Name: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (vegan)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp Ground Flaxseed (aka flaxseed meal); 3 Medium Bananas (the riper and spottier the better!); 1/2 cup/ 125 ml Soy Milk (or non-dairy milk of choice); 3 tbsp Sunflower Oil; 2 cups/ 250 grams Plain Flour (aka all-purpose flour); 1/2 cup/ 120 grams Soft Light Brown Sugar (or caster sugar); 3 tsp Baking Powder; 1 tsp Cinnamon; pinch Salt; 3oz/ 90 grams Dark Chocolate (as chips or chunks)

Every person I have made this banana bread for asks me for the recipe. Seriously, it’s that good.

For some reason, banana bread has become my go-to bake, and I’m not complaining. I can’t even count how many times I have made this since starting university, but trust me, it’s a LOT. I made this chocolate chip banana bread recipe the other day for my dance group and they all loved it! – shoutout to EMW Jawaani 🙂

Why you’ll love this recipe:

It’s vegan, so no eggs or butter required. Instead we are using flaxseed eggs and oil, which not only keep things plant based, but are healthier alternatives.
It’s super easy to make. The mixture comes together in <10 minutes, after which we will bake it for 45-50 minutes. Translation: you could be eating this banana bread in an hour!
It’s loaded with chocolate chips. And if there’s one thing that’s true, it’s that chocolate makes everything better.
It’s perfectly moist, flavourful, and not too sweet. Aka the best vegan banana bread. Aka make this now.
EVERYONE WILL LOVE YOU IF YOU MAKE IT! This banana bread has got me out of my fair share of sticky situations, and is also a good way to make friends hahaha

What ingredients will I need to make chocolate chip banana bread?

We start by making a flaxseed egg in a small bowl and setting it aside to thicken up. Then in our larger bowl, we will mash the bananas until few lumps remain. You can also puree the banana if you wish, though that does entail doing more dishes.

To the mashed banana we add soy milk (or any non-dairy milk of your choice), sunflower oil, and the thickened flaxseed egg. Then we stir and add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. I like to use soft brown sugar for extra caramel-ly flavour, but I’ve used which sugar here before and the result is just as tasty.

Now it’s time for my favourite part: CHOCOLATE! I like to have larger chocolate chunks in the middle of the loaf, which I get from roughly chopping a dark chocolate bar (please ensure it is vegan). For decoration on top, I like to use vegan chocolate chips, but if you cannot find any then chocolate chunks would also work here.

If you are in the UK, you can find vegan dark chocolate chips in Sainsbury’s.

Then we bake the banana bread until golden! Waiting for it to cook is the hardest part, but trust me, it’s worth it for the end result. Nothing beats a hot slice of banana bread with a cup of tea – DROOL.

Tips for making this recipe perfectly:

Use ripe bananas. The darker and spottier, the better!
Don’t skip the cinnamon. It helps to give the banana bread depth of flavour and complements the chocolate really well. You could also consider topping this banana bread with a cinnamon streusel like in these apple crumble muffins!
Don’t over-mix the batter. We don’t have to be super careful with the batter here as banana bread isn’t meant to be very ‘airy’, but to avoid a tough texture from overworking the gluten, make sure not to over-mix the batter once the flour has been added.
Don’t open the oven whilst the banana bread is baking. At least during the first half of cooking, don’t open the oven as this will prevent the baking powder from working. You’ll end up with a loaf with a dip in the middle which is not very pretty!

overhead photograph of a sliced loaf of banana bread

Variations on this recipe:

If you do not like chocolate (whilst they are a rare breed, unfortunately these people do exist) you can omit the chocolate to make classic vegan banana bread.
To make things EVEN chocolaty-er, you can sub 3 tbsp of the flour for cocoa powder.
To make mocha banana bread, switch half of the soy milk for room-temperature brewed coffee.

more vegan baking recipes to try:

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5 from 2 votes