Vegan Banana Bread Bars – Healthy ‘n Super Moist!
Thick squares of pillowy soft, super moist vegan banana bread bars. Softer than banana bread, but deliciously denser than banana cake, these banana bars are a delicious balance in between.
Enjoy satisfying, cozy banana flavor with just the right amount of medium sweetness—not too sweet, not to un-sweet—for the best healthy banana bars. 😉
Soft, Super Moist Vegan Banana Bread Bars to the Breakfast Rescue!
The first thing I think about the second I wake up is what to eat. Some may call this “breakfast,” others may call it “the reason for getting up” and perhaps, “living.” Heehee. If you’re looking for a delicious reason to wake you and your loved ones up, bake a fresh batch of my soft and seriously moist vegan banana bread bars! These healthy banana bars are one of Erik’s favorites because they’re pillowy-soft, with comforting banana flavor and ultra-moist texture that just… satisfies. Ready to bake this? Let’s go!
Vegan Ingredients for Vegan Banana Bread Bars
- Ripe bananas: find the ripest bananas you can—or, grab a few and wait patiently for them to ripen to perfection. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the bars. So if you like them not so sweet, go ahead and use medium-ripe bananas. If you like your banana bread sweeter, ripen your bananas as long as you can.
- Coconut oil: you can try using melted vegan butter instead, but my preferred vegan ingredient to use is coconut oil. If I venture into using vegan butter more, I’ll try making these bars with them in the future! In the meantime, let me know if you do. 😉
- Maple syrup: one of my favorite sweeteners, pure maple syrup adds a warm, cozy sweetness that perfectly complements your banana bread bars, while keeping them vegan.
- Flax egg: you can use this vegan egg substitute or use a chia egg instead. If you don’t know how, here’s how to make a flax egg.
- Oat flour: fiber-rich and ready to rock your world with perfectly ripened bananas by its side. 😉 Oat flour and bananas go together like pb & j. You’ll find that your healthy banana bread bars are moist, just the right amount of satisfyingly dense and delicious–partly due to the wonderfully absorbent nature of oat flour.
- Blanched almond flour: this ingredient adds a light, delicate and slightly spongy texture to your healthy banana bread bars. I find that almond flour helps to add a bit of fluffiness to denser breads like banana bread.
- Walnuts: you can totally skip these, or substitute them with your favorite add-ins, like chocolate or chopped dried fruit.
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread Bars
How do you make vegan banana bread bars, anyway? Well, making these bars isn’t dissimilar to making my vegan gluten free banana bread—you just make it in a square pan and get to bake it for less time (score!!). See for yourself how easy it is:
Preheat
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then, grab an 8-inch square baking pan. Line it with parchment paper or wax paper.
Peel
Peel your beautifully ripened bananas, then drop the bananas into a large mixing bowl. Mash the bananas with a fork, sturdy whisk, or my favorite way, using a pastry cutter. Add the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, flax egg and vanilla. Now, whisk all of these wet ingredients together until it’s very well mixed.
Add
In the same mixing bowl, add in all the dry ingredients: oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together until they’re well-combined in a soft batter. Fold in your favorite add-ins or walnuts.
Pour
Pour your vegan banana bread bar batter into the prepared pan. Smooth it out with a clean spatula.
Bake, Cool and Enjoy
Bake, cool, slice and enjoy the best healthy banana bars! And if you’re looking for a yummy banana bread, try my Easy Gluten Free Banana Bread Recipe (Vegan, Dairy-Free).
Very Delicious Vegan Banana Recipes
- Vegan Banana Cookies
- Banana Oat Muffins (Vegan)
- Moist Vegan Oat Flour Banana Bread
- Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread (GF)
- Best Moist Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread Coffee Cake
- Vegan Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins
- Easy Pineapple Banana Smoothie
- Vegan Banana Brownies
Tools You Need
The Healthy Banana Bars Recipe to Remember
Lemme guess, you just happen to have a pile of super ripe bananas that you’ve been looking for an excuse to bake? 🙂 Don’t you love it when things like that happen? I truly can’t wait to hear what you think! Make sure to leave a comment and/or (oooh!) snap a pic and tag me at #beamingbaker on Instagram. I love hearing from you! ‘Til our next baking adventure…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
💛 📸 💛
📸 Did you make this vegan banana bread bar recipe? Take a pic and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #beamingbaker & tag @beamingbaker. I’d love to see it! 📸
Vegan Banana Bread Bars – Healthy ‘n Moist!
- Total Time: 1 hour 8 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Thick squares of soft, super moist vegan banana bread bars. Softer than banana bread, but deliciously denser than banana cake, these banana bars are a delicious balance in between.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3 medium, very ripe bananas (1 cup + 2 tablespoons, mashed)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water, whisk together, set for 15 mins)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- ¾ cup finely ground, blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Add-ins
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or greased foil. Set aside.
- Peel bananas and add to a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter (recommended), sturdy whisk or fork, mash bananas until mostly smooth. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, flax egg and vanilla. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until just incorporated, making sure no flour patches remain. Fold in chopped walnuts.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared pan. Using a rubber spatula, smooth batter into an even layer.
- Bake for 32-44 minutes. Mine took 38 minutes. Test for doneness by sticking a toothpick into the center of the bars. The toothpick will come out clean when the bars are done. Cool in pan placed on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Pinch parchment paper, lifting paper and banana bars onto cooling rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. Slice and enjoy.
Notes
Storing Instructions: Store banana bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Keep away from sunlight and other heat sources.
Freezing Instructions: Store bars in a freezer-friendly container in the freezer for 1-2 months. Allow to thaw for 15-25 minutes at room temperature before enjoying.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 38 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Snack
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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I can’t say enough good things about these banana bread bars! I can’t quit making them! So moist & addictively delicious!! I have made many of your recipes & I tell my gluten free friends about your site. Thank you so much for sharing your great recipes!
Oh my goodness, how awesome is this?!? 🙂 I’m so thrilled that you loved my banana bread bars recipe, Gloria!! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and to spread the word! Just know that I truly appreciate you. Happy baking, my dear!
Hi there I notice most of your recipes have nuts or seeds and most of all coconut oil are there substitutions for this im allergic to all of these items:(
Hi Melody! Sorry to hear about the allergies. As far as substitutions go, it’s gonna differ a bit depending on the recipe, but in general sunflower seed meal tends to work well as a sub for almond flour/meal, and seeds can work as a swap for nuts that are mixed into a batter (like in this recipe). I’ve had some readers use avocado oil, canola oil or melted vegan butter in place of coconut oil in different recipes, but I haven’t tired all the combos myself. I hope this helps! 🙂
You can use unsweetened apple sauce instead of oil in same ratio
I have made this numerous times and different variations and it always turns out perfect!!! I do use a real egg vs flax egg. Sometimes I sub out some collagen or protein powder for the oat flour and it still turns out moist, sweet, and delicious!
That’s so awesome e to hear, Jessi! And it’s great to know that the protein powder works in the recipe, too. 🙂
nice clean recipe.
Do you think folding in some almond protein powder would make it to dense or dry?
Thanks Scott! Hmm… I’m not sure since protein powder in general can vary from brand to brand so it can be very unpredictable in baked goods. I’m not sure about almond protein powder. If you do try it, try subbing in 2 tablespoons or so for the same amount of oat flour in the recipe and seeing how you like the texture. If that’s successful, then you can try another batch with a bit more (perhaps even up to 1/4 cup). Good luck & let me know how it turns out! 🙂
A great healthy banana cake/squares. I put a cream cheese topping (im not vegan) and chopped toasted pecans on top. Very tasty!
Thank you, Jody! Oooh, the slightly savory/sweet combo must’ve been so yummy. Enjoy!
My kids love these bars! They’re a great easy breakfast before school.
That’s so wonderful to hear, Amanda! So happy the kiddos are enjoying them.
How do you always manage to share a recipe that calls for exactly the ingredients I have on hand? I’ve had some ripe banannas sitting on my counter for ages, and then I come across this recipe. Amazing! Such a wonderful treat that my little munchkins actually ate and enjoyed. Thank you for sharing another winner!
We’ve got that psychic connection, that’s got to be it!! 😉 Can you imagine? 🙂 I just love when things line up like that. Ripe bananas: you know where to go… straight to Isabella’s mixing bowl. I’m so happy that you and the little ones enjoyed it. Thank YOU for stopping by & letting me know. Hugs!
I know for sure this would be a huge hit in my house!
Hope everyone enjoys it! 🙂
These sound so good! I have never thought of making banana bread like this before. I can’t wait to try it.
It’s a fun way to mix things up in the banana bread department, and it takes a lot less time to bake and cool. 😉
Hi Demeter I love your recipes and I’ve made many With great success however I recently had to adopt an AIP autoimmune protocol diet and I cannot have oat flour or almond flour or any other nut flour I use coconut flour sweet potato flour cassava flour and tiger nut flour with arrowroot starch I have had difficulty researching information about substituting out flour and most importantly almond flour do you have any experiences with any of that or have you any resources to share that I may not be aware of thanks for all your great recipes appreciate all of your support
Hi Andrea, it’s so lovely to hear that you’ve had so much success with my recipes! 🙂 As for your question, that’s definitely a tough one! I’ve heard that cassava flour can be substituted with oat flour in a 1:1 ratio, but I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t be sure. As for substituting almond flour, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that. 🙁 My best recommendation is to seek out a specific recipe made precisely for an AIP diet, that way, you don’t have to worry about what substitutes to make. Best of luck! Sending you lots of love and support. <3, Demeter