These healthy vegan banana brownies are a tried-and-true reader favorite! Made with oat flour, they have a light, cake-like texture, with hints of banana bread and rich chocolate flavor. They're a sweet treat you can feel 100% great about! Made without oil or refined sugar, these banana brownies are WFPB (whole-food, plant-based), gluten-free, and dare I say it, healthy enough for breakfast!
The Best Healthy Brownies
Not long ago I was working on a different brownie recipe (these fudgy almond flour brownies) and doing some research to get ideas.
I fully admit I've been living a somewhat sheltered, healthy-ish plant-based lifestyle for a long time, and I know my tastes have changed. But looking at some of the brownie recipes online kind of blew my mind!
We're talking heaps of butter, coconut oil, sugar, and flour... not to mention the chocolate!
I honestly can't imagine the tummy ache I would have after eating something that intensely rich, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Lightened-up versions of classic desserts are totally my jam! And these oil-free banana brownies are just perfect. Gotta love a dessert that doesn't leave you feeling sluggish and that's healthy enough for everyday!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love Banana Brownies
One cup of mashed, overripe banana provides moisture, binding, and sweetness, which means we need less sugar.
And speaking of sugar, we're not using any of the refined stuff. We're using a combination of maple syrup and coconut sugar to make these healthy brownies taste dessert-worthy.
Oat flour provides awesome texture, nut butter gives them a bit of richness, and cocoa powder brings ALL the chocolate vibes.
That's right, there's no actual chocolate in these brownies, unless you'd like to add chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate.
At only 120 calories per brownie, these are surprisingly light, so I actually want to give you a heads up on that note...
If you're looking for a super dense, rich, fudgy brownie, these may not be the ones for you...
But if you like the sound of a delicious, refined sugar-free, cake-like brownie married with the warm flavor of banana bread and the crunch of walnuts, you're definitely in the right place!
Ingredient Notes
- Bananas - make sure to use bananas with a lot of dark spots. They should be soft, sweet, fragrant, and moist. Since we're not using oil, a lot of the moisture in the brownies comes from the bananas.
- Oat flour - use fine oat flour, whether store-bought or homemade in a high speed blender.
- Cocoa powder - regular or Dutch process cocoa.
- Sweeteners - maple syrup contributes moisture and flavor, so I can't recommend a substitute. Brown sugar may be used instead of coconut sugar.
- Almond butter - I like raw, unsalted almond butter in this recipe. Use your favorite nut or seed butter. If it's salted, reduce the sea salt to ¼ teaspoon.
- Coffee - just 1 tablespoon of brewed coffee really adds to the rich chocolate flavor. Also, a little liquid is important for the overall consistency of the batter. So if you don't have coffee, use your favorite non-dairy milk instead.
- Cinnamon - adds depth and lovely banana bread vibes! But if you don't enjoy cinnamon feel free to reduce or omit it.
See recipe card below for amounts and full instructions.
Step By Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- In a smaller bowl mash the bananas very well with a fork (or squeeze them with clean hands).
- Stir the other wet ingredients into the banana.
- Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until well combined. Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour the brownie batter into the pan, and bake for 28 to 31 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Tips for Slicing
The only difficult thing about this recipe might be waiting while they cool! Between the bananas, cinnamon, maple, and cocoa, they smell totally irresistible.
Since these brownies are gluten-free and have a 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!
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And hey, if the smell of chocolate banana brownies overtakes your will, and you cut into them a bit early, is a bit of crumbly, moist, chocolatey goodness really such a bad thing? I think not.
Serving Suggestions
For breakfast:
Imagine this... you wake up the next day, and while enjoying a hot cup of coffee or tea you pull one of these healthy banana brownies straight from the fridge for breakfast.
And maybe you even pair it with a spoonful of peanut butter to make it extra filling. 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 after dinner as a healthy dessert. 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!
Banana brownies taste fantastic with a scoop of any of these vegan ice creams:
- Vanilla-Maple Oat Ice Cream (a reader favorite!)
- Pumpkin Oat Ice Cream
- Banana Nice Cream
- Butter Pecan Oat Ice Cream
- Chocolate Chickpea Ice Cream (nut-free)
Substitutions
- Almond butter - try them with tahini, sunbutter, peanut butter, or cashew butter.
- Flour - though I haven't tested the recipe yet with other whole-grain flours, I do think it will be fairly forgiving. The key is to use the same weight in grams. For example, if you wanted to use white whole-wheat flour instead of oat flour, use ¾ cup (approx. 90 grams) instead of 1 cup.
- Cocoa powder - for the best flavor I recommend regular cocoa powder instead of raw cacao powder (though you can definitely use cacao if that's what you have). And as noted in the recipe, if using Dutch process cocoa instead of regular, use baking powder instead of baking soda.
How to Store
Once the brownies are cool, I like to leave them on the parchment paper and transfer them to a storage container with a tight-fitting lid.
If you need to stack them to fit inside the container, place parchment between the layers to prevent sticking.
The brownies can be stored at room temperature for a day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I actually prefer them cool straight from the fridge.
Banana brownies freeze well, too. They thaw fairly quickly, so just pull one from the freezer an hour or two before you'd like to eat.
Top Tip
Make sure to use very ripe bananas with plenty of dark spots. They should be sweet, fragrant, and moist since they provide a lot of the moisture in the brownies.
More Oat Flour Recipes
I hope you love these deliciously healthy Vegan Banana Brownies!
If you try the recipe please leave a comment below to let us know! You can also tag me on instagram with @myquietkitchen.
Recipe Video
Tap to play the video and see how to make banana brownies.
Recipe
Healthy Vegan Banana Brownies (Oil-Free)
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup oat flour (100 g) - Use certified gluten-free oat flour if needed
- ½ cup natural cocoa powder - If using Dutch-processed cocoa (alkalized), replace the baking soda with baking powder.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (replace with baking powder if using Dutch-processed cocoa)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed overripe banana (about 2 large bananas) - Use bananas with a lot of dark spots
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar - Can sub brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon brewed coffee or non-dairy milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup runny almond butter, unsalted - Or any nut/seed butter you like; will alter flavor
Addition:
- ½ cup chopped raw walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177C) 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 the prepared pan, and bake for 28 to 31 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 before cutting into 16 squares.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used.
Vanessa
I tried this recipe with small modifications because I have LPR, I swapped the oat flour for almond flour (that’s just what I had), cocoa powder for roasted carob powder (non chocolate substitute, cannot have chocolate), and added a 1/4 cup more maple syrup (I like maple syrup), omitted the cinnamon (can’t have) and it was amazing! This recipe is very forgiving considering my substitutions.
I make these on the regular. Thank you!
Mari
My whole family loves these brownies SO MUCH. Thank you for the fab recipe!!!
Trish
These are so good! Third time making them and am struck by how forgiving and easy the recipe is!! I didn’t have walnuts last time so I added chopped peanuts - delicious! Think I’ll try sunbutter next time just for kicks. Thanks for this wonderful repeatable treat, Lori!
Lisa
I was making these for Valentine's day and had a ton of strawberries I wanted to use. I wonder if you add in strawberries and don't do the Cocoa powder how they would taste. I also used dates instead of other sweeteners and almond flour instead of oat flour.
I'd like to recreate this with all of the above except the Cocoa and maybe try applesauce and strawberries.
Nancy W
Made these tonight - soooooooo yummy! Instead of oat flour, I used King Arthur Whole Grain Wheat Flour; instead of coconut sugar, I used 4 medjool dates; and instead of cocoa powder, I used raw cacao powder. I also added about 2 T. flaxmeal, 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce and about a T. of reishi mushroom powder. I will most definitely make these again!! 🙂
LynD
So delicious! Non-vegan husband approved... that's big! Are they still healthy if we eat the whole pan in one day 😁
Kate
Yummy! Even better after a day in the fridge. Very banana-y flavor. Swirled some peanut butter on top before baking for a pretty look.
Nina
Hi thanks for fab recipe 👏👏👏 could I use regular plain flour (UK) instead of oat flour? Nutritional Valued do you know what the saturated fat is. Thanks.
Lori
Hi Nina,
Plain flour will be fine - reduce the amount to about 80 grams (2/3 cup). And I just checked on the saturated fat. Per small square it's less than 1 gram. Hope you enjoy the brownies!
Siobhan
Delicious! Recipe seems forgiving too - I was pretty loose with measurements (urgent chocolate craving lol) and they turned out perfectly. Thank you!
Emily C
These are great!! I added walnuts and vegan marshmallows and they are FANTASTIC. Thanks so much!
Tammy
These turned out so delish. They had a very moist heavy cake texture. I used tahini for the nut butter and brown sugar. I blended all of my wet ingredients in a blender so my family wouldn’t see any banana. Worked perfectly. Thanks for a great recipe.
LynD
Great idea to blend 😉
Ching Crowell
Excellent recipe, thank you so very much for sharing. Made this recipe probably 9 times. No matter which I ingredients I replaced instead of what's listed it's still tastes soooooooo good, and I believe I am kind of addicted 😅.