By Genevieve Ko
Updated March 19, 2024
- Total Time
- 1¼ hours, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 4(86)
- Notes
- Read community notes
If you’ve never tried to bake anything before, this is a great place to start. (You don’t even need a cake pan!) And if you’re an expert in the kitchen, you’ll be delighted with this quick bread that’s as tender as cake. Overripe bananas not only deliver their deep sweetness, but also bind together the batter made from pantry ingredients. With neither dairy nor eggs, this treat tastes like the purest form of banana bread and also ends up being vegan. You can skip the crunchy topping or swap in your favorite nuts, or black or white sesame seeds. You also can stir a cup of mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate into the batter before baking to take this from breakfast treat to dessert.
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9- or 10-inch cake (8 to 12 servings)
- Canola or vegetable oil, for greasing the pan
- 1½cups/194 grams all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- ½teaspoon fine salt
- 1½cups/276 grams mashed very ripe bananas (from 3 to 4)
- ½cup/100 grams sugar
- ½cup/100 grams canola or vegetable oil
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1cup chopped pecans or roasted salted peanuts (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
319 calories; 19 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 195 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
See AlsoThe Easiest (and Cutest) Poached Egg Recipe17 Amazing Health Benefits of Jowar Flour + Healthy Jowar RecipesMalai Paneer Recipe, How to make Malai Paneer Recipe | Paneer Recipes - Flavors of Mumbai21 Parsnip Recipes That Will Make You Fall for This Underappreciated Root Vegetable1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Rub oil inside a 9- or 10-inch ovenproof skillet.
Step
2
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Step
3
Whisk the bananas and sugar in a large bowl until the bananas have completely broken down. Whisk in the oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture and switch to a flexible spatula to stir until smooth.
Step
4
Scrape and spread the batter into the skillet. Sprinkle the top with nuts, if you’d like.
Step
5
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool completely in the skillet on a rack. The banana bread will keep, wrapped well, for up to 3 days at room temperature and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Ratings
4
out of 5
86
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Alexandra Duane
What is the reason for using a skillet rather than using a round cake pan or pie plate? The skillet isn't heated over a burner, so what is the point? Is it only to make this accessible to people who don't have any baking equipment?
Soph
This is a delicious recipe and you wouldn't even know it's vegan. Makes a really nice, soft banana bread with a small crumb. Don't skip the salted nuts on top as they really elevate it. Highly recommend!
Lurlene
Fibrous fruits and veg (banana, pumpkin, apple, etc) add structure, so they are often found in the simplest recipes (like this one) for vegan baked goods, and those recipes are a good place to start. Getting to the next tier of successful vegan baking is where one finds minefields regarding recipes, especially those online. There isn't a one-size-fits-all egg replacer, for instance. Professional non-vegan bakers who made the switch to vegan, such as Gretchen's Vegan Bakery, are reliable.
Fran
Quantity error in my earlier submission. I intended to substitute equal ground chia/flour. Here is the corrected version: " Nice simple recipe for those who don't have special ingredients on hand! If you do happen to have ground chia around, substituting 2T of ground chia for 2T of the flour adds some height and also a subtle nutty flavor."
Fran
Nice simple recipe for those who don't have special ingredients on hand! If you do happen to have ground chia around, substituting 1T of ground chia for 2T of the flour adds some height and also a subtle nutty flavor.
Cynthia
Really good, and easy to make! I used date sugar for the sugar (1:1 sub) and reduced the flour by 25% (to 146g) as recommended on the package of date sugar. I also used a 50-50 mix of AP and whole wheat flour. I added mini-chocolate chips. It came out delicious! Next time I'll swap half the oil for applesauce.
mambo no.5
Easy enough to make in a dorm kitchen. I remolded a crumpled disposable aluminum cake pan and that worked fine. Very good. Very moist. I put some chocolate in it and wooaahhh.
Attitudegrrrl
Good thing there are no chia seeds in this recipe :)
RosebudTo
Used a 9” cast iron pan, cooked for 40 minutes, topped with the pecans—perfect!
JT
Not a fan. Too much oil.
Leah
I toasted Trader Joe's blister peanuts in my iron skillet before pouring in batter so it saved dirtying an extra pan. The chopped, salty, browned nuts contrast wonderfully with the sweet banana flavor. At 37 minutes, I began to smell the bananas cooking, so took it out. Was afraid that it would be overcooked but it still was nice and moist.
rhbphoto
I'm going to have to make it again. Mine came out more like a banana cake brownie, quite moist and rather flat. Perhaps the addition of chocolate chips had something to do with it.
Jennie Moreau
What a treat! Decreased sugar to ⅓ cup, substituted 2 T wheat germ for some the flour and topped it all with a generous sprinkling of a recently made batch of Eleven Madison Park granola!
Roxanne
Excellent! I have just finished about a third of the recipe. So light and flavorful and chopped pecans on top should not be optional. Next time I may add ground chia, flax seed, or hemp seeds for more protein. Thanks NYT for postin this recipe on March 20, 2024!
Kitchen Witch
Made this with canned pumpkin. Beautiful delicate crumb, not too sweet. Added cloves and cinnamon. So easy.
LM
This was very dry.
Roxanne
Not mine. I used almond oil and probably 3.5 ripe bananas.
D Halaburka
I used a 10” cast iron skillet, oven at 350; did a check after baking 30 minutes and was surprised it was totally done, beautifully golden brown. Another 5 minutes and it would have been overcooked. I added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (it’s what I had) to the batter and put more on top.Otherwise I followed the recipe as written. It was delicious, moist, nice banana flavor.
Alexandra Duane
What is the reason for using a skillet rather than using a round cake pan or pie plate? The skillet isn't heated over a burner, so what is the point? Is it only to make this accessible to people who don't have any baking equipment?
Sharon
Could be the shape of the pan, which has sloping sides (not vertical as would be the case with a cake pan). Maybe makes it easier to remove after slicing.
mambo no.5
Easy enough to make in a dorm kitchen. I remolded a crumpled disposable aluminum cake pan and that worked fine. Very good. Very moist. I put some chocolate in it and wooaahhh.
Voter Frog
I doubled the recipe and baked it in my Bread maker on cake setting, medium crust. Excellent. When completely cold, will slice and freeze induvial slices for breakfasts . Defrost and heat up in Air fryer @ 300F. I'm weird I like to use Muscovado sugar when I bake, I just love the taste.
BJ
Some people, including myself, are dangerously allergic to chia seeds!
Attitudegrrrl
Good thing there are no chia seeds in this recipe :)
Cynthia
Really good, and easy to make! I used date sugar for the sugar (1:1 sub) and reduced the flour by 25% (to 146g) as recommended on the package of date sugar. I also used a 50-50 mix of AP and whole wheat flour. I added mini-chocolate chips. It came out delicious! Next time I'll swap half the oil for applesauce.
Dorothy Raviele
I didn't have any peanuts on hand but got inspired by the comment asking if there might be a substitute for the oil, so I skipped the oil and added a couple of big blobs of peanut butter into the mix. Threw in a few chocolate chips for good measure and baked it up in my cast iron skillet. Really quite delicious! Got the peanut/banana flavor mix and added in a bit of protein.
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