Fluffy, moist, and easy to make, this vegan chocolate chip banana bread truly hits the spot! This banana bread is moist, flavorful, and loaded with melty chocolate. This loaf is truly perfect and just a delicious as a classic!

The best thing about banana bread? It can be breakfast, dessert, and a snack! Who doesn't love a versatile recipe?!
This chocolate chip banana bread is vegan, eggless, nut-free, and dairy-free. It can easily be made refined sugar free and gluten-free, as well! Regardless, this really is the best vegan chocolate chip banana bread!
Key Ingredients
- Flour: as our base for the recipe and to provide structure for our bread.
- Bananas: the star of the show! Make sure you're using ripe bananas to get the most natural sweetness out of them. Check out the FAQ if you need to ripen your bananas quickly.
- Baking soda & baking powder: to help this baby rise!!
- Sugars: we're going to be using some brown sugar and some white sugar to add sweetness (don't worry, not a ton)! The brown sugar is a must for that rich flavor in my opinion.
- Vegan Butter: for moisture!! I highly recommend using vegan butter sticks, not the vegan butter in a tub.
- Vegan Buttermilk: another ingredient dedicated to moisture but also to help the bread rise. I'm using apple cider vinegar to make the homemade buttermilk, but feel free to use lemon juice or white vinegar.
- Vanilla: 'nuff said.
- Spices: to really enhance the flavor! We'll be using cinnamon and nutmeg, but feel free to through in any others you love.
- Salt: just a pinch to balance out the sweetness.
- Chocolate Chips:I'm sorry but NOT putting chocolate chips in banana bread should be a crime. There, I said it.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line an aluminium loaf pan (mine was 8 ½ x 4/12) with parchment paper or grease well with butter or cooking spray and set aside.
- Make the vegan buttermilk by combining the dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar together in a bowl and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, light brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.
- In the bowl you have the buttermilk in, add mashed banana, melted butter, and vanilla and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet and dry ingredients together and mix until JUST combined. Mix once or twice more to fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, leaving about 1-inch of space between the batter and the top of the pan (you'll likely have left over batter), then bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If your bread is browning too quickly, carefully tent it with some foil for the remainder of the bake time.
- Let the banana bread completely cool on a cooling rack for at least 1 hour before slicing to ensure it doesn't sink in on itself or fall apart. Slice and serve with butter or peanut butter, if desired, and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Make it gluten-free by replacing the all-purpose flour with your favorite gluten-free flour at a 1:1 ratio.
- Change up the mix-ins by adding chopped walnuts, seeds, dried fruits, different spices, or really anything you'd like!
- Use applesauce and reduce the vegan buttermilk by ¼ cup. This will make the bread extra moist.
- Make it double chocolate banana bread by adding ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder and reducing the flour by ½ cup.
- Change up your sweetener by using either all brown sugar, all white sugar, or all coconut sugar. You could even replace the sugar with maple syrup, if you wanted!
- Use coconut oil instead of vegan butter at a 1:1 ratio.
- Make banana bread muffins by dividing the batter across a 12 hole muffin pan.
Quick Tips
- Use ripe bananas for optimal sweetness! The blacker the banana is, the sweeter it usually is and the more your bread will taste banana-y. Just make sure they haven't actually gone bad!
- DO NOT OVERMIX! I feel like I always say this in all my baking recipes, but it's so important, especially for breads. If you overmix, your banana bread will likely be super dense, rubbery, and chewy.
- Use a light colored, metal bread pans like aluminum. Anything darker will cause your bread to cook much faster and if you don't adjust your cook time or temperature accordingly, you'll get a burnt or dried out bread.
- If your banana bread is browning too much or too quickly, lightly tent the top with foil while baking.
- Make sure you let the bread cool completely before cutting it! This will ensure that the bread won't flatten or sink in the middle.
- Don't store the banana bread in the fridge as it will dry it out.
FAQ
Right on your counter at room temperature! Place the cooled banana bread on a paper towel on a plate & cover it with tin foil or tightly wrap it in plastic wrap. Storing it at room temperature will keep the bread soft and moist. Storing it with a paper towel will help to absorb any moisture that escapes and will keep the banana bread fresh and free from mold longer!
If you follow the storing tips above, the banana bread should stay fresh for up to 5 days. You can also freeze banana bread by wrapping it in plastic wrap and storing it in the freezer for up to 3 months!
The ingredients we use in this vegan chocolate chip banana bread recipe add a ton of moisture. In order to keep the moisture in after baking banana bread, you should wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it at room temperature on top of a paper towel.
If you have some time before you have to bake your banana bread, you can use the paper bag method! Place bananas in a brown paper bag with either an apple or an already overripe banana. This will speeding up the ripening process and will be ready to use in 2-3 days.
If you want to bake STAT, put your bananas in the oven! Bake unpeeled bananas at 300° F on a baking sheet until they turn black, or for 15-20 minutes. Let the bananas cool completely, peel, & you're good to go!
Nothing crazy, they just aren't as soft & not nearly as sweet!
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram. If you have any questions or feedback at all, send me an e-mail or leave a comment and review below. I hope you love this dish as much as we do!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (50 g) white sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) vegan butter melted
- 1 cup (240 mL) dairy-free milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 medium overripe bananas mashed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ¼ cup of chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line an aluminium loaf pan with parchment paper or grease well with butter or spray and set aside.
- Make the vegan buttermilk mixture by combining the dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar together in a bowl and set aside for at least 5 minutes.1 cup dairy-free milk, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- In the bowl you have the buttermilk in, add mashed banana, melted butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla and whisk to combine.¼ cup white sugar, ¼ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup vegan butter, 3 medium overripe bananas, 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Add the wet and dry ingredients together and mix until JUST combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix once more until distributed throughout.1 ¼ cup of chocolate chips
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, leaving about 1-inch of space between the batter and the top of the pan (you'll likely have left over batter), then bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If your bread is browning too quickly, carefully tent it with some foil for the remainder of the bake time.
- Let the banana bread completely cool on a cooling rack for at least 1 hour before slicing to ensure it doesn't sink in on itself or fall apart. Slice and serve with vegan butter or peanut butter, if desired, and enjoy!
Lauren
It's the perfect texture!! My new favorite vegan banana bread. I added walnuts too and it was great.
Meg
Absolutely delish!! It comes out to be the perfect texture. A new fave for sure.
Pinch of Parsley
Thank you so much, Meghan! This is one of my faves.