Eggless banana bread

This eggless banana bread is so good & perfect!! Made with wheat flour, it’s moist, delicious and sure going to please everyone. What more perfect use for overripe bananas than banana bread? Some may say that is perhaps a good enough reason to allow bananas to over ripen in the first place, and after having a slice of this delicious eggless banana bread, scented with cinnamon and vanilla, you will likely agree.

It is a perfect way to start your day with a cup of coffee, and equally enjoyable for a sweet treat in the afternoon. Any way you serve it, this vegan version is as wholesome as it is delicious.

The star of this bread is always the bananas and the best are the ones that have become undesirable to eat out of hand. By the time the skins have darkened considerably and they are covered with spots they are perfect for this recipe.

After all, what those spots indicate is a higher and higher in antioxidants & sugar content. The good news is that not only are they softer at this point and easier to incorporate into your baked goods, but they also sweeten your bakes naturally.

If you find yourself with overripe bananas on your hands, yet not prepared to bake banana bread, feel free to peel and freeze them for later so that the next time you are ready to bake, just thaw them a bit before incorporating them into the recipe.

Once you’ve tried this recipe with its flexibility and great flavor, you will look at over ripe bananas as an opportunity to create a banana bread that is really delicious. That it offers a good deal of nutritional benefit is certainly a bonus that will keep you baking it time and time again.

Part of the appeal of this banana bread is the ease with which it comes together.

Preparation

1. Grease a 8 ½ by 4 ½ loaf pan. Set aside. Ensure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Preheat oven to 340 degrees F (170 C) for at least 15 minutes.

2. Starting with a large bowl, peel and add the ripe bananas to it.

3. Mash them well with potato masher or a fork. Measure them. We need 1.5 cups mashed bananas for this. A little more is fine.

4. Add ¾ to 1 cup sugar. If your bananas are too sweet & you prefer your banana bread to be low in sweet, you can use ¾.

5. Pour ¼ cup water or milk, stirring well to fully dissolve the sugar. This should only take a few minutes.

6. Add 1/3 cup oil (80 ml).

7. Next goes in ½ tablespoon vanilla extract. Give a good mix.

8. Setting the wet ingredients aside, in a medium size bowl sift 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ to ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon baking soda and optional ingredient ¾ teaspoon baking powder.

9. For a lighter banana bread, repeat sifting the ingredients.

How to bake eggless banana bread

10. Next, add about ½ of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring with a spatula until nearly combined.

11. Fold in the other half or dry ingredients, stirring thoroughly, yet taking care not to over mix.

12. If the batter is too thick pour 2 tbsps water or milk. I add 2 tbsps water. If using all-purpose flour you may not need.

13. We are looking for a ribbon consistency here. This is the consistency mine had.

14. Once the batter is completely mixed, pour it into a prepared loaf pan and add chopped walnuts on top. Tap the pan a few times to release trapped air bubbles.

15. Place into an oven preheated to 340 degrees F (170 C) for 60-63 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

After removing the banana bread from the oven, place the loaf pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. To remove from the pan, invert the banana bread onto a plate or cutting board. Resist the urge to cut this bread before it is completely cool at which time you should use a serrated knife to slice it carefully.

Storing & heating

This eggless banana bread keeps up to 2 days at room temperature on a plate covered with a cake cover/ dome.

It can also be refrigerated for upto 4 to 6 days. It tends to dry out during refrigeration. So reheat it in a microwave for 40 to 60 seconds. Alternately you can reheat it on stovetop.

Bring 1 ½ cups water to a rolling bowl. Place a trivet/ rack and then place the bowl of cake on the trivet. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Turn off the stove. Cover and leave it for 7 to 10 minutes. You will have a soft and fresh banana bread. This banana cake also freezes well for up to a month.

More banana bakes,
Banana cake recipe
Eggfree banana muffins
Eggless chocolate banana cake
Banana pancakes
Chocolate banana cake

Ingredients

Cinnamon : Perhaps the most traditional spice to use in banana bread is cinnamon and there is good reason for that. Besides being a warm spice that nicely compliments the sweetness of the banana, it boasts a number of health benefits including antioxidants & reduces inflammation.

Other than cinnamon, other warm spices such as nutmeg, allspice and clove also work well.

Flour : This recipe uses wheat flour which has the bran and germ extracted before the wheat is milled into flour. Alternately, whole wheat flour can be used, which is higher in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate.

It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than regular all-purpose flour, though the flavor will differ and the texture of the bread will be rather dense. So use little more water or milk to bring it to a consistency.

Alternatively, a mix of equal parts white and wheat flour can be used with good results. For those who are interested in making this gluten free, substituting a gluten-free flour will also yield great tasting results.

Vinegar :Perhaps a somewhat surprising ingredient in this recipe is the vinegar which is really not so much for flavor as it is for leavening. More specifically, the baking soda which lightens and adds color to this banana bread relies on an acid to react with.

In some recipes, buttermilk or other acids may create the same effect. Keeping this vegan, however, necessitates that we use a non-dairy acid and while cider vinegar is used here, lemon juice will create similar results with great success.

Baking powder : Baking powder is an optional ingredient in this recipe. If used, it will further lighten the banana bread, though omitting it is fine as well. The result without it is a slightly denser loaf, but assuredly, not one that is any less delicious.

Sugar : When choosing how to sweeten this banana bread, organic cane sugar was a natural choice, both for flavor, as well as health benefit. It is every bit as sweet as refined white sugar, but because it is less processed, more of the molasses and the nutrients remain intact.

Brown sugar would work, but the result will be a darker loaf with more moisture due to the molasses content.

Water or other liquid : While we chose water as a liquid for this banana bread, optional dairy, nut or oat milk will achieve great results with the added benefit of flavor and nutrition. The great thing is that you can use it to suit your needs.

Chocolate : If you wish to take your banana bread into a different direction, adding a handful of chopped bittersweet chocolate gives it an elevated flavor that borders more of a decadent dessert with the benefit of added antioxidants from the chocolate.

Pro Tips

• Measuring flour correctly: Fluff up the flour with a fork and then spoon it to the measuring cup. Level it with a straight edged spoon or a knife.
• For a lighter banana bread use both baking soda and baking powder. You can skip baking powder but you will have a slightly denser loaf. Do not skip baking soda, the recipe won’t work without it.
• For best results, measure the mashed bananas instead of going by the number of bananas. The size of bananas differs depending on the variety and country where they are grown. For accurate results 2 to 3 large bananas and then measure them.
• Do not over mix the batter, just mix until well combined.

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