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Vegan Protein Banana Bread

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By: Author Samantha Rowland

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Vegan protein banana bread will quickly become your favorite afternoon snack or on the go breakfast!

This healthy banana bread with protein is so easy to make, all you need is a large bowl and a spoon and the ingredients are easy to find! Moist, tender and filling, this is also vegan, gluten free, dairy free and egg free!

Vegan banana bread sliced with bananas in background.

Why you will love this recipe

  • Banana bread is comfort food to me, especially if you take a moment to warm it up in the toaster oven or microwave before eating it!
  • Made with ground flax, oat flour (which you can make yourself) and protein powder, this high protein banana bread is healthier than your traditional recipe!
  • It’s packed with fiber and protein, which can help you feel full and satisfied.
  • You can easily prep a loaf or two of this vegan protein banana bread on the weekend so you have a simple breakfast or afternoon snack you can feel good about! The added bonus, your house will smell amazing!
  • Made with easy to find ingredients, it’s also gluten free, dairy free, and made without eggs. You could use sunbutter or tahini in place of the almond butter to make it nut free, and perfect to send with the kids to school!
Ingredients to make vegan protein bananan bread.
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Ingredients

  • Ripe bananas
  • Ground flax
  • Dairy free milk
  • Maple syrup
  • Oat flour
  • Vegan protein powder
  • Almond butter
  • Cinnamon
  • Baking powder

Step by step instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375F.

Step 2: In a large bowl, mash the bananas.

Step 3: Add the ground flax, dairy free milk and maple syrup to the bananas and mix well to fully incorporate.

Step 4: To the wet ingredients, add the oat flour, protein powder, ground cinnamon and baking powder, stirring well. The batter will be thick.

Step 5: Add the almond butter to the batter and mix in well to fully incorporate.

Step 6: Place a sheet of parchment paper in a metal bread pan and lightly spray with non-stick (I used olive oil). Add the batter to the bread pan and make sure to smooth out the top before baking.

Step 7: Bake at 375F for 40 minutes. Take out of oven and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing the bread from the metal tin. 30 minutes is best if you can wait!

Step 8: Slice the bread using a serrated knife. Store in the fridge or in the freezer.

Steps to make vegan protein banana bread.

What you need to make this recipe

Top tips

  • Be sure to use a protein powder you enjoy the taste of when baking. Not all protein powders are made the same. This recipe calls specifically for a vegan protein powder, as whey protein will likely dry this recipe out and make it inedible. I recommend using Nuzest, it’s great quality and tastes amazing!
  • Use spotty bananas! Much of this recipes sweetness comes from the bananas being very ripe. You are looking for bananas that have lots of brown spots and are much softer to the touch.
  • Be sure your baking powder is fresh! The best way to ensure that your banana bread with protein powder does not rise in the oven only to sink down into a sad loaf is to use fresh baking powder. It’s recommended that you get a new batch every 3 months (6 months at the latest).

Mix-ins you could add

  • Chocolate chips or chunks
  • Chopped peanut butter or almond butter cups
  • Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts)
  • Ground espresso (1-2 teaspoons)
  • Dried fruit: cranberries, raisins
  • Chopped dried dates
  • Cacao nibs
  • Hemp Hearts

How to serve

This banana bread is perfect right out of the fridge, which is how I eat it 90% of the time. Sometimes though, I take an extra minute and toast the bread in the toaster oven (or you could microwave it for 15-20 seconds), to warm up the bread before adding a slather of almond butter on top.

Additional toppings

You could also top this protein banana bread with:

2 slices of banana bread, one has almond butter on top.
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FAQs

What makes this healthy banana bread

  • Naturally sweetened: Many banana bread recipes call for up to 1 cup or more of sugar. This recipe is naturally sweetened with just ¼ cup of maple syrup.
  • Full of fiber: This recipe is packed with fiber (which many adults are lacking in their diets). The fiber in this recipe comes from the ground flax seeds and the oat flour! You will notice that this banana bread does not make you go into a sugar high, as the fiber helps to even out your blood sugar.
  • Protein: the real star of this recipe! This recipe uses protein powder in place of much of the flour. Many people (especially women) have a tough time getting in enough protein, especially if they are physically active! Protein is essential to helping you feel full and satisfied, to help repair your muscles after exercise and help maintain your muscle mass (which is essentially your metabolism).
  • Healthy fats: Many traditional recipes call for butter or canola oil. Instead of oil or butter, this recipe uses almond butter to help keep it moist but also to add some healthy fats! You could also use tahini, sunflower seed butter or cashew butter!

What is oat flour

Oat flour is a flour made from rolled oats. You can buy oat flour in most specialty grocery stores now but you can make oat flour yourself in less than 1 minute at home for much less than you can buy It for!

How to make oat flour

Step 1: Add rolled oats to your high speed blender or food processor and blend it on high until it resembles a fine powder.

This takes 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on how much you are blending and how powerful your machine is. I like to store extra oat flour in a glass jar with a well fitting lid.

Vegan protein banana bread in a loaf tin, sliced.

What if you don’t have ripe bananas

You can still make this recipe! Much of the sweetness from the bread comes from the bananas being extra ripe, so you may need and extra tablespoon of maple syrup to account for that.

If you find that your bananas are hard to mash a good trick is to warm them up first. You can do this in the microwave (about 20-25 seconds) or on the stove in a sauce pan with a lid (medium low heat, 4-5 minutes). Heating the bananas helps make them easier to mash.

You may also want to use a potato masher or even put them in the blender for 10-15 seconds to make them as soft as possible.

Can you make muffins or smaller loaves

Yes! The cooking time will change if you decide to make these into muffins or cook them in smaller loaf tins.

  • To make protein banana bread muffins, you will  want to be sure to put silicone liners or parchment paper liners in the muffin tin before adding the batter.  Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing.
  • To make 2 smaller loaves, you will want to follow the directions of this post (add parchment paper to your loaf tin for easy removal, spray it with non-stick spray). Bake in a 350F oven for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing.

Storage

This vegan protein banana bread is best stored in the fridge or freezer. I would not recommend it being out on the counter more than 1 day.

  • Fridge: Store in the refrigerator in a well-sealed container for up to 5 days.
  • Freezer: Store the in the freezer up to 2 months.
    • To freeze the entire loaf:  you will want to allow the loaf to cool completely. Wrap it in plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil. Once covered in foil, place in a freezer safe bag.

      This helps reduce the freezer burn. To defrost the bread, remove it from the foil and plastic and allow it to defrost in the fridge overnight in a new container. You may want to slice the bread first and place sheets of wax paper or parchment paper between the slices to make it easier to grab just a few slices at a time.
    • To freeze a single serving: Allow the bread to cool completely. Wrap a single slice of banana bread in wax paper, parchment paper or plastic wrap. Store this in a freezer safe bag until you are ready to serve. Allow to defrost on the counter for 30-60 minutes, reheat in the toaster oven or microwave.
Protein banana bread cut into slices on a white serving platter.

Substitutions

  • Bananas: Bananas really give this bread the flavor and sweetness, but if you don’t have enough bananas on hand or want to try something different, you could also use canned pumpkin, mashed sweet potatoes, or even applesauce.
  • Ground flax: You can make your own ground flax by grinding up flaxseeds in a high speed blender or a coffee grinder. If you do not have flax on hand, you could also use an equal amount of chia seeds or 2 eggs (not vegan).
  • Maple Syrup: The maple syrup adds sweetness as well as moisture to the bread. A good alternative may be brown rice syrup or monk fruit syrup (lower in carbs). You could also use honey in place of the maple syrup although it may cause your banana bread to get a little darker in color as it bakes.
  • Oat flour: Oat flour really absorbs a lot of liquid but also helps keep the structure of this vegan protein banana bread. You can also use an all purpose gluten free flour in it’s place, however the bread may need 5 more minutes in the oven to cook all the way through.
  • Protein powder: This recipe calls for a vegan protein powder. I have not tested this recipe without the protein powder but you could try using another 1 cup of oat flour and 2-3 more tablespoons of maple syrup.
  • Almond butter: The almond butter helps give the bread some healthy fats and ensure it doesn’t dry out during baking. You could also use sunflower seed butter or tahini to keep it nut free or use cashew butter or even peanut butter if you can tolerate nuts.
  • Cinnamon: You could omit or use pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon.

If you love this recipe, you should try

★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
One slice of protein banana bread in front of the loaf.

Vegan Protein Banana Bread

Vegan protein banana bread is the perfect breakfast or afternoon snack. If you love banana bread, you have to try this healthy, gluten free recipe! Easy to make, all you need is one bowl and easy to find ingredients!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Save Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: protein banana bread, vegan protein banana bread
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Servings: 10
Author: Samantha Rowland

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375F
  • In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
  • To the bananas, add the ground flax, dairy free milk, and maple syrup and stir well to combine.
  • Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, protein powder, cinnamon and baking powder) to the wet ingredients.
  • Stir in the almond butter (the batter will be very thick).
  • Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of your loaf tin. Spray with non-stick spray to ensure that the banana bread will easily be removed from tin. Pour batter in and flatten out the top.
  • Bake in 375F oven for 40 minutes.
  • Allow to cool on the counter before slicing about 10-20 minutes. Slice immediately or leave whole. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Notes

To make oat flour at home: Add rolled oats to a high speed blender or food processor and blend on high until the oats resemble a fine powder.
Other Mix- Ins: Chocolate chips, chopped nuts, ground espresso, cacao nibs, hemp hearts
Storage:
  • Fridge: Store in the fridge up to 5 days in a well sealed container.
  • Freezer: Freeze up to 2 months. Freeze whole, sliced, or individual slices. 
    • To freeze whole, wrap the loaf in plastic wrap, cover with foil and then store in a freezer safe bag to avoid freezer burn. If slicing first, place wax paper or parchment paper between slices before freezing. 
    • To freeze individual loaves, wrap in wax paper or parchment paper before storing in freezer safe bag. 
 
 
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Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts
Amount per Serving
Calories
169
Fat
 
5
g
Carbohydrates
 
23
g
Fiber
 
4
g
Sugar
 
7
g
Protein
 
10
g
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.
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