavorful but not overly sweet, and it wakes you right up in the morning with its bold gingerbread spices and the round molasses flavor! An added bonus: little bursts of candied ginger, that we add to the batter.
Gingerbread Banana Bread
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 medium bananas
- 1/3 cup sugar, such as coconut sugar, light brown sugar (1/4 cup for less sweet or if the bananas are very ripe )
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp oil, omit to make oil free
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp molasses
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cup flour, (I use 1 1/4 all purpose, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat or spelt)
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 -2 tsp gingerbread spice, or a mix of 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger , 1/8 tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice
- 2 tbsp chopped candied ginger, optional
Optional add ins
- Chopped walnuts/pecans
- Chopped Dates, other dried fruits
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 365 degrees F (185 C), and line a 9×5 or 8.5×4.5 inch loaf pan with parchment.
- In a bowl mix all the wet ingredients till well combined.
- In another bowl, mix the flours ,the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until well combined, then mix in the candied ginger.
- Add 1 3/4 cup of the dried mixture to the wet mixture, and mix in. Add the rest of the dry flour mix 1 tbsp at a time until it is a stiff muffin batter. If it is not stiff enough, add another 1 or two tbsp of flour
- Transfer the batter to the lined loaf pan, and even it out with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with 1 tbsp of brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. This is optional, but I like the crust it gives the banana bread. You can also add some candied ginger on top, or some pecans tossed in maple syrup for a candied pecan top
- Bake for 55 minutes. Check with a toothpick from the center of the loaf, if it comes out clean, then remove from the oven else bake for another 5-10. cool the loaf for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan. Then cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For this recipe, I kept the ingredients really simple and easy.
Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour + almond flour mixed with baking powder and baking soda for the dry mix
- I added some warm, cozy, gingerbread spices to the mix, – so ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, and some molasses for rich depth of flavor,
- candied ginger adds some nice chewy bits
- I used 2 whole bananas – make sure they are ripe but no complete mush yet
- For sweetness, I like using brown sugar or coconut sugar and add some maple syrup – we want warm caramel notes
- almond milk and vinegar create a vegan “buttermilk” which makes this banana bread super light and fluffy
- I do add some oil but you can leave it out for oil-free
- A hint of vanilla – always a good idea around the holidays
Tips:
- Make sure to bake this until a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- 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.
- Great options for add-ins would be: chopped walnuts/pecans or chopped Dates, other dried fruits
How to make Vegan Gingerbread Banana Bread:
Prep: Pre heat the oven to 365 degrees f or 185 degrees Celsius, and line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment.
In a bowl mix all the wet ingredients till well combined.
In another bowl, mix the flours,the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until well combined, then mix in the candied ginger.
Add 1 3/4 cup of the dried mixture to the wet mixture, and mix in. Add the rest of the dry flour mix 1 tbsp at a time until it is a stiff muffin batter. If it is not stiff enough, add another 1 or two tbsp of flour.
Transfer the batter to the lined loaf pan, and even it out with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with 1 tbsp of brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. This is optional, but I like the crust it gives the banana bread.
You can also add some candied ginger on top, or some pecans tossed in maple syrup for a candied pecan top. Bake for 55 minutes. Check with a toothpick from the center of the loaf to check if it comes out clean. cool the loaf for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan. Then cool completely before slicing.
HOW TO STORE VEGAN BANANA BREAD:
This loaf can be stored on the counter for the day and can be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days. Single slices can be frozen.
Is that white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?
Either will work
Has anyone tried making this as muffins?
Yes. They all stuck to the wrappers and I only was able to salvage the tops.
This happens with old wrappers and also since this batter isn’t loaded with oil or fat. If you grease the wrappers before adding the batter they release much more easily. For already stuck wrappers, soak the muffin in warm water, just the bottom part upto the wrapper height for a minute. Then the wrapper release easily
Yes just bake 25 mins
I made this today and it is so good! Thank you for the recipe.
awesome, thank YOU
Hi Richa
Can you pls advise what to substitute for maple syrup. Can we add more coconut sugar?
yes or brown and increase to 1/2 cup
This looks absolutely delicious! Love the festive spin on a classic treat. Excited to try it 🙂
let me know how it turns out
This is delicious! I made it without the oil, added chopped dates, candied ginger and pecans. I will make this again soon, saving bananas to over-ripen now! Thank you for your great recipes.
Yay
I made this today and it turned out really well. I added some broken walnuts and diced dates. I didn’t do the sugar and cinnamon on the top as from past experience I find it does burn before the cake is cooked in my fan forced oven. Thanks.
Thank you Dana! You could always add it after it comes out of the oven
I enjoyed this a lot. I did omit the oil and didn’t see the note about substituting. It was fine without. Thanks for this.
Awesome!! Thanks!
Recipe says: 1/2 tsp (1.5 tsp) salt
Not sure which is right… hopefully it comes out good either way! In the middle of making this now. 🙂
It’s 1/2 tsp. Updated!
Thanks for the quick reply! This is super tasty and came out great!
Could I add applesauce instead of oil?
Just omit the oil. Don’t add applesauce because there’s already enough moisture from the banana