Whether you want to make vegan banana bread, pumpkin bread or apple bread, you'll be all set with this Basic Vegan Quick Bread Recipe. Requiring just 9 ingredients and producing perfectly spongy and moist bread every time, you won't ever need another quick bread recipe!
Oh, quick bread.
How I love thee!
You're easy to make, require no yeast, and are practically cake disguised as bread.
What's not to love?!
I've shared a number of vegan quick bread recipes on my blog over the years, including this vegan walnut raisin bread, these easy vegan biscuits and this Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Seed Bread.
However, today I'm sharing with you my go-to, fool-proof, always amazing BASIC vegan quick bread recipe!
It requires just 9 ingredients, 10 minutes of hands on time and can create either banana, pumpkin or apple bread.
Let me show you how to make it!
What is Quick Bread?
Before we jump into the recipe, let's talk more about quick bread.
So, what even is the definition of quick bread and what makes it different than just normal bread?
Quick bread is bread that is made without yeast. Instead, to leaven the bread, quick bread recipes call for ingredients such as baking powder or baking soda. Since there is no need to proof yeast or let the dough rise before baking, quick breads come together from start to finish, well, rather quickly!
Different Kinds of Quick Breads
Usually when you think of bread, you think of a loaf of bread, right?
Well, quick breads encompass so much more than just loaves of bread. Muffins, biscuits, and scones all fall under the category of quick breads as they use either baking powder or baking soda (or both!) as a leavening agent.
Banana bread, zucchini bread and pumpkin bread are common flavors of quick bread.
Is Quick Bread Vegan?
Not all quick breads are vegan. So if you're ordering from a restaurant and want to make sure there are no animal products in your slice, simply ask to see if their quick breads use milk, yogurt or eggs in them. Nowadays, restaurants usually label their items as being vegan if they are, so that can quickly remove the guess work.
While many store-bought quick breads aren't vegan, it is really easy to make vegan quick bread at home!
How to Replace Milk and Butter in Quick Bread Recipes
If a quick bread recipe calls for milk, simply use non-dairy milk.
If the recipe calls for buttermilk, you can create your own non-dairy buttermilk by stirring a little vinegar into your non-dairy milk and allowing it to sit for about 5 minutes. Usually 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of milk works great!
To replace butter, you can either use vegan butter, margarine or coconut oil.
How to Replace Eggs in Quick Bread
Replacing eggs in baking can be done in a number of ways, but each method will probably produce a different result. It's good to be aware of what the eggs in the original recipe are doing so that you can choose the appropriate egg substitute.
For example, do the eggs in the original recipe act as a leavening agent? Do they help bind everything together? Do they add fat?
These questions are good to know the answers to before choosing your egg replacement.
- Aquafaba: In today's recipe, I'm using aquafaba as an egg replacement. Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas and it works well to bind ingredients together.
- Flax eggs: Flax eggs are another great substitute when you need to bind ingredients together. I share all about how to make and use a flax egg here!
- Fruit puree: Again, pureed fruit such as mashed banana or applesauce can also work as an egg replacer in certain recipes. However, their flavors can be a little overpowering.
- Vinegar + baking soda: For some extra oomph, adding in a little baking soda accompanied by an acid can add some extra volume to quick breads when trying to substitute eggs.
Basic Quick Bread Ingredients
Classic quick bread recipes don't require a ton of ingredients. For this vegan version, you'll need the following 9 ingredients:
- Banana, pumpkin or apple puree
- Sugar (I like to use raw cane sugar or coconut sugar)
- Oil (a neutral flavored oil works best!)
- Aquafaba (again, this is the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- Cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Flour (I love to use whole wheat flour, but all-purpose flour or a mix of both works just fine)
- Optional mix-ins such as chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts etc.
How to make Quick Bread (with step-by-step instructions)
To make this vegan quick bread recipe, you'll only need 9 ingredients and a few minutes of hands-on time.
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F / 177°C and grease a standard-sized loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Set it aside.
Step 2: Combine all of the ingredients listed above, except for the flour, in a large mixing bowl and whisk well to combine. If you are making banana bread, you will need to start by mashing your ripe bananas really well before whisking in the remaining ingredients.
Step 3: Stir in the flour until just combined. I like to use whole wheat flour, but you can also use a mix of white and whole wheat flour or just use all white flour. Be sure not to over-mix the batter. It's okay if you can see a little dry flour.
Step 4: Lastly, gently fold in any mix-ins you desire such as chocolate chips, dried fruit or chopped nuts.
Step 5: Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and smooth out the top until level.
Step 6: Bake the bread for 50-65 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the loaf to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before removing it to a wire rack to continue cooling completely.
Different flavors of quick bread
In today's basic vegan quick bread recipe, I'll be showing you how to make three commonly enjoyed flavors of quick bread: banana, pumpkin and apple bread!
Banana Bread
Banana bread is probably the most commonly baked quick bread. As you can guess, using super ripe, mashed bananas is what gives banana bread its amazing texture and flavor.
I have a number of delicious vegan banana bread recipes on my blog. Some of my favorite banana bread recipes, outside of today's recipe of course, are this Chickpea Flour Banana Bread and this Black Sesame Tahini Vegan Banana Bread!
Pumpkin Bread
Today's recipe can also create a beautiful, fall-inspired pumpkin bread. To do so, you simply need to replace the mashed banana with some pumpkin puree.
As pumpkin puree isn't as sweet as ripe bananas, when I'm making pumpkin quick bread I'll often increase the sugar from my normal ½ cup to ¾-1 cup.
Applesauce Bread
If you've never made applesauce bread, or apple bread, you're in for a real treat!
Apple bread is warming, moist and perfect for the fall season. However, you can make it all year round as the recipe calls for unsweetened applesauce, which is easy to find at any local grocery store.
Again, some other flavors/types of quick bread include zucchini bread, corn bread, biscuits, scones and even muffins!
How to store homemade quick bread
Today's recipe for homemade quick bread can be stored in a number of ways, depending on how long you want it to last.
- Countertop: I personally love to store this bread in an airtight container on my countertop for 1-2 days. Since we eat through it so quickly, I don't have to worry about it going bad. Plus, when it's stored at room temperature, it's always soft and ready to slice and eat!
- Fridge: If you want your bread to last a little longer, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days. As it chills, it will harden slightly, but it still tastes amazing!
- Freezer: To store this bread for an even longer period, you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer zip-lock bag until you want to enjoy it. To enjoy, simply thaw it overnight in the fridge.
I really hope you try out today's quick bread recipe. I make it on a regular basis and my friends and family always devour it, no matter which flavor I make!
If you enjoy the recipe as much as we do, be sure to give it a five star rating by clicking on the stars in the recipe card. Then share the recipe with your friends and family as well!
More Basic Bread Recipes
📖 Recipe
Basic Vegan Quick Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
BANANA BREAD
- 4 ripe bananas mashed
- ½-1 cup cane sugar
- ½ cup neutral oil
- 6 tablespoons aquafaba
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups flour**
- Optional Mix-ins: Chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped nuts, etc.
PUMPKIN BREAD
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- ½-1 cup cane sugar*
- ½ cup neutral oil
- 6 tablespoons aquafaba
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups flour**
- Optional Mix-ins: Chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped nuts, etc.
APPLE BREAD
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
- ½-1 cup cane sugar*
- ½ cup neutral oil
- 6 tablespoons aquafaba
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups flour**
- Optional Mix-ins: Chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped nuts, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F and grease a standard loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the flour until well combined.
- Stir in the flour until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Lastly, gently fold in your mix-ins of choice.
- Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and bake the bread for 55-65 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing it and allowing it to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Slice and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight bag or container on the counter for 1-2 days or in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze this bread for 2-3 months.
Tine says
Hi, this looks really good! We love your oatmeal cookies (made them 3 weeks in a row :)) so we will try this recipe out. I was wondering : would this work with pears in stead of apples? We have many and I coud easily turn them into "pear sauce". What do you think? Thanks!
Faith VanderMolen says
oooo! I think pear sauce would work! Such a good idea!
Fern Swale says
If someone were to find themselves fresh out of canned (and dried) chickpeas, what would be your suggestion as next best egg replacer for this recipe? Asking for a friend, because I would never let my household run out of chickpeas!
Thanks for so many great recipes!
Faith VanderMolen says
Hey Fern! Good question:) If you eat eggs, you could use two eggs. Otherwise flax eggs are another common eggs substitution that I use, however I've never tried them in this specific recipe! Let us know what you try and how it turns out!
Fern Swale says
I'm vegan so I used two flax eggs. Since I haven't tried it with the aquafaba I can't really make a comparison, but my apple bread was just about perfect. I burnt the top a bit :/ but it was still delicious. It's half gone already so I'm going to make the pumpkin today -- and I'll pay more attention this time so I don't burn it!
Thank you!