Today I have for you a healthy and delicious, vegan carrot banana bread recipe!
It’s moist with a nice texture, flavor, and density. The batter can also handle the addition of walnuts and other dried fruits, but for the sake of my daughter I’ve left those out.
Recipe is adapted from my Vegan Banana Bread which has been a wonderful recipe to work with! I have plenty of notes in this recipe so you can vary it up and change it around when the mood strikes.
Usually, I eat bread like this plain, but this would be nice with a smidge of Cashew Sweet Cream.
I hope you’ll love this carrot banana bread as much as I do. It’s a keeper and a great way to add in extra vegetables!
How To Make Vegan Carrot Banana Bread
Ingredients you’ll need:
- 2 cups (280 g) spelt flour
- 1/3 cup (75 g) organic pure cane or coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- generous pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (113 ml) vanilla or unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup (56 ml) light flavored olive oil or warmed coconut oil (see notes)
- 3 medium bananas
- 3 carrots
- 3/4 cup (86 g) chopped walnuts
Optional Toppings
- sprinkle of raw sugar
- 1/4 cup (29 g) chopped walnuts
Variations and Suggestions
- The riper the bananas, the less sugar you’ll need.
- Replace the oil with unsweetened applesauce for oil-free bread. Bread may be a little denser.
- Make gluten-free by using a GF flour blend.
- Fold in 1/3 – 1/2 cup dried fruit of choice. Raisins, currants, cranberries or chopped apricots or dates would work nicely.
- Recipe calls for cinnamon, but the addition of nutmeg will add another layer of flavor.
Grate your carrots, mash your bananas…
Add the dry ingredients to a medium sized mixing bowl.
To the dry ingredients, add oil, milk and bananas, mix well but don’t over mix. Lastly, fold in carrots.
My bread just slightly cooled and moved to it’s storage place. Once it’s cooled and covered, it will look a bit moister and darken in color. Here’s another carrot banana bread loaf I did where you can see the difference, this is 12 hours after being covered. I would’ve taken more pics of the loaf shown here but it was eaten too quickly!
More Banana Bread Inspiration
- Vegan Banana Bread
- Healthy Blueberry Banana Oat Bread
- Buckwheat Banana Bread (Gluten Free)
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
CARROT BANANA BREAD (VEGAN)
Spice up your traditional banana bread with some added carrot and cinnamon!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 55 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Makes 8 - 10 slices
- Category: Quick Bread
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) spelt flour
- 1/3 cup (75 g) organic pure cane or coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- generous pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (113 ml) vanilla or unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup (56 ml) light flavored olive oil or warmed coconut oil (see notes)
- 3 medium bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cup (338 g))
- 3 carrots, grated (about 1 1/4 cup (125 g))
- 3/4 cup (86 g) chopped walnuts, optional
Optional Toppings
- sprinkle of raw sugar (pictured, my daughters favorite topping)
- 1/4 cup (29 g) chopped walnuts
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan lightly with oil.
Mix: In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder & soda and salt, mix well with large slotted spoon or fork. Add milk, oil and mashed bananas, mix well, but don’t over mix, making sure there are no clumps of flour (especially on the bottom of the bowl). Fold in carrots.
Bake: Place mixture in the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 – 55 minutes on the middle rack, rotate pan halfway through.
Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and let cool completely.
Serve warmed or at room temperature. Slices would pair nicely with a slather of this Cashew Sweet Cream.
Store covered on the counter for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 1 week. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months – place completely cooled loaves in freezer containers or bags. Thaw the wrapped loaves overnight in the refrigerator.
Serves 9
NOTES:
The riper the bananas, the less sugar you’ll need. If your bananas are not very ripe, you may like to add a tablespoon or so more.
If you don’t have baking soda on hand, use 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) baking powder instead of 2 teaspoons.
If using coconut oil, be sure your milk is at room temperature or warmer. If adding straight from the refrigerator, the coldness will harden the coconut oil.
Replace the oil with applesauce for oil-free bread. Bread may be a little denser.
Make gluten-free by using a GF flour blend.
Feel free to leave your carrots unpeeled. I felt mine needed it this time but usually skip this step whenever I can.
Fold in 1/3 – 1/2 cup dried fruit of choice. Raisins, currants, cranberries or chopped apricots or dates would work nicely.
Add in 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg for another layer of flavor and variation.
Vyara Marinova says
November 19, 2018 at 10:55 amI love this recipe!
Thank you for sharing :)
★★★★★
Maria says
August 1, 2018 at 8:09 amI love this recipe. I’m watching my sugar intake so I decreased the sugar to 4 tsp. I think it’s plenty, especially if you use very ripe bananas. I add pecans and shredded unsweetened coconut, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and some vanilla extract
Sarah says
June 28, 2018 at 7:01 amRecommended cooking time if I made as muffins?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
June 28, 2018 at 7:29 amHi Sarah, great question… I suggest about 20 – 25 minutes. This will be great as muffins, fantastic idea! Enjoy :)
Liv says
July 23, 2017 at 5:15 pmHello, Jut wondering whether this recipe works if I omit the sugar for maple syrup and use oat flour instead of spelt flour?
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
July 27, 2017 at 10:02 amHi Liv, sorry about the delayed response. Maple syrup and oat flour will work just as well. I might suggest reducing the milk to 1/4 – 1/3 cup at first, adding more as needed if the batter seems a little too dry. Would love to know how it goes! Cheers :)
Ava says
February 26, 2017 at 12:50 pmreplacing all the flour with half oats, half grounded oats and some protein powder and without any sugar – works perfectly as base for sandwiches or snack and keeps me going a long time and I dont feel guilty at all :D
Aiva says
March 10, 2017 at 11:00 pmIt freezes really well. Sliced it before freezing and seperated each slice with wax paper. Took out the portions I needed the night before and defrosted.
Would be interested to know how much protein powder you used in your modified version Ava and if it was placoirwd or unflavoured?
Aiva says
October 4, 2016 at 1:39 amHI, I made this today with wholemeal spelt flour and added a few chopped dried apricots. I was short some banana so added a little apple puree I had left over. It turned out amazingly well. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Have you tried slicing and then freezing this? does it defrost well. Not that we didn’t demolish the entire thing, I just thought I could make two loaves at a time and freeze one.
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
October 4, 2016 at 11:26 amYour version sounds wonderful! I’ve never tried freezing it, but I’m guessing it will be just fine. Just let thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator. I would love to know how it goes if you decide to freeze a loaf. Thank you so much for sharing! Cheers :)
Amneris Gamez says
May 30, 2015 at 11:51 pmCould I sub the spelt flor for coconut flour? I cant wait to make it and its the only one I have in hand
julie@thesimpleveganista says
May 31, 2015 at 12:27 amNo, I don't recommend using coconut flour on its own in this recipe. The bread will not turn out properly. I recommend waiting until you have regular bread/baking flour, gluten-free or not.
Tim O'Reilly says
March 13, 2015 at 6:36 pmIs it kind of like a less sweet carrot cake flavor? I love carrot cake (and carrots in general) and really want to give this a shot, but don't want to go in blindly. Thanks!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
March 15, 2015 at 6:58 pmHmm, I'd say it's def not as sweet but could be a bit similar to carrot cake. I love carrot cake too but haven't got around to creating a vegan recipe yet! You can try adding a little more sugar, a dash of nutmeg and some nuts if you like. Would love to know what you think if you make it! Cheers :)
Judith Offermanns says
February 27, 2015 at 8:40 pmMade this today with wholewheat instead of spelt flour, soy milk instead of vanilla or almond milk, homemade organic applesauce and I aded raisins. Pretty sure it's going to be an all time favorite. Thanks for the great recipes. It's making the transition to a vegan lifestyle a whole lot easier!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
March 15, 2015 at 6:59 pmSounds amazing! So glad your finding your transition a little easier! :)
Kat says
January 25, 2015 at 3:23 amI made this bread today for a potluck, and it was delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm eager to try your recipes for banana tea bread and banana chocolate chip muffins now!
Rachel Page says
November 8, 2014 at 2:55 pmA delicious variation on traditional banana bread.
Elisa says
November 3, 2014 at 11:12 amBanans and Carrots in a bread…oh yum. I'm gonna have that with a bit of sugar beet syrup!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
November 3, 2014 at 6:26 pmSounds delicious! xo
Susanna says
November 3, 2014 at 7:50 amHi Julie, thanks for the great recipe, I made the bread with buckwheat flour yesterday, it turned out perfectly!
Greetings from Finland :)
julie@thesimpleveganista says
November 3, 2014 at 6:25 pmI must try with buckwheat flour! So glad it worked out, thank you for the inspiration. Cheers :)
Kimberly/TheLittlePlantation says
November 2, 2014 at 6:59 pmThe recipe looks lovely and the pictures shout: YUMMY!
Thanks for sharing :)
julie@thesimpleveganista says
November 2, 2014 at 10:41 pmThank you! ♥
Sarah UK says
November 2, 2014 at 1:10 pmWhat a great recipe – it was so easy to make, and the result was absolutely delicious! My 5 year old helped with the mixing and is now devouring the cake :-) I had no walnuts, but added in raisins, cranberries and nutmeg. I particularly like the minimal amount of sugar, this bread is certainly a great healthy alternative for kids, thanks so much!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
November 2, 2014 at 10:41 pmWhat a great project for you and your little one to do together! So glad this recipe worked well! XO :)
Sam @ PancakeWarriors says
October 31, 2014 at 8:53 pmThis bread is gorgeous! Love that you made so many notes, I never would have thought about the cold milk and coconut oil! I think this would be perfect with raisins and walnuts mixed in. Will definitely have to try this, I've never made a quick bread without eggs and it look so fluffy! Thanks for sharing!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
November 2, 2014 at 10:39 pmThank you! I can't wait to make a loaf with walnuts and dried fruit. Enjoy your loaf however you make it. Cheers :)