Eggless Banana Bread

Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.

• Banana - I cannot stress enough about using a heavily speckled bananas to make the best tasting eggless banana bread. The starches convert to sugars at an exponential state when bananas ripen and it adds so much more flavor, natural sugars and caramel flavor.
• Yogurt - Use plain yogurt or sour cream.
• Vegetable oil - Like in persimmon bread recipe, use a flavorless oil like vegetable or corn oil, so the banana flavor can shine through. It also keeps it ultra soft and moist, since oil stays liquid at room temperature.
• Brown sugar - The deep molasses notes better compliments the bananas.
• All purpose flour - The protein in all purpose flour allows the flour to to remain firm and hold its structure, while still providing the perfect texture for the bread.
• Leavening - I use both baking powder and baking soda together as in banana chocolate chip muffins. It produces carbon dioxide gas as soon it gets in contact with acidic wet ingredients and then again as it bakes.
• Flavorings - Vanilla extract better suits the faint boozy, rum like flavor from overripe fruits.

Variations

1. Spice - Add up to a teaspoon of ground cinnamon along with vanilla.
2. Chocolate chips - Another option is to add semi sweet chocolate chips and make chocolate chip eggless banana bread. The chocolate banana combo is divine like the almond flour banana muffins.
3. Nuts - Use toasted pecans instead of walnuts.
4. Raisins - Stir in golden raisins along with walnuts.
5. Peanut butter - Mix in peanut butter chips into the batter.
6. Toppings - Sprinkle the top evenly with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon to give a bakery style look.

1. Place peeled super ripe bananas in a bowl and mash well using a wire whisk or a potato masher.

Tip: Use heavily speckled bananas for deep fruity and caramelly flavor.

2 & 3. Add brown sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Using the wire whisk, mix until very smooth.

4. Add all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, gently fold until just combined.

Pro tip: Don't over mix! It’s ok if some traces of dry flour are left behind. The more you mix, you'll end up developing gluten in the batter, and you'll have a denser, almost chewy loaf.

5. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with non stick cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Transfer the prepared batter into the loaf pan and smooth top.

Tip: Bake right away! Once the baking soda starts to react with yogurt, gas bubbles start forming and If you let the batter hang out for too long, then you risk loosing some of the bubbles. So get your batter in the pan and into the oven as quickly as you can. 

6. Sprinkle walnuts on top. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven, for 45 to 55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes clean. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely.

Tip: If using a glass loaf pan, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pro tip: If during baking, the top of the eggless banana bread looks like it is getting too brown, cover it loosely with aluminum foil and continue to bake until done.

How to store?

• At room temp: The texture is best when the eggless banana bread is eaten fresh, but it can be stored, tightly wrapped with plastic wrap for up to three days.
• In the fridge: after a day at room temp I’d recommend storing the bread sealed in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.

Freezing and Thawing

• To freeze the whole bread: Let the eggless banana bread cool completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze the whole thing for up to 3 months.
• To freeze individual slices - Make thick slices after the bread has cooled completely, stack 2 to 4 slices on top of each other, wrap them in two layers of plastic wrap. Place all wrapped slices in one or two zipper bags and freeze for up to 2 months.
• To thaw: Remove one of the pre packaged slices or the whole loaf, and place on the kitchen counter for several hours or overnight.

Helpful tips

• Use over ripe bananas - Ugly over ripe bananas (dark yellow skin with lots of brown spots).
• To use plain yogurt - Try to use very thick plain yogurt.
• Brown sugar - Apart from incredible caramel flavor, brown sugar also makes a soft and moist eggless banana bread.
• Don’t over mix the batter! It’s best baking practice when making any type of quick bread to not over mix. Over mixing the ingredients will cause the gluten to develop and make a tough loaf. You only want to mix until you don’t see any flour streaks.
• When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.