Using bananas instead of oil makes this fat-free banana bread extremely moist and lightly sweet, and the blueberries add a fruity surprise to every bite.
Q: What’s black and yellow and soft all over?
A: The bananas on our kitchen counter when we got home from the beach on Sunday.
Of course, when we left on Thursday, the bananas were firm and yellow, even a little green. I’d meant to take them with me, but in the rush of packing I forgot. By the time we got home, our bananas were so overripe that I could actually smell them as we entered the door.
But you know the old saying: When life gives you mushy bananas, make banana bread! Well, I may have just made that “old saying” up.
Nevertheless, it’s true that the riper the bananas, the better the banana bread, so finding several overripe bananas on my kitchen counter was not a hardship at all but an opportunity to make a treat for the family. And since it’s blueberry season here, I saw it as a double opportunity and filled my banana bread with some of the plumpest, sweetest blueberries I’ve ever tasted.
The result was incredible: The bananas make the bread extremely moist and lightly sweet, and the blueberries add a fruity surprise to every other bite. If you like bananas and blueberries, I think you’ll love them together.
Before I hit you with the recipe, I want to let you know that the Tried & Tasted roundup has been posted over at Holy Cow. I mentioned before that people would be making recipes from this blog and then sharing them on their own blogs. Well, I’m just overwhelmed at the response: I counted 39 different entries, some of them of recipes I’d forgotten I made. It’s going to take me a while to go through them all, but I will! Please visit some of them yourself–and tell them I sent you.
Blueberry-Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 large over-ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup vanilla soymilk or apple sauce (80 ml)
- 1/2 cup agave nectar (120 ml) see notes below
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour (240 g)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup blueberries (240 ml)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or wipe a 9×5-inch loaf pan with oil or use a silicon loaf pan.
- Mix the soymilk with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and let stand until it curdles. (If using apple sauce, skip this step and add the lemon juice to the bananas.)
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the remaining lemon juice, soymilk, and agave nectar. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and stir just until the mixture is well-combined. Fold in the blueberries.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into 12 slices and serving.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Please pin and share!
Trysha
September 7, 2011 at 10:24 amI am excited to try this recipe! We recently have gone gluten and vegan and this is perfect. (I found so many recipes with waaaaaay more ingredients than I would ever use)
sara
September 13, 2011 at 7:33 pmhow long does this bread last?
ps any tips to keep it from going stale/moldy?
SusanV
September 13, 2011 at 7:44 pmI would put it in the refrigerator on the second day. It should keep there about a week. It’ll taste better if you toast it rather than eat it cold.
Streetwear Clothes
December 11, 2011 at 10:43 pmMade this!! It was amazing and really easy to make.
Tiffany Brown
December 26, 2011 at 1:53 pmI made this on Satuday morning. Not only was it easy to make, but it was delicious. I didn’t have a full cup of blueberries so I added a few strawberries and I also used maple syrup as the sweetener. Thanks for the recipe!
Molly
December 30, 2011 at 1:01 amCould lime juice be used in place of lemon juice?
Susan Voisin
December 30, 2011 at 5:38 amYes.
Eva
January 23, 2012 at 11:05 amHi Susan,
I made this bread last night and used frozen blueberries (did not thaw) and whole wheat flour, and liquid sugar in the raw (those are the variations). I baked it in a 9X5 for 1 hr and the middle still was mushy. Do think it was because I did not thaw out the blueberries?
PS- lovee your blog and I have used many of your recipes with great success! 🙂
Susan Voisin
January 23, 2012 at 11:21 amHi Eva–yes, I’ll bet that was the problem. As they defrost, frozen blueberries exude liquid. If you measure them, thaw them, and then drain them very well, you’ll probably have better results.
Eva
January 23, 2012 at 12:19 pmThanks! I will try it again tonight!
Marc @ Bread Making Recipes
February 6, 2012 at 10:42 pmThis is a great recipe, I am going to try this out!
I am not sure, but do you think I’d be able to make this in a bread maker? If so, could I publish this recipe on my blog while mentioning your site?
Thank you so much!
Susan Voisin
February 6, 2012 at 10:50 pmI wouldn’t try making this in a bread maker because it needs to be stirred only a little, very gently. Bread makers actually knead the dough, which would make this a very tough bread.
Adriana del Moral
March 1, 2012 at 2:36 pmI just made this bread and it was my first great baking experience!!! Instead of agave I used half sugar and half honey, and a bit of peach syrup. I read someone used 1/3 cup oats with the fluor. I used dried cranberries instead of blueberries. My boyfriend was amazed because the bread was tasty, and last time I tryed to make bread with no eggs it was rock hard.
I have just one question: the bread was a bit too dense, and not fluffy at all. I don’t know if I stirred too much, or maybe my bananas were a bit little, or if I shoud add more liquid as I was using oats too. Or may it be because of the dried fruit instead of fresh? Any idea?
Thanks for your amazing blog, I will try ALL of your banana breads.
With love from Mexico,
Adriana
Susan Voisin
March 2, 2012 at 11:35 amHi Adriana, I’m sorry the bread was a little dense. Since it’s a quick bread/dessert bread, it’s not meant to get fluffy like a yeast bread. But the oats could have caused it to be heavier. If you try it again, leave them out and see what you think.
Naomi
March 5, 2012 at 6:40 amHi Susan! I just wanted to thank you for this post. Tonight was my first shot at making anything from your blog and this banana bread turned out perfectly. I made it GF by using a generic store-bought GF pre-mix flour and I’ve had no problems aside from wanting to eat the entire loaf in one go. So thanks very much! Naomi x
Adriana del Moral
March 14, 2012 at 2:17 pmHi Susan, it’s Adriana again.
I made the banana bread today (using walnuts instead of blueberries). I used a bit of amaranto instead of the oats and a whole teaspoon baking powder. The bread was perfect, no fluffy, but soft and again very very tasty. As I had no peach syrup this time, I used only sugar and honey. It was a bit too sweet for me, but my friends and my mom loved it. Thank you so much for the recipe and for your advise!!
ali
March 29, 2012 at 12:25 pmwould this work the same with frozen blueberries?
Susan Voisin
March 29, 2012 at 12:51 pmYes. Measure them while they’re still frozen, and then let them thaw before using them in the recipe.
Pat B
April 22, 2012 at 8:16 pmJust made this bread and it’s half gone already! I used frozen blueberries and let them almost thaw (got impatient). The bread was a little blue-ish, but was really pretty when it finished cooking. We’ll definitely use this again and I plan to try some of the variations in the comments from others. (Doesn’t anybody follow a recipe?) 🙂 Thanks for such a great website. I agree with the person who said you are making it easy to become a vegan. We’re probably about 98% there and a good percentage of our success is due to some of your recipes.
Tricia
April 25, 2012 at 8:00 pmThis bread has become such a breakfast/snack staple in our house over the last 8 months or so that I finally had to comment on it – thank you for the awesome recipe!
Kerry
June 18, 2012 at 6:41 pmI just made this for my husband and it was a big hit. It turned out perfectly and he’s asked me to make it again – anytime!
Nancy Dushkin
June 19, 2012 at 9:39 amHi Susan,
Thanks for posting this on Facebook. I made it over the weekend, and it was absolutely delicious. Since I know you are also into photography, I thought you might like to see another photo of it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndushkin/7398277584/in/photostream
Susan Voisin
June 19, 2012 at 11:47 amWhat a beautiful photo of it! Thanks for posting!
Nancy Dushkin
June 19, 2012 at 5:06 pmThanks for all your amazing recipes! It was easy to make this look good 🙂
Nicole Longenecker
June 25, 2012 at 9:04 amI am new to the vegan lifestyle, just going into my second week. And I normally do not like to cook/bake. But I made this bread this weekend and it was easy and tasted great! We have raspberry bushes that are producing at a staggering rate, so I used rasperries instead. I can’t wait for my bananas to go brown to make it again lol.
apinti
June 30, 2012 at 3:40 pmI made this bread just as instructed, and I added a half-cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. The creaminess of the chocolate with the tartness of the blueberries and the sweetness of the banana made this moist bread absolutely amazing. My boyfriend and I ate the entire loaf in 2 days. Thanks for the great recipes!!
Laura
July 11, 2012 at 12:06 pmSusan, this was absolutely delicious!
I used to make a banana bread with white flour and vegan margarine, but I’m following a whole-food plant-based diet and I was trying to find a healthier recipe, this ones was just perfect.
The only two change I made to your recipe was to used 100% whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour, and instead of agave nectar I used 1/2 cup of brow sugar + 2 tsp of maple syrup.
My husband love it, we ate the hole thing in 3 days!!!
Definitely I’m gonna try your other recipes. Thank you =)
Azahara
August 19, 2012 at 3:27 amI’ve already made this recipe several times following your instructions, but it just dawned on me that while most often the wet ingredients are added to the dry mixture, this time is the other way around. Why is this so? Just curious.
Susan Voisin
August 19, 2012 at 8:46 amIt’s just a matter of practicality. It’s easier to mash the bananas in a large bowl and to add the other ingredients to that big bowl.
Azahara
August 19, 2012 at 10:07 amThanks, Susan. I’ll keep doing it that way, then.
Raj
August 21, 2012 at 6:53 pmCan I use almond milk instead of soy milk?
Susan Voisin
August 21, 2012 at 8:06 pmYes, almond milk will be fine.
Yvonne
September 1, 2012 at 12:03 pmI am wanting to make this but I am gluten free, what other flour do you suggest for me to use?
Susan Voisin
September 1, 2012 at 12:11 pmI haven’t made it gluten-free but other people have. Look at Moonwatcher’s comment, one of the very first ones, for some ideas. Usually it’s best to use a blend of gluten-free flours because they all have different properties.
Yvonne
September 1, 2012 at 12:14 pmI forgot to add..I am on the ETL program. What do you suggest in place of the wheat flour and agave?
Susan Voisin
September 1, 2012 at 12:37 pmYou can try date syrup instead of the agave. It’s Fuhrman approved, but it does have a stronger flavor than agave, so I don’t know how it will taste. Any kind of flour is not really right for Eat to Live, so I don’t know what to say about that.
Gina Moor
October 6, 2012 at 4:46 amHi Susan, Thank you so much for this recipe, it turned out perfectly I used a chunky cut applesauce in place of the milk which resulted in lovely bits of apple in the bread as well !!! My Husbands loves it too, I gave him a slice and he begged for more!! I was wondering if it would be ok to freeze it? I Love this website, I have just been diagnosed with Heart Disease and have decided to stop eating all animal products, so your recipes are perfect for me. Thank you once again. Gina.
Susan Voisin
October 6, 2012 at 7:06 amI think it should freeze just fine. I’m so glad you both liked it!
Outfit 31
October 12, 2012 at 9:10 pmSoooo delicious I’ve made it three times in the last 24 hours!!! Really good with chocolate chips standing in for the berries too!
Alexis @ Hummusapien
October 23, 2012 at 9:40 pmI made this tonight and it was fabulous! I halved the agave and replaced it with more applesauce. YUM!
Brittany Slaughter
November 1, 2012 at 3:31 pmHello,
This recipe looks great, I’m curious can I use a muffin pan, to make servings? Would it still turn out good?
Thanks,
Brittany : )
Susan Voisin
November 1, 2012 at 4:14 pmYes but you won’t need to cook it as long. Start with 15 minutes and add five minutes at a time until they’re done.