Banana bread investigation

What is the best (vegan) banana bread recipe? Let’s test different ones and rate them.

1. Rainbow Plantlife

https://rainbowplantlife.com/best-easy-vegan-banana-bread/

Ingredients

• 90 mL aquafaba
• 3 medium-sized very ripe bananas (around 300g)
• 90 mL oat milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 75g neutral-tasting oil
• 115g organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 240 to 250g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 176°C. Arrange a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Line a 9×5-inch (23×13 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the long sides to form a sling.
2. Pour the aquafaba into a medium bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, whip the aquafaba on medium speed for 45-60 seconds until uniformly foamy.
3. Wipe out the bowl used for the aquafaba. Add the three bananas to the bowl and mash with a fork until smooth and no lumps remain (or, for a more rustic banana bread, leave a few chunks in). FYI: the 3 mashed bananas should weigh around 300g.
4. Stir the lemon juice into the oat milk and set aside. This is the vegan “buttermilk.”
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and oil. Mix using the electric mixer or a whisk until well combined.
6. Add the whipped aquafaba and mix until well incorporated. Add in the vegan “buttermilk” and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the mashed bananas and mix until well incorporated.
7. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to the wet ingredients. Switch to using a silicone spatula (if you don’t have one, use a large wooden spoon). Gently stir until the ingredients are just barely combined. It’s okay if you can see a few traces of flour.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top of the batter using a spatula or spoon.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Since every home oven differs, I like to start checking at 45 minutes. The banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center top at a slight angle comes out a few moist crumbs. If there’s runny batter, it needs more time.
10. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Then remove the bread from the pan and cool on the rack for at least 20 to 30 minutes before slicing (the bread is still cooking and setting up, so don’t slice too early).
11. To store, place completely cooled banana bread in an airtight container or wrap tightly in plastic and leave on the counter for 2-4 days (if using decorative banana topping, the topping a will start to brown after day 1). You can also freeze the banana bread. If you freeze the whole loaf, allow it to defrost on the countertop for 2-3 hours. If you freeze individual slices, defrost on the countertop for 20-30 minutes.

Verdict

7/10 Very nice and very cakey, almost too fluffy. The texture is like store-bought cake, very fine pores and bouncy. I’m missing a bit the “roughness” or breadiness of banana bread. Would be nice with some chunks or some whole grain in it. It does get quite sticky in the mouth, don’t know if that’s the bananas or the aqua faba, or something.

2. BBC GoodFood (adapted)

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/vegan-banana-bread Also, incidentally, almost the exact same recipe as here: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/vegan-banana-bread/

Ok, already made the “mistake” of adapting a recipe and not sticking 100% to the instructions. I’ll write down the ingredients how I used them, and not the original recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 bananas - I used frozen and thawed and poured away the excess liquid
• 75 g vegetable oil - (actually the original recipe said 75 mL… I used half coconut fat and half linseed oil
• 100 g brown sugar
• 225 g flour in total - I used about 150 g normal flour, 50 g Graham flour and 25 g oat flakes for some bite
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 50 g dried fruits or nuts (optional) - I used 30 g dried cranberries and 20 g chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a loaf tin and powder with flour.
2. Mash the banana with a fork and mix with the sugar and fat.
3. Mix together the other dry ingredients.
4. Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir well until no dry lumps are left. The batter didn’t flow, it had almost a (wet) cookie dough consistency.
5. Fill batter into the tin and bake for 20 min, then cover with aluminium foil and bake another 20 min.

Verdict

8/10 I gave it higher points than the previous recipe, because it had the heartiness that I like in a banana bread. Unfortunately it didn’t rise much, which could be due to the flour mix that I used, a lack of liquid (since I poured away some banana liquid), or not enough raising power from the baking powder. The denseness/moistness and the dried fruits and nuts make it taste like a mix between a banana bread and a fruit bread. Next time try this recipe with some (vegan) yogurt to both increase the moisture and also provide an acidic component to increase rising from the baking powder. Also, don’t use coconut oil, use 100% liquid vegetable oil.

3. BBC GoodFood (adapted again)

Same base recipe as above, with the following changes

• Only liquid vegetable oil (rapeseed).
• 200 g normal flour + 25 g Graham flour
• 30 g dried cranberries, 20 g chopped walnuts
• 3 non-frozen bananas
• 1 tsp baking powder + 3/4 tsp baking soda (because we ran out of baking powder, and baking soda is about 3x as strong, according to the internet)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a loaf tin and powder with flour.
2. Mash the banana with a fork and mix with the sugar and fat.
3. Mix together the other dry ingredients.
4. Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir well until no dry lumps are left. The batter didn’t flow, it had almost a (wet) cookie dough consistency.
5. Fill batter into the tin and bake for 20 min, then cover with aluminium foil and bake another 20 min.

Verdict

9.5/10 Pretty much the perfect banana bread. What would I improve? Maybe slightly higher variation in dough texture? Try a teeny tiny bit of rolled oats in the next one. Slightly too sweet perhaps?

4. BBC GoodFood (3rd variation)

Same recipe as in trial 3, with the following changes:

• 190 g normal flour (72 g normal wheat flour + 118 g wheat pattiserie flour, because I ran out of normal flour) + 25 g Graham flour + 10 g rolled oats
• Cardamom instead of cinnamon (1/2 tsp finely ground and 1/2 roughly ground) - just to mix things up
• 90 g brown sugar (Muscovado sugar, have used that in all the recipes)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 30 g chopped dried lingonberries, 18 g chopped walnuts, 5 g roasted and lightly salted sunflower seeds (because I ran out of walnut)

Instructions as above. Baking tin greased with vegan butter and dusted with breadcrumbs.

Verdict

Didn’t write anything down 😭 Now I will never know how this one turned out. I guess good?

5. Heisse Himbeeren

https://heissehimbeeren.com/bananenbrot-vegan-super-fluffig-mit-extra-viel-banane/

Zutaten 

• 3 große Bananen möglichst reif ⇒ ich nahm 4 klein bis mittelgroße
• 75 g Sonnenblumenöl
• 100 g brauner Zucker ⇒ ich nahm 90 g
• 230 g Weizenmehl Typ 405 oder Typ 550 ⇒ ich nahm 100 g Dinkelmehl und 130 g Weizenmehl
• 16 g Backpulver entspricht genau 1 Päckchen
• 2 TL Zimt
• 50 g Schokochips vegan
• 50 g Walnüsse gehackt ⇒ ich nahm eine Mischung aus Walnüssen, Pecannüssen und Rosinen

Anleitung

1. Backofen auf 170 °C Ober- und Unterhitze vorheizen. Kastenform gründlich mit Öl einpinseln. Den Boden zusätzlich noch mit etwas Backpapier auslegen, so löst sich das vegane Bananenbrot später gut aus der Form.
2. In einer Schüssel die drei Bananen mit einer Gabel zerdrücken. Es sollten keine großen Stücke mehr vorhanden sein. Dann das Sonnenblumenöl und den Zucker mit in die Schüssel geben und alles mit einem Holzlöffel gut vermischen.
3. Mehl, Backpulver und Zimt dazugeben und kurz unterrühren, sodass das gesamte Mehl untergemischt ist. Dann Schokochips, getrocknete Früchte und/oder Nüsse nach Wunsch unterrühren.
4. Teig in die vorbereitete Form füllen. Bananenbrot dann bei 170 °C Ober- und Unterhitze für ca. 40 Minuten backen. Mit der Stäbchenprobe den Garpunkt prüfen.
5. Bananenbrot nach dem Backen etwas auskühlen lassen, dann aus der Form befreien und direkt, lauwarm oder später kalt servieren.

Verdict

8/10 Tasted really good, very nice consistency. But more towards cake. Wouldn’t be “tough” enough to toast. The nuts are a nice addition, the raisins are for me a bit too sweet. Overall, it is a good sweetness level, but the sugar could probably reduced by another 10-20 g. Good cake! I would say it’s better than Rainbow Plantlife’s one, both because it’s MUCH easier and because it didn’t have the stickiness in the mouth.

Einfach Backen

https://www.einfachbacken.de/rezepte/veganes-bananenbrot-schnell-ohne-zucker#comments

Zutaten

• 4 reife Bananen (ca. 500 g ohne Schale)
• 200 g Dinkelmehl (Type 630)
• 50 g zarte Haferflocken
• 2 TL Backpulver
• 1 Prise Salz
• ½ TL Zimt ⇒ ich nahm 1 TL
• 70 ml neutrales Speiseöl (z.B. Sonnenblumenöl)
• 70 ml Hafermilch
• 50 g Walnüsse ⇒ ich nahm 50 g schwarze Sesamkörner
• 50 g gehackte Schokolade (vegan)

Anleitung

1. Ofen auf 180 Grad Ober-/ Unterhitze (Umluft 160 Grad) vorheizen. Bananen mit einer Gabel in einer Schüssel zerdrücken. Die trockenen Zutaten in einer Schüssel mischen. Zerdrückte Bananen, Speiseöl und Hafermilch dazugeben und mit einer Gabel unterheben. Walnüsse und Schokodrops unterheben.
2. Teig in die Kastenform füllen. Im vorgeheizten Backofen ca. 50 Minuten goldbraun backen. Stäbchenprobe nicht vergessen. Aus dem Ofen holen und auf einem Kuchengitter komplett erkalten lassen. Dann aus der Form stürzen und servieren. Das Bananenbrot ergibt ca. 10 Stücke.

Verdict

6/10 Quite moist/wet and a dense. I really liked the flavour of the spelt flour. However adding sesame seeds and chocolate drops made it even more dense and the look was not very nice, it was dark and irregular, not so appealing. The sesame seeds also “pop” in a strange way, there were just too maken. It was also a bit too unsweet. Would not make again.

Simple Veganista

https://simple-veganista.com/vegan-banana-tea-bread/#tasty-recipes-8616-jump-target

Ingredients

• 210 g spelt flour (or other e.g. wholegrain wheat) ⇒ I used spelt
• 75 g sugar (or 1/2 finely chopped dates) ⇒ I used sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (or twice the amount of baking powder if you don’t have soda)
• pinch of salt
• 75 mL neutral flavored oil ⇒ I used rapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 small or 3 large overripe bananas (about 338-410g), mashed
• 50 mL milk, use only if needed ⇒ I used oat milk and needed a bit more than that Optional add-ins:
• 60 g chopped walnuts ⇒ left out this time
• 60 g chocolate chips/drops ⇒ I used dark chocolate drops
• 1 tsp cinnamon ⇒ I added about twice that

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175C. Grease your loaf pan or line with baking paper.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, mash 3 – 4 bananas, add oil and vanilla extract, mix again.
3. Add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and mix well, but don’t overmix, just enough until the flour is combined. Batter will be slightly thick and a few lumps is ok. If mixture seems too thick, add milk, especially if using heavier flours such as whole wheat or whole spelt.
4. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for about 50 min – 1 hour. Do the toothpick test in the center of the loaf, if it comes out clean it should be ready. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 min before slicing.

Verdict

9.5/10 All in all tasted really good! Some colleagues said it didn’t taste much of banana, maybe the cinnamon was covering it (I added about 2 tsp). Chocolate chips are good but also distract from the “pure” banana bread. Maybe I would like it better with a chocolate glaze instead of chocolate drops inside? They just melt and become wet. Maybe coco nibs instead?