Easy Vegan Dark Chocolate & Walnut Banana Bread (my all-time favorite banana bread recipe!)
Ok, this is probably not the biggest shocker out there but: I love banana bread. And actually that wasn’t always the case, so maybe there’s some accuracy to this ‘vegan-stereotype’ and I just needed to be plant based long enough until I was ready to join the banana bread lifestyle.
Whatever may be behind the fact that I suddenly love banana bread, I’m certainly not mad about it! Because not only is making banana bread irresistibly easy and it’s a great opportunity to use up some overripe fruit, it’s also the perfect combination of a dessert and a snack (at least in my humble opinion).
Because no matter if you like it healthier or super sweet or more on the fluffier or fudgy-er side, banana bread can be so versatile, that I’m now pretty sure everyone can potentially be turned into a banana bread fan. You probably just need to find the perfect banana bread recipe for you! Subtly sweet, amazingly fluffy and with lots and lots of vegan dark chocolate and walnuts, I already found my personal all-time favorite banana bread recipe. So maybe I can inspire you to find yours as well and become a true banana bread enthusiast, too?
… I’d say let’s find out!
and now here’s comes the recipe for my:
Easy Vegan Dark Chocolate & Walnut Banana Bread
Ingredients:
200g white spelt or all-purpose flour*
2 medium sized ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
50g coconut blossom sugar*
50g plant milk
60g natural unsweetened cashew butter
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
some vegan dark chocolate and a handful of walnuts*
a few oats (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 190°C and line a loaf pan with some parchment paper.
In a bowl, mash together bananas, vanilla, cinnamon, plant milk and cashew butter.
Add apple cider vinegar and baking soda and stir everything together.
Add sugar, salt and flour to the mix and stir until just combined. (Try to not overwork the batter! A few lumps are totally fine!)
Chop walnuts and dark chocolate and fold them into the batter.
Now fill the batter into the prepared loaf pan, decorate with some more dark chocolate, walnuts and optionally also some oats. Then bake for about 45-50mins until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Take the banana bread out of the oven and enjoy right away while still a bit warm or let it cool completely and top it with some plant based cream cheese, yogurt or nut butter and fresh fruit!
it’s always the right time for some banana bread.
*Notes:
I used white spelt flour for this recipe, but you can easily sub this for regular all-purpose flour or even replace some of it for a wholegrain flour of your choice! I once used 120g of white spelt and 80g of wholewheat flour and it turned out delicious as well!
If you can’t find or don’t want to use coconut blossom sugar, you can of course sub it for regular white or brown sugar or any other granulated sugar of your choice! I’d also suggest you reduce or increase the amount of sugar to your liking. I have baked the banana bread with double the amount of sugar before for some very sweet-toothed people and they did not complain, hehe.
The vegan dark chocolate and walnut pieces really elevate this banana bread to absolute banana bread goals for me, but feel free to sub for any other additional ingredients or toppings you like! Other nuts, as well as dried fruit like raisins or cranberries also work well.
Did you make this recipe?
leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @choartemi