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Looking for an EASY vegan oat flour banana bread? You found it! This delectable loaf is also oil-free, gluten-free & nut-free. It is so good, you’ll want to eat it for breakfast, snacks and even dessert! It is made in one bowl, too, for easy clean-up.
Table of Contents
- Make Banana Bread with 100% Oat Flour
- Recipe Benefits
- Ingredients
- Make Your Own Oat Flour
- Step by Step Instructions
- Step One: Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Pan
- Step Two: Grind the Oats into Oat Flour
- Step Three: Whisk the Dry Ingredients
- Step Four: Stir in the Wet Ingredients
- Step Five: Spread Batter into Prepared Pan
- Step Six: Bake the Bread
- Step Seven: Cool the Bread
- FAQ and Substitutions
- Storage
- Taste & Texture of the Oatmeal Banana Bread
- Substitutions
- Related Recipes
- Vegan Oat Flour Banana Bread (Oil-Free, GF) Recipe
Make Banana Bread with 100% Oat Flour
A quick perusal of my website reveals that I love baking with oats. They are so versatile and can be used in baked breakfasts, cakes, cookies, and breads.
Grinding oats into flour makes for even more delicious options, including this healthy banana bread recipe. It’s perfect for cozy, healthy and frugal gnoshing, anytime!
This bread is especially frugal, too. No large eggs or nondairy milks (such as almond milk, oat milk or cashew milk) are needed. And you can add a smattering of leftover bits and bobs from the pantry (e.g., chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, or raisins) to make it unique with each bake.
Recipe Benefits
This vegan oat flour banana bread recipe is super-delicious, moist & satisfying, as well as:
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Gluten-free
- Oil-free (e.g., no coconut oil, butter, or avocado oil)
- Wheat-free (no all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour)
- Low in added sugar
- Super easy to make
- Made in one bowl
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
The ingredients for the bread are fresh bananas and common common pantry staples. Here is what you will need:
- Mashed VERY RIPE banana (super-squishy, lots of brown spots)
- Rolled oats (certified gluten-free oats, as needed) or Ready-to-Use Oat Flour
- Coconut sugar (see options in the recipe card)
- Flaxseed meal
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon (or swap for your favorite ground spice, such as ginger or cardamom)
- Baking powder
- Salt
Make Your Own Oat Flour
I prefer to make, rather than buy, oat flour because it is fast, easy, and less expensive than buying ready-to-use options.
If you have a blender or food processor, transforming rolled oats into flour will take you 15 seconds to 2 minutes (max), depending on the power of your machine. Simply place the oats in your machine, press process or blend, and grind until the oats are a fine powder.
If you have oat flour on hand, great! Simply skip the steps in my recipe for grinding the oats and see the measurement equivalent in the recipe notes (hint: you will use the same weight as rolled oats, but the volume is less).
Tip: Use Very Ripe Bananas for the Best Banana Bread
It is very important to use very ripe (sweet, squishy bananas for the recipe to work. Fresh, all-yellow bananas are not liquid-y enough, nor sweet enough (those starches are converted to sugar as the bananas become super-ripe).
I like to freeze my overripe bananas for future baking. When defrosting, do no drain the bananas. Measure the defrosted bananas WITH the defrosted liquid.
Also, mash the bananas super-fine. The mashed bananas should be loose and almost liquid. I used my immersion to get rid of any lumps, but a fork works fine for mashing, too.
Step by Step Instructions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Step One: Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Pan
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. If you eat oil, you can opt to lightly spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, or grease, instead.
Step Two: Grind the Oats into Oat Flour
While the oven preheats, grind the oats into a fine flour. You can use a food processor, regular blender, or high speed blender. Process until the oats super-fine.
Step Three: Whisk the Dry Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl or other large bowl, whisk the oat flour, flaxseed meal, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until blended.
Step Four: Stir in the Wet Ingredients
Add the mashed bananas, 1/4 cup (60 mL) water, and the vanilla extract to the bowl. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to stir until completely blended. The batter will be thick.
Step Five: Spread Batter into Prepared Pan
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
Step Six: Bake the Bread
Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 45 to 48 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center of the loaf comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
Step Seven: Cool the Bread
Cool the bread in the loaf pan for 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a cooling rack / wire rack.
Tip: Cool the Bread Completely Before Slicing
Be sure to cool the bread completely before cutting into individual slices. The bread is much easier to slices when it is completely cooled, or, even better, if it is chilled.
The pictures in this post were taken with a room temperature loaf, but I had to wipe off the knife a bit after each slice. Not a big deal, but in subsequent days, I was able to slice the loaf with ease (after it was stored in the refrigerator).
FAQ and Substitutions
Storage
Store the cooled banana bread in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 2 days, the refrigerator for 1 week or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Taste & Texture of the Oatmeal Banana Bread
My husband describes this vegan oat flour banana bread as a “health-food snack,” which I take as a major compliment. Translated, it means that this is a not-too-sweet (perfect level of sweetness, to me), wholesome (yet still tender) loaf. I love the nutty flavor of the oats and the deep flavor of banana in every bite.
- Should I Use Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats or Quick Oats? You can use either since they will be ground into flour. Steel-cut oats are too thick and hard to be ground into flour with most blenders and food processors.
- Can I Toast the Vegan Banana Bread? Yes! Slices of the bread make glorious toast (lots of nooks and crannies in the morning, plain or topped with jam or nut/seed butter. I like a bit of cinnamon in my banana bread, but you can leave it out or vary the spices according to what you love.
- Can I Make This Bread Into Muffins? Yes! Divide the batter equally between 12 standard size muffin cups that are lined with silicone liners (or paper liners, or lightly sprayed or greased to prevent sticking). Bake at the same temperature for about 20 to 23 minutes.
- Does this Bread Have a Significant Bread Rise? No. It forms a lovely low domed top, but it does not have the major rise of a traditional wheat flour banana bread.
Substitutions
- Can I Use Something Other Than Oat Flour? I have only tested this with oat flour, so I advise sticking with oat flour. I have a wealth of other banana bread recipes here on powerhungry® if you are looking for a specific flour (see the recommendations below, or use the search function to look up more options).
- What Can I Use in Place of Flaxseed Meal? I have only tested the recipe with flaxseed meal, but you should be able to use a scant half cup (80 grams) of chia seeds, ground into meal.
- Is there a Substitute for the Coconut Sugar? Yes! You can use an equal amount of brown sugar or other granulated cane sugar. You can also use an equal amount of maple syrup, date syrup, agave nectar or (if you do not follow a vegan diet) honey.
Happy Baking!
Related Recipes
Vegan Oat Flour Banana Bread (Oil-Free, GF)
Equipment
- 1 9×5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats, (see note for using pre-made oat flour)
- 3/4 cup flaxseed meal, (see notes for options)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, certified GF, as needed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups mashed VERY RIPE bananas
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar, (see notes for options)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. If you eat oil, you can opt to lightly spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, or grease, instead.
- While the oven preheats, grind the oats into a very fine flour (use a food processor or blender).
- In.a large bowl, whisk the oat flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until blended.
- Add the mashed banana, coconut sugar, water and vanilla, stirring until completely blended and smooth.
- Spread batter evenly in prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.
Hello. I just made this recipe. The mixture, before baking, was very dense and the bread only rose a tiny bit. Can adding a little more water or almond milk improve the result?
Hi Shereen,
So sorry the bread did not come out as expected. Were you bananas super ripe? They are the primary liquid here so they need to be very mushy and very well mashed. Might that be an issue
Thank you for getting back to me. The banana were ripe and very well mashed.
I used metric measurements. The oats came to 250 grams. After baking I converted cups to grams on another site and it said 1 cup is 90 grams. So 2.5 cups would come to 225 grams That could have made a slight difference.
Hi Shereen,
That oats do not sound like an issue (also, FYI, I have metric measurements in the recipe: of you look at the bottom of the ingredients in the recipe card, there is a toggle for either US Customary or Metric measurements :)) It might be that this just isn;t what you expected. It is not a high-rising loaf–if you look at the photos of the baked loaf inside the tin, it does not come up to the top. Also, oat flour produces a tighter, more dense crumb, far more so that wheat flour or gluten-free flour blends.
Hi Camilla，could I bake it in a dough without using the baking pan？ Is it possible to replace the same amount of flaxseed with the oat flour and omit the sugar ? Thank you.
Hi Janice,
Yes, I think you can bake it free-form, on a baking sheet. I don’t think you can make a “loaf,” though, it will have to be flatter since this is a relatively loose dough. Without the sides of a pan to hold it up, it will not stay very high. More like banana focaccia? Sounds good to me.
Yes, you could leave out the sugar, perhaps add a tablespoon or two more liquid (e.g., mashed banana, water, nondairy milk) to make up for the loss of moisture from the sugar (it adds moisture and volume as well as sweetness).
I’m not sure about replacing all of the flax meal with more oat flour. It would have to be an experiment. Cheers!
I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a very gluey gummy bread. Any ideas why?
Hi Lorrie,
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that. The bread is dense, but should definitely not be gluey or gummy. One possibility: using bananas that are not SUPER ripe, very soft and squishy bananas. Could this be the case? Bananas have high levels of starch before they ripen (unripe bananas are around 25:1 starch to sugar, ripe bananas are around 1:20). If the not super ripe, the extra starch in the bananas will create a gummy texture.
Can you replace the flaxseed with Chia seeds?
Hi Jojo! Yes, ground chia seeds (same weight as flaxseed meal) should work great!
I really enjoyed this healthy banana bread! I followed the recipe except I used soy milk instead of water for a little extra protein, and added a dash of ground nutmeg and cloves. I also used powdered stevia instead of coconut sugar. I found it plenty sweet. I might try adding a little extra banana and leaving out the sugar as you mentioned in another comment next time.
Wonderful, Meranda! So glad it was a success 😊
Is the flaxseed meal the substitute for eggs? I am just dairy free and I don’t have flaxseed meal. Can I use eggs instead and how many?
Hi Jodie,
The flax acts as an egg replacer (for structure) but also moisture (a replacement for oil in the recipe, since flax is high in natural oils). Rather than omitting the flaxseed meal, I would add an egg in place of the 1/4 cup water. It will add extra lift to the bread 🙂
Hi Camilla, 2 cups of banana is how many in grams? Could I omit the sugar or use half of it? Thank you.
Hi Janice,
It is about 600 grams. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, it would be an experiment (I have not tried it). Cheers.
Hi, this is baking in my oven right now, can’t wait to try it! Thank you for this recipe!
Do you think I could substitute oat milk for the water?
Hi Aarti,
Yes, absolutely!
Hello, can I make this as muffins in a muffin pan instead ?
Hi Natalie–absolutely! I would fill all 12 cups of a standard-size muffin tin (line with liners or spray with nonstick spray, or grease the cups). Bake at 375 for about 13 to 17 minutes (check at the earliest time) 🙂
if I am using store bought oat flour…how many cups of ready made oat flour do I use?
Hi s,
Apologies, I thought I hd included that in the notes–added now! It is the same weight (250 g), which is 2 cups plus about 1 tablespoon.
Great recipe. Simple to make, super tasty and moist (without any oil).
Wonderful! So glad you like the recipe, Marc!
Hi! What is the purpose of the salt? Is it important to the structure of the bread? I limit sodium in my diet and would like to delete or decrease that. Thanks! Susie
Hi Susie, You can 100% leave it out without affecting the structure of the bread. It is in the bread to bring to enhance flavor, but it is entirely optional (hmm, I will add a note about that, thank you!)!
Could I use black-strap molasses instead of sugar?
Hi JJ,
I think that would work fine as a sub for the coconut sugar in this particular recipe 😊
So yummy, snd came out perfect in the first try! I’ll make these again (soon!!! 😉)
Great, Kailee! 🌻☺️
@Camilla, thank you! I’ll let you know how it goes. I have to acquire some really ripe bananas now
@Camilla, I made this today with the molasses and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Great,, JJ! I am going to have to try that, I love molasses.
How much Molasses did you use in substituting for this sugar?
Hi DP! I suggest using an equal amount of molasses (not blackstrap— that would be too bitter). You may want to reduce the added water to 3 tablespoons.
Do you think it would be okay to completely omit the sugar? I am baking for someone who is oil/sugar/gluten/dairy free due to illness. Sometimes we substitute honey but he’d prefer if it can be done without any added sweetness.
Hi DD,
Yes, that should work fine for this recipe. I would suggest adding 3 more tablespoons of mashed banana to make up the volume from the commission of sugar.
Can this be made without flaxseed meal?
Hi Heena! I think you could still make this successfully by adding more oat flour (about 2/3 cup, 78 g) 🙂