Makes 12 slices
I was sooo totally kidding when I tweeted that I was working on a book called “Vegan Loafs Gone Wild”, and yet here I am with another lower-fat loaf! I don’t know, something about the ease of the loaf pan, the leisurely cooking time, and just the absolute loafiness of it.
Here we’ve got something that reminds me of pressing my face against the glass dessert case at my neighborhood Jewish bakery. Marbled treats were a childhood fascination and they still hold some of that “How did you do that?” wonder. What can I say, swirls of cocoa are an impressive feat!
It takes a little extra work, and a few extra mixing bowl, but isn’t it worth it to awaken that childhood intrigue? This banana bread is perfectly banana-y, and not too sweet. The outside of the loaf is a little crunchy after being baked, but if you leave it in Tupperware or plastic wrap at room temp overnight, it gets very moist. It tastes great both ways!
1 cup mashed very ripe banana
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup almond milk (or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons boiling water, divided
Prepare boiling water, no need to measure yet. Also, preheat oven to 350 F.
Mash the banana in a large mixing bowl until relatively smooth. It should take 3 average sized ones, but spoon the mashed ‘nanas into a measuring cup to make sure, then return to the mixing bowl. Beat in the sugar, canola oil, milk and vanilla.
Now add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently mix just to incorporate. It’s okay if there is some flour still visible, just be careful not to overmix at this point.
Scoop one cup of the batter up and transfer it to a separate mixing bowl. Now, in a small tea cup mix the cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water and stir vigorously with a fork until the chocolate is dissolved. Add this chocolate mixture to the one cup of banana and mix until the chocolate is thoroughly smooth and incorporated.
Now back to the original plain banana batter; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and mix the batter just until relatively smooth.
Here comes the fun part, it’s time to marble! Lightly grease an 8×4 loaf pan. Scoop alternate 1/2 cupfuls of chocolate/banana batter into the loaf pan. Nothing has to be precise here, in fact, the more random, the better. Once all of the batter is in, take a butter knife and swirl it through the batter in circular directions for about 10 seconds.
Bake for 55 minutes. Use a butter knife to test for doneness. Let cool and enjoy!
I tried this recipe today and it came out wonderfully. I cut the time in half due to using a pie container since I don’t have a loaf pan. I was afraid it I had over mixed but luckily it raised up just to the right consistency. Can’t wait to try many more of your recipes in the near future.
In the oven right now and it smells AMAZING!! I didn’t have 3 bananas so I used 2 + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce. Thanks for this recipe and all you do!
Hi Isa,
I tried this recipe last night with a couple of substitutions that worked great:
– I only used 1 T of oil and added 1 T of unsweetened apple sauce
– I only used 1/2 c sugar
– I used half whole wheat flour and half white bread flour
Still tastes great – I may try to completely eliminate the oil and further reduce the sugar next time! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes!
Simply delicious! I made this all for myself and it tasted even better the next day. Moist, rich and with just the right balance of banana and chocolate.
easy and delicious! I used whole wheat flour and melted raw cacao butter instead of oil), turned out perfect! mmmmmmm
This is one of my husband’s favorites! (And he’s always impressed by the “fancy” marbling, so bonus points for me!) I love that it doesn’t taste low-fat at all.
Best banana bread ever, thanks!
Without a regular loaf pan, I had to make do with three minis, and they turned out as wonderful as anything else by Isa. Only they suffered slight burns on the sides touching the pans because I overestimated the bake time—should not be more than 30 minutes at that size, although I was not using my own oven, but my auntie’s, which is higher quality, stronger, and more consistent than what I’m used to.
Everything was super yummy and super pretty! It’s hard for me to actually screw up one of these. I love it.
made this today with wheat flour and reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup. Turned out super good and tasted just perfect for breakfast. Thanks for a lovely recipe. Now I know what to do of those over ripe bananas.
I’m learning to bake vegan for my boyfriend, and I have to say all the recipies I have tried, he likes this one the best. But I would totally be interested in learning if you can do yeast breads with vegan ingrediants. and if so, do you have any recipies? I would love to find a vegan bread book!
Well it’s in the oven as we speak.. i have made many banana breads before, am a little nervous with so little fat. ,that it can turn out good …we shall see. will report back !!
its still in the oven .. tested twice each time the knife is still not clean.. wah thats nearly an hour and 50 mins ..
In a true tale of “opposites attract”, my carnivore husband and I, his plant-based wife, are celebrating 14 years today. About to make this for the fifth time. He doesn’t even know it’s vegan, but it is the one thing he loves that I can make for him AND share with him. Thank you for this, and all your amazing recipes! (Can’t wait to try the Grilled Ramen – making the broth later today!)
Hello! Do you think it would be okay to sub the flour with Bob’s All Purpose Gluten Free mix? Thanks!!!
I love quickbreads and you! Eating a slice now!
Nom nom nom nom nom nom!! As always Isa!
Delicious recipe. Being careful with the mixing turned this recipe into a deluxe cake, with a very fine crumb. I tried a really nice variation for a friend who is allergic to chocolate: carob powder instead of cocoa. I then baked it up as marbled muffins: 1/4 cup (it worked out to be 9 light batter and 3 dark batter) and then a small spoonful of contrasting batter swirled through. I scraped the bowl to get enough batter and it was just enough. Letting them cool well kept them from feeling gummy. Both the carob and the cocoa are delicious with the banana.
Had a slice of this today (made, and shared, by a generous co-worker). Absolutely delicious!
This is absolutely delicious. I have made this twice now. First time last weekend for a vegan friend and she and the rest of the non-vegan crowd gobbled it up before I got to try it. I made it again this morning and yum! now I know why it didn’t last. This is a perfect alternative to my very yummy but high fat traditional recipe. (I used light brown sugar and organic whole wheat pastry flour for your recipe and my own as well).
LOVE this… Was just looking for a vegan Banana Bread Recipe yesterday !!! TY 😀
Does it work in a bread machine?
would any type of oil work? I have olive oil i dont know if theres a difference!
Looks divine! Guess what I’m making tomorrow!!
Made this today and OMG.. Amazing. Such a fantastic recipe! Thank you. 🙂
i doubled it and added a bit more sugar to the chocolate batter, and put into a bundt for a cake, and MAN this is EPIC banana goodness!!!
Can I use Gluten free- all purpose flour mix for this?
I brought this to a vegan potluck and it went over very well!
This is a great recipe! It turned out delicious.
Francesca (Feb 23, 12014), the type of oil does not make a difference in function, but will in flavor. If you don’t mind the the flavor of EVOO with banana and cocoa, go for it.
Isa, what type of loaf pan did you test in? I love love love my stoneware (Pampered Chef) but I think it made the leavening work differently in this recipe? As in, it didn’t do so well. Non-vegan banana breads I’ve baked in it were always done perfectly. But this one, the bottom 1/4-in of the baked loaf seemed “compressed” as if it had not finished rising and not well-cooked all the way through. Flavor and texture of the REST of the loaf was AMAZING, and I will be making another soon, but this time in maybe a metal or glass pan….?
I substituted 1 cup GF flour + 1/2 cup Quinoa Flakes, and used Coconut Oil and Brown Sugar. I will also say i sprinkled some choco-chips on top, but not too many.
Anyway delicious and wasn’t too flat!
I have made this twice in the last two days! Delicious! I subbed the canola oil for coconut oil and it turned out perfectly. Definitely a winner:)
I’ve made this several times, as has my vegan son. It’s delicious!. Do you have a recipe for straight banana bread that uses some whole wheat flour, and maybe some flax seed — just to protein-it-up a bit?
Yummmmmmm! I was impressed at how moist this was with only 2 tbsp. of oil. I would definitely make this again!!
SOOO good! Made it last night and it was so simple and fun to make and turned out beautifully not to mention absolutely delicious. I have to fight off my non-vegan family because they are eating all of it so fast haha! A new favorite. Might try adding a few walnuts next time to see if that makes it even better.
Hi! I must say, this recipe is FABULOUS and I use it all the time. It’s nice and moist as it is, but since I prefer a drier, fluffier texture I usually omit the salt and use 2 teaspoons baking soda total.
It’s also a very flexible recipe, and I like to change it up since I make it so often. So far, these are my favorite variations, which I like to mix and match:
– Soy or Rice/Quinoa milk instead of Almond milk
– Canned 100% Pure Pumpkin instead of the bananas
– Substitute whole oats for some of the flour
– Add freshly ground flaxseed and chopped nuts (I like pecans)
– Bake in muffin tins instead of a loaf (usually takes about 20-25 minutes at 350 F, I make these weekly for school snacks and they’re the bomb)
– Reduce sugar to 1/2 cup for more of a snack and less of a dessert
– If I’m in a hurry, I just do 6 T boiling water and 3 T cocoa powder and just mix it into the whole thing! Not as artsy, but still delicious 😛
Yum. Definitely recommend this recipe to everyone, vegans and non vegans alike!! (:
This was AMAZING. Made it today and cannot believe how good it is. Thank you!