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Naturally sweet and delicately earthy vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread; made with 6 simple ingredients, this easy one bowl recipe takes less than 10 minutes to prep. It’s beautifully moist and light, with a glorious colour!
This easy homemade vegan pumpkin banana bread is tender and moist, with the delicious sweet and earthy flavour of pumpkin (and a beautiful colour to match).
Using just six ingredients and one bowl, we’ve kept this recipe simple. This vegan pumpkin banana bread takes less than ten minutes to prep and bakes slow and low to create a moist finish with a light and fluffy texture (no dense or gummy banana bread here)!
Follow our Success Tips to create a pumpkin banana bread with the perfect texture and a great rise, and learn how to avoid the common pitfalls that can result in a banana bread that is crumbly or flat.
This recipe is easy to customise; we show you in the Variations section how to make this pumpkin banana bread gluten free, how to create a silky vegan cream cheese frosting to accompany it. We also show you how to incorporate your favourite add-ins such as chocolate chips or pecan pumpkin spice flavours. This vegan banana pumpkin bread makes a delicious breakfast and snack that will be enjoyed by the whole family.
Quick links:
- The written recipe
- Why you’ll love this recipe
- Success tips
- Step-by-step instructions with photos
- Variations
- FAQs
- Other autumnal recipes like this one
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What is banana bread and where does it originate?
Banana bread is believed to have originated in the United States during the Great Depression and has since evolved to be a beloved classic, enjoyed worldwide.
Banana bread is a moist, sweet and cake-like loaf that uses overripe bananas, thus avoiding food waste. It can be enjoyed for breakfast, as a snack or dessert.
Pumpkin puree is often used interchangeably with mashed bananas in baking, due to its similar texture, which is what makes it such a wonderful addition to this Pumpkin Banana Bread vegan recipe. The flavour of pumpkin is delicate, with a hint of earthiness and less sweetness than banana, giving this loaf a wonderful Autumnal feel that’s perfect in pumpkin season.
Why you’ll love this Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread
6 Simple Ingredients. You can whip up this delicious treat with just 6 ingredients – pumpkin puree, bananas, brown sugar, coconut oil, dairy free milk and self raising flour.
10 Minutes to Prep. To be honest… probably not even that long! Mash the bananas, stir in the other ingredients, pour it into the baking tin and then bake. It’s that straightforward!
It’s Beautifully Moist. This Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread is tender, light and fluffy. Coconut oil is wonderful to bake with and produces beautifully moist cakes that are hard to resist.
One-Bowl Recipe. You need one large mixing bowl, a spoon, a fork and a baking tin to make this recipe. You can even use the fork to mix the cake batter instead of using a spoon if you like! This recipe is simple and quick to make.
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Success Tips
Use ripe spotty bananas
Use overripe bananas where the skin is speckled with brown dots for the best flavour. Ripe bananas are sweeter, easier to mash and they will also produce a more flavoursome banana bread. If your bananas are yellow rather than spotty, you can still use them but we don’t recommend using green bananas.
Use room temperature ingredients
Make sure your dairy-free milk and coconut oil are at room temperature. Adding cold milk to liquid coconut oil can cause the coconut oil to solidify, which means it won’t mix properly.
Don’t over-mix the batter
This is one of the most important tips! Don’t over-mix or beat the banana bread batter as this can result in a flat cake with a dense texture. Once all of the ingredients are in the mixing bowl, stir just enough to combine the ingredients so that no pockets of dry flour are visible within the mixture.
Want to know how thick your banana bread batter should be? Take a look at this blog here for tips.
Once baked, test the cake in several spots
This vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread takes around 55-60 minutes to cook. Once the banana bread has been baking for 55 minutes, test it by inserting a skewer or small sharp knife into the cake (all the way to the bottom) in several places. If the skewer/knife comes out clean (or with just a few dry crumbs on it), the cake should be cooked. If you see wet batter then give it another 5 minutes of baking time before testing again.
Variations
Chocolate and nuts are popular additions to banana bread. If you’d like to get creative with your vegan pumpkin bread, stir 75g of your chosen addition into the banana bread batter before adding the batter to the baking tin (chocolate chips and pecans work particularly well).
Head to the Variations section below for some more ideas and for details of how to make this loaf gluten free.
Serving and Storage
Banana bread is at its most scrumptious freshly baked, but it is still great for a few days after baking. Store it in a cool place in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can also freeze it by slicing it, wrapping the individual slices in parchment and storing them in a sealed sandwich bag or airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to make this Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread
Here’s how to make this pumpkin banana bread vegan recipe:
Ingredients
Bananas. Pick ripe bananas, ideally those with brown spots on the skin.
Pumpkin purée. We used canned 100% pumpkin puree (no spices added) that we picked up at our local shop, for that sweet and earthy pumpkin flavor. You can make homemade pumpkin puree by cutting a pumpkin into cubes and steaming it for 10-15 minutes until soft. Then blend it until smooth. You can substitute the pumpkin puree for butternut squash puree.
Soft light brown sugar. You can substitute soft light brown sugar for dark brown sugar or coconut sugar if you prefer. White sugar will also work (caster or granulated), however, you won’t get the same rich caramel flavour in the banana bread.
Coconut oil. Coconut oil helps to create a beautifully moist pumpkin bread. You’ll need the coconut oil to be in its melted form (clear liquid). Once melted, let it cool to room temperature. We don’t recommend using olive oil for this recipe due to the flavour it imparts.
Dairy free milk. We usually use unsweetened almond milk in our baking. You can also use soya milk, depending on your dietary requirements.
Self raising flour. If you have only got plain flour (all purpose flour) on hand, then you can use 275g plain flour (all purpose) plus 2.75 tsp baking powder.
Equipment
You will need one large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a fork and a 2lb loaf baking tin (approx 23cm long x 11cm wide x 7cm high / 8” x 4” x 3”).
Steps
Make sure to head to the recipe card below for the full recipe and instructions for making this banana pumpkin bread vegan recipe!
1. Gather together your ingredients.
2. Mash the bananas with the back of a fork (or a potato masher) in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (except the flour) to the bowl.
3. Stir the mixture together.
Tip: If your brown sugar has lumps in it, rub these out between your fingers before adding the sugar to the bowl.
4. Add the flour and stir gently until just combined.
Tip: It’s important not to overmix or beat the mixture here because this can result in dense banana bread. Stir it together gently until just combined, with no pockets of dry flour remaining.
5. Transfer the mixture to a prepared loaf pan and bake, in a preheated oven, for 55-60 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
6. Let the banana bread cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before removing it and placing it on a cooling rack.
Variations
There are many variations or additions you can make to this easy vegan pumpkin banana bread recipe if you’d like to! Why not try some of these?
Gluten Free Pumpkin Banana Bread
We have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, so please head to our Fully Loaded Vegan Banana Bread recipe for a tested gluten free recipe.
However, based on our prior experience, we believe replacing 275g self raising flour with 250g of gluten free self raising flour in this recipe may work to create a gluten free pumpkin banana bread loaf. We cannot guarantee results.
We’ll update this blog to let you know as soon as we’ve tried it, and please let us know if you try it in the meantime.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Add 75g of vegan chocolate chips to the banana bread batter to create a pumpkin chocolate chip banana bread.
Pumpkin Banana Bread with Cream Cheese
Top this vegan pumpkin banana bread with cream cheese frosting for a delicious dessert or afternoon tea sweet treat.
To make a vegan cream cheese frosting:
- Add 75g vegan block butter (at room temperature) to a medium bowl and beat it with an electric whisk for a minute or so until it is light and fluffy.
- Add 150g vegan cream cheese to the bowl with the butter and beat again.
- Add 250g icing sugar (powdered sugar) to the bowl with the butter-cream cheese mixture and beat for 2 minutes until thick and creamy. Add more icing sugar if you like your frosting to be firmer.
Pecan Pumpkin Pie Spice Banana Bread
For even more autumnal flavour, add 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp dried ground ginger to the mixing bowl at the same time as the flour, along with 50g of roughly chopped pecans. Once baked and cooled, top your pumpkin spice banana bread with cream cheese frosting and crumbled pecans or pumpkin seeds.
FAQs
Can I make this pumpkin banana bread gluten free?
We have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so please head to our Fully Loaded Vegan Banana Bread recipe for a tested gluten free recipe.
However, based on our prior experience, we believe replacing 275g self-raising flour with 250g of gluten-free self-raising flour in this recipe may work to create a gluten free pumpkin banana bread. We cannot guarantee results.
We’ll update this blog to let you know as soon as we’ve tried it, and please let us know if you try it in the meantime.
What size loaf pan should I use?
We recommend using a 2lb loaf tin (approx 23cm long x 11cm wide x 7cm high / 8” x 4” x 3”) for this recipe.
How to prevent my banana bread from being dense or gummy?
The cause of a dense or gummy banana bread is generally over-mixing or beating the batter before it is baked. We’ve developed the recipe for this pumpkin banana bread to yield a cake that is light and moist so just be sure not to over mix the cake batter. Mix the wet ingredients together and then gently stir in the flour until just combined (don’t beat).
Another cause of dense or gummy banana bread is underbaking. To make sure your banana bread is properly baked, follow the steps in the next FAQ.
How can I tell if the banana bread is baked?
Insert a skewer into the centre of the loaf in a few places and if it comes out clean (or with a few dry crumbs), your banana bread should be ready. However, if you see some wet batter on the skewer, bake for 5 more minutes before testing again.
Do you have any other banana bread recipes for us to try?
Yes, we love a banana bread! Try some of these vegan banana bread recipes:
- 5 Ingredient Banana Bread – a traditional banana bread that is kept super simple but with delicious results (great for making with kids).
- Peanut Butter Banana Bread – for those nut butter lovers!
- Fully Loaded Banana Bread – a gluten free option that is packed full of yummy extras like pecans and chocolate.
Loved this vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread? Here are some more delicious autumnal recipes to try:
I hope you LOVE this recipe for vegan pumpkin banana bread! Please share this recipe with someone you think will love it because it’s our goal to encourage as many people as possible to try plant based eating.
Also, don’t forget to tag @aveganvisit on social media when you make this recipe. I absolutely love seeing your re-creations! Enjoy 🙂 x
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The Written Recipe:
Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread (Easy 1 Bowl Recipe!)
Ingredients
- 200 g ripe bananas (approximately 2 medium bananas)
- 200 g pumpkin puree (substitute: squash puree)
- 180 g soft light brown sugar
- 110 g coconut oil (melted and cooled to room temperature*)
- 75 g dairy free milk (at room temperature**)
- 275 g self raising flour
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C fan oven (190°C conventional / 375°F / gas mark 5).
- Line a 2lb loaf tin (approx 23cm long x 11cm wide x 7cm high / 8” x 4” x 3”) with parchment paper.
- Add the brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and use your fingers to rub out any lumps in the sugar.180 g soft light brown sugar
- Peel the bananas and add them to the bowl. Mash them thoroughly using the back of a fork.200 g ripe bananas
- Add the pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil and milk to the bowl and mix everything together using a wooden spoon (or the fork that you used to mash the bananas).200 g pumpkin puree, 110 g coconut oil, 75 g dairy free milk
- Add the flour and stir together gently until just combined.Tip: It’s important not to over-mix or beat the mixture here because this can result in dense banana bread. Stir it together gently until just combined, with no pockets of dry flour remaining.275 g self raising flour
- Pour the banana bread mixture into the lined loaf tin and bake for approximately 55-60 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.Note: If you see wet batter on the skewer then give the cake another 5 minutes in the oven before testing again.
- Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool fully.
Notes
Nutrition
Tara
Hi, I’m Tara! I’m taking you on a trip around the world in vegan cuisine and bringing the world’s most delicious dishes to your kitchen.
