This vegan chocolate chip banana nut bread is my go-to banana bread. It’s a light and fluffy and moist cake filled with chocolate chips, walnuts, and pepitas. The dark chocolate breaks up the sweetness of the vegan banana bread, while the walnuts and pepitas add a nutty, textured counterpoint. All the ingredients complement the banana bread perfectly.
The recipe is flexible, and you can choose to use only walnuts or only pepitas, but I personally like a combination of the two. Walnuts are a great option for banana bread, but if you’ve never added pepitas to your banana bread you’re in for a treat!
Pepitas, a type of unshelled pumpkin seed, have a strong nutty flavor that is delicious and holds its texture when cooked. They are soft but not as soft as yours. And I personally think they make the best banana bread!
Pair slices of vegan chocolate chip banana nut bread with a cup of coffee or tea for a delicious lunch, an indulgent breakfast, or an eat-your-fruit post dinner dessert.
What do you need to make vegan chocolate chip banana nut bread?
Making vegan banana bread is easy, because bananas are a really good egg substitute. So what do you want? Just a few pantry friendly ingredients and some very ripe bananas.
- Bananas
- Granulated sugar
- Soy milk, or your choice of dairy-free milk (oat milk is another good choice)
- Canola oil, or your favorite neutral oil (ie safflower oil, sunflower oil)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Chocolate chips (I love the mini chocolate chips in this recipe!)
- Chopped walnuts
- nuggets
The yeast comes from the baking powder and baking soda, while the apple cider vinegar works to create a moist crust.
Tips for the best banana bread:
For the best banana bread, use very ripe bananas, they are black all over and mushy to eat. They should smell sweet and be nice and soft to mix with a fork.
Mix the bananas before mixing, you don’t have to be a perfect person here, small pieces of banana are great to mix into the batter! If, however, these little bits annoy you, use a hand-held blender to quickly puree the bananas. If you’re measuring by volume, measure out the bananas afterwards you have broken yourself.
For consistent results when cooking, measure by weight rather than volume. A small kitchen scale (like this oxo kitchen scale I use or an inexpensive version like this other oxo scale, affiliate links) is one of my favorite kitchen tools. Not only will it measure more accurately than your cup dimensions, but it also means less cleanup! Win-win.
Whisk up your dry and wet ingredients separately, then add the dry to the liquid and mix until well combined but some dry ingredients remain before adding in the chocolate chips, walnuts, and pepitas. Folding these add-ins in at this stage will keep the bread from being too mixed. Although, when it comes to vegan baking you don’t have to worry as much about this as with egg-based baking. Your vegan cakes should not be dry from over-mixing.
Mounting your bread pan is optional, however it makes it easy to remove and clean. If you want to line your own loaf pan you can buy pan liners (like these loaf pan liners, affiliate link) or cut parchment paper to fit. Spray a baking pan with oil and place the parchment liner down so that it hangs over the sides and allows it to stick to the oil. It’s up to you if you just want to cut a piece to go across the width and overhang on the long edge, or if you want to cut a second long strip to go down the length wisely and cover the short edge.
How to make banana bread with frozen bananas:
You can store ripe bananas in the refrigerator for several days before making your bread. If you are going to have a Peel the bananas and stick them in a freezer bag and freeze them for a longer shelf life.
When you are ready to cook vegan chocolate chip banana nut bread, take the bananas you need for the recipe from the refrigerator and leave them on the stove to reach, or in the microwave to speed up the process.
As the bananas ripen the juice will separate from the “meat” of the fruit. It’s not pretty to look at, but when the fruit reaches room temperature you can crush it and it will mix the water back into the mash.
Go ahead and use this mashed banana the same way you would a freshly ripe banana!
More vegan banana bread and vegan loaf cake recipes:
I happen to have a thing for banana bread muffins, and if you do you can make these bakery-style vegan banana nut muffins and my vegan double chocolate banana muffins.
For more delicious snack cakes try my vegan chai spice loaf cake.
If you make this vegan chocolate chip banana nut bread, leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card. And please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea. I want to see your relaxation!
WANT MORE VEGAN RECIPES?
SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER & FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, AND PINTEREST!
Ingredients
-
1 cup mashed (240 g) ripe bananas (~3 bananas)
-
2/3 cup (145 g) granulated sugar
-
2/3 cup (157 g) plant milk
-
1/4 cup (52 g) neutral vegetable oil (eg canola)
-
1 tsp (5 mL) apple cider vinegar
-
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
-
1 3/4 cups (235 g) all purpose flour
-
1 tsp salt
-
1 tsp baking powder
-
1/2 tsp baking soda
-
3/4 tsp cinnamon
-
1/2 cup (55g) chopped walnuts, plus extra to top muffin
-
1/2 cup (70g) pepitas, plus top
-
1 cup (180g) mini or regular chocolate chips, added to the top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 ºF and prepare a pan of regular bread by spraying it with oil and optionally lining it with parchment paper cut to size, letting some hang over the edges for easy removal (also use parchment liners). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl mix the mashed banana, sugar, milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla together. Mix together until well.
- In a second mixer, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon and whisk until fluffy and combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with an attached wooden spoon, some dry ingredients are ok. Fold in the chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, and whole pepitas, mixing until there are no dry spots.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle some chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, and peptias on top and lightly press them into the batter.
- Bake at 350 ºF for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a tester that comes out clean doesn’t stick to it (it won’t be clean when done because it will still have melted chocolate on it). Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
I use a standard 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch loaf pan. if you use a larger 9 x 5 loaf pan the bread may rise a little faster so watch it start at 1 hour.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from eligible purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8
Serving Size: 1
Fees per Service:
Calories: 216Total Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0 gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0 mgSodium: 489 mgCarbohydrates: 39 gFiber: 2gSugar: 12gProteins: 5g
Nutritional values are calculated automatically and should only be used as an estimate.
