Vegan Triple Chocolate Banana Bread

Triple. Chocolate. Banana bread. Let that sink in. I’ve been seeing lots of double chocolate banana bread recipes but thought I could do better than that so I present to you three layers of chocolate goodness (but with bananas so it’s healthy-ish). First, we start with a deep dark chocolate banana bread recipe. Second, chocolate chips are added to that batter. Third, it’s topped with an easy to make deep dark chocolate ganache. Yum.

This is my popular banana bread recipe but with a few adjustments. I’ve added deep dark Dutch process cocoa powder. You could use regular cocoa powder (not sweetened hot cocoa mix) but it won’t be as deep in flavor. If you’re only adding a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to a recipe you don’t need to adjust the dry ingredients, but adding a half cup meant cutting back on the flour from my original recipe.

Like my amazing Funfetti cake recipe, I’m using the “reverse creaming” method of combining ingredients which means we’re adding the fat to the dry ingredients first to coat them and then adding the rest of the wet ingredients after. What this does is it prevents the gluten from forming in the batter as it’s coated first with fat. One of the biggest mistakes people make when making a quick bread batter is over-mixing it. This results in a tough bread or cake that doesn’t rise well. The reverse creaming method prevents that from happening so no matter how much you mix, you won’t form those gluten strands resulting in a tough cake.

It’s very important that you measure the mashed bananas in dry measuring cups as they’re providing the moisture and just using three bananas let’s say, might not actually measure a full cup and a half. I keep bananas in the freezer then just let them come to room temp or I microwave them quickly to warm them so I can mash them. I can’t stress enough to use the exact amount called for in the recipe. Baking is a science and you need exact measurements for consistent results. If you don’t have aquafaba, you can use all water and up the amount of flax meal to three tablespoons.

The chocolate ganache topping is optional but highly recommended. It’s super simple as it’s just chopped chocolate or chips and vegan heavy cream (or coconut cream). There are a number of vegan creams on the market now including Silk and Country Crock plant cream. You just pour it on top of the cooled loaf then refrigerate. This is best served at room temp and the ganache will be soft and delicious but it’s also great chilled. You could certainly just make this a double chocolate banana bread if you don’t want to make ganache and it will still be amazing. I hope you enjoy this triple threat of a cake!

Vegan Triple Chocolate Banana Bread

Recipe by Kreg

5.0 from 4 votes

Cuisine: Breakfast

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

55

minutes

The most delicious triple chocolate vegan banana bread!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa (see notes)

• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup plus two tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted and cooled

• 6 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas)

• 1 tablespoon finely ground flax seed

• 1/4 cup plain vegan yogurt

• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about three large but make sure to measure)

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 3/4 cups vegan chocolate chips (semi or bittersweet – your choice)

• Ganache Frosting

• 9 oz bitter or semisweet chocolate, chopped or use chips

• 1 cup vegan heavy cream

• mini chocolate chips to decorate, optional

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease or spray a 9 inch loaf pan and set aside. Add the flax seed to the aquafaba and whisk together. Set aside to thicken for about 3 minutes.
• In a large bowl using a stand or hand mixer, blend all of the dry ingredients (flour through brown sugar) until well mixed. Add the coconut oil (make sure everything is room temperature or the coconut oil may seize), aquafaba mixture and yogurt and mix well. Batter will be thick like a brownie batter. You want to coat all of the flour with the fat so mix well.
• Add the mashed bananas (I use a fork and mash ripe speckled bananas until puréed but with a little texture still left to them) and vanilla and blend well until completely mixed about a minute. Fold in the chips by hand and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. All ovens are different so start checking after 50 minutes.
• To make the ganache, combine the cream and chocolate in a heat safe bowl and either over a smaller pan of simmering water or using the microwave, melt the chocolate. If using simmering water like a double boiler, whisk just until the chips are just melted and remove from the heat. If using the microwave, heat in 30 second intervals just until the chips start to melt. Don’t over cook as every microwave has a different strength level and if you overcook the mixture will seize and there’s no coming back from that. Don’t let it boil. All the chocolate doesn’t need to be melted as the residual heat will continue to melt the chocolate. Once completely smooth, pour over the top of the cooled banana bread while it’s in the pan and tap or rap the pan on your counter a few times to release any large air bubbles then top with additional chocolate chips if desired then chill completely in the fridge.
• With a butter knife, run it around all of the edges of the cake in the pan and using a platter cover the top of the cake and invert it onto the platter. You may need to rap the baking pan onto the platter until the cake releases. You can also cut it right in the pan and take out slices to serve.
• This can be served at room temperature or chilled. The ganache will be softer at room temperature and fudgier chilled.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Dutch process cocoa will lend a deeper dark chocolate flavor but you could use regular unsweetened cocoa powder instead (not sweetened hot cocoa mix). Click the link to my Amazon store to see the Dutch process cocoa I use.
  
• Cinnamon is optional. You don’t really taste it too much but it adds a hint of warmth.
  
• Unrefined coconut oil will lend a coconut flavor which I enjoy. If you don’t like that, use refined coconut oil or plain vegetable oil.
  
• For the ganache, I like a mix of dark bittersweet and semisweet chocolate. If you can’t find vegan heavy cream you can use full fat coconut cream instead.
  
• If you don’t have aquafaba, you can use water and increase the amount of flax meal to 3 tablespoons to make the flax “eggs”.

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