Oil-Free Vegan Banana Brownies have a cake-like texture, with hints of banana bread, crunchy walnuts and rich chocolate flavor! Best of all, they're a sweet treat you can feel 100% great about. These healthy vegan brownies are refined sugar-free, WFPB (whole-food, plant-based), and gluten-free!
What's not to love about healthy oil-free banana brownies?!
Go ahead, have a brownie for breakfast. These moist and chocolatey banana cake brownies are so healthy you can do just that. One cup of mashed, overripe banana provides moisture, binding, and sweetness, while a bit of maple syrup and coconut sugar makes them dessert-worthy. Oat flour provides texture, almond butter gives them a bit of richness, and cocoa powder brings ALL the chocolate vibes.
At just 120 calories per brownie, these are surprisingly light. I know they don't look like it in the photos, so I wanted to be sure to give you a heads up. If you're looking for a super dense, fudgey type of brownie, these may not be the ones for you. But if you like the sound of a sweet, moist, cake-like brownie married with the warm flavor of banana bread and the crunch of walnuts, you're definitely in the right place!
How to Make Healthy Vegan Banana Brownies
The process is really easy, and looks like this:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- In a smaller bowl mash the bananas with a fork.
- Stir the other wet ingredients in with the banana.
- Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well combined. Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Easy as that!
Well, maybe there is just one difficult part, and that's waiting while they cool! Since these have a very tender, cake-like texture, it's best to wait until they're completely cool before cutting into squares. I know it's tough. But I believe in you!
And hey, if the smell of banana bread and chocolate brownies overtakes your will, and you cut into them a bit early, is a bit of crumbly, moist, chocolatey-ness really such a bad thing? I think not.
Storage and Serving Suggestions for WFPB Banana Brownies
Once the brownies are cool, I like to leave them on the parchment paper and transfer the whole thing to a storage container with a tight-fitting lid. If you need to stack them up to fit inside the container, just place parchment between the layers to keep them from sticking together.
You can store the brownies at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I've tried them both ways and actually prefer them cool out of the fridge.
For breakfast: imagine this - you wake up the next day, and while enjoying a hot cup of coffee or tea you pull a rich, chocolate-banana brownie straight out of the fridge for breakfast. And maybe you even pair it with a spoonful of peanut butter. There are worse ways to start the day!
After lunch or as a snack: these are perfect on-the-go or as an afternoon snack since they're fine at room temperature all day.
For dessert: I'm perfectly happy having one or two of these babies after dinner as a healthy dessert. But if you want to kick up the dessert-factor, serve these with your favorite non-dairy whipped cream or ice cream plus a dash of cinnamon on top! These banana brownies would be AMAZING with my Vanilla-Maple Oat Ice Cream, Pumpkin Oat Ice Cream, or Banana Nice Cream.
I hope you love these delicious and healthy Vegan Banana Brownies! If you try the recipe please leave a comment below to let us know! You can also tag me on facebook or instagram with @myquietkitchen.
Happy Baking!
Perfect Pairings for Your Healthy Banana Brownies:
Vanilla-Maple Oat Ice Cream
Healthy Pumpkin Oat Ice Cream
Banana Nice Cream
Lemon Oat Ice Cream
You might also like these Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Brownies.
Oil-Free Vegan Banana Brownies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup oat flour (100 g) Use certified gluten-free oat flour if needed.
- 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder If using Dutch-processed cocoa (alkalized), replace the baking soda with baking powder.
- 1 tsp baking soda (replace with baking powder if using Dutch-processed cocoa)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed overripe banana (about 2 large bananas) Use bananas with a lot of dark spots
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar Can sub brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp brewed coffee or non-dairy milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsalted almond butter Or any nut/seed butter you like; will alter flavor
Addition:
- 1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Place the bananas in a small bowl, and mash with a fork. It's fine to have a few larger pieces remaining. Measure to make sure you have 1 cup of mashed banana. Add the maple syrup, coconut sugar, vanilla, and almond butter, and stir vigorously until combined.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and stir to combine. Fold in the walnuts.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let brownies rest in the pan for 30 minutes, then lift out by parchment paper. Allow to cool completely, then cut into 16 squares.
Useful Equipment
Hi, I'm Lori. I share approachable vegan recipes, everything from gluten-free and oil-free recipes to decadent, veganized classics!