Vegan Banana Bread

With winter in full swing, banana bread is so cosy and comforting. Infused with warming spices and flavours, it’s perfect for those cold days.

I’ve perfected this recipe and can tell you it is the BEST vegan banana bread ever! It’s sweet, flavoursome and (dare I say) moist…

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In my opinion, banana bread should be soft inside and crispy on the outside. I achieved this texture by baking it slowly (about 40 minutes at 180C), then drizzling maple and vanilla icing on top.

I made a simple vanilla icing to drizzle on top but banana bread also pairs super well with peanut butter or even plain butter (dairy-free, of course). I also added sugar snowflakes for decoration as this was for the festive season.

The right topping will balance and transform it from bread into “cread”: a delicious middle-ground between bread and cake.

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This is one of my favourite vegan treats. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth but when I do get a craving, this definitely hits the spot.

Ingredients:

For the banana bread:

• 3 large very ripe bananas
• 75g oil – vegetable, coconut or sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing the baking tray
• 100g brown sugar
• 225g plain flour (or use self-raising flour and reduce the baking powder to 2 heaped tsp)
• 3 heaped tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the vanilla drizzle:

• 5 tbs icing sugar
• 2 tbs maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. 
2. Mash 3 bananas with a fork, then mix in oil, vanilla extract and sugar.
3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and cinnamon in and combine well. 
4. Use the oil to grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with greaseproof paper.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. If it is browning, cover with foil.
6. Bake again for 20 minutes, checking to see if a skewer comes out clean.
7. For the maple glaze, sift icing sugar into a mixing bowl.
8. Add wet ingredients and stir to achieve a slightly thick but runny texture. Add more icing sugar if too runny or a drop of maple syrup/ water if too thick.
9. You want to be able to make drizzle lines across the top of the banana bread, so if it is too runny it will just spill off the sides.
10. Allow to cool before taking a large spoon of icing and lightly drizzling.
11. Slice and share!