This banana and date sweetened vegan carrot bread is a year-round favourite. Despite the rather frighteningly wholesome ingredients, it’s just as delicious as spelt banana bread but with a little more complexity.
The banana and dates are blended up with the milk to avoid any chunks, as they’re only being used as sweetening and binding agents, rather than main flavour elements. If you don’t have a blender you can use a food processor (see below).
If you can’t see the step-by-step video below, watch it here on Youtube instead. I forgot to film adding the ginger but it’s in there!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Whole grain spelt flour: light spelt flour, whole wheat flour, white flour, and whole wheat pastry flour can all be subbed 1:1 here.
- Banana: as ripe as possible. This is part of what sweetened the bread and helps hold it together. One reader has successfully substituted cooked sweet potato in place of banana – something to keep in mind if you can have banana. Use about 100g but note that the bread may be slightly less sweet.
- Carrot: depending on the time of year, the sweetness of carrots available will change slightly. This shouldn’t make a noticeable difference.
- Olive oil: or sub another light-tasting liquid oil, like avocado.
Step by Step
Step 1: mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Step 2: blend the banana mixture in a standing blender or with an immersion blender.
Step 3: add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Step 4: fold in the carrots.
Step 5: transfer to a loaf time and smooth out the top.
Step 6: bake until golden, about 50 minutes.
Recipe Notes
I haven’t tried making this recipe gluten-free. I think a riff on my vegan gluten free banana bread might work, though, if you remove one of the bananas and replace with grated carrot. It’s not quite the same but I think this recipe would be tricky to make GF without some changes.
The baking time is slightly longer than many other quick breads of the same size. This isn’t a typo or error, but rather due to the high quantity of fruit in the batter. It takes a little longer to cook through.
If you don’t have a blender, you can use a food processor. Blend the banana, dates, and olive oil, then add the milk once a paste has formed (if you blend with the milk from the start, it tends to explode/leak). Alternatively, an immersion blender and a large bowl can be used.
How to Store
Storage: keep in a sealed container for up to three days in a cool place, or refrigerate for about five days.
Freezing: transfer cooled bread to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.
Newsletter
Expert Tips
- No need to peel: the unnecessary peeling of vegetables contributes excessively to food waste, and much of the nutrition is in the peel – it’s extra work and only has a negative impact.
- Don’t over-mix: spelt flour is a bit delicate and, if over-mixed, will become tough.
- Soak the dates: if the dates aren’t soft, soak in very hot water for at least half an hour before using. Be sure to drain well.
More Fruit Sweetened Recipes
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread
Gluten Free Banana Pancakes
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
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Carrot Bread
Ingredients
- 300 grams whole grain spelt flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ripe banana 190g (6.7 oz) weighed with peel
- 120 grams soft dates
- 60 ml olive oil extra virgin
- 250 ml oat milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely grated
- 200 grams packed shredded carrots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease or line a standard loaf tin.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.300 grams whole grain spelt flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Add the banana, dates, olive oil, milk, and ginger to a blender. Mix on high speed until smooth.1 ripe banana, 120 grams soft dates, 60 ml olive oil, 250 ml oat milk, 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Fold in the grated carrots until evenly incorporated.200 grams packed shredded carrots
- Place the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until golden and a skewer can be inserted in the centre and come out clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes before removing the bread from the tin and cooling completely on a rack. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to three days, or refrigerate if your home is warm.
Video
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
This post was first shared in April 2018. It has been updated with some simplifications to the recipe as of April 2022.
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Anna says
Would this work with applesauce or a different purée instead of the banana? If so, how much should I use and would you recommend any other tweaks to the recipe? I can’t have bananas but this loaf looks like such a good snack idea.
Alexandra says
I’m not really sure. If you want to try it, I’d recommend using about half the amount of applesauce and adding more liquid as needed the first time you make it. Mashed cooked sweet potato would be a good 1:1 sub for banana if that works for you.
Anna says
Omg yes sweet potato! Didn’t even think of that. They’re one of my fav foods ever (yes, even up there with Chocolate 😂)
Anna says
I made it with 120g of mashed sweet potato instead of the banana and it is incredibly good. It does have some denser patches in it but other than that it is really good!!
Sarah says
Can I do this with regular, 2% milk instead of dairy-free? Thanks!
Alexandra says
Certainly!
Nicole says
Would it be okay to use regular all purpose flour?
Nicole says
Would it be okay to use regular all purpose flour?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I’m sure that would be totally fine, go for it!
Sara says
Hi!! I’m cutting out added sugars from my diet for 1-2 weeks to help me get rid of my addiction to sugar and I want to make this for a nutritious sweet treat. Could you make this with whole wheat flour instead of spelt? Thank you!!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Sara! I think whole wheat flour would work fine, especially whole wheat pastry flour!
Sara says
Thank you so much!! I can’t wait to try it
Sasha says
Thank you, it turned out FANTASTIC. Really, i tried a lot of healthier carrot bread versions, this one has perfect balance. I used 260 grams of whole wheat flour and ground ginger. Also added walnuts and oatmeal on top. So good!
Ewan says
Hi Alexandra, love your website! Quick question, I’ve got a shedload of apples from the garden I want to make use of – do you think subbing grated apple for the carrot would work here? If so, would you recommend changing the ratio? Thanks!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Thank you so much! Do you know, Ewan, I also have a pile of apples and was planning on adapting this recipe to make the change? It will work – the apples have a higher moisture content than carrots, but not enough to make a big difference. You can reduce the milk by a couple of tablespoons to make it up, but it should work fine keeping the ratio the same as well.
Ewan says
Brilliant, thank you!
Barbara says
Hello Alexandra,
This carrot bread looks absolutely delicious! I was just wondering if I could substitute spelt flour with oat flour? Would the bread hold together? Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Thank you, Barbara! I’m not sure how well it would work with oat flour – it might not hold together. If you try it, perhaps add about 1/4 cup of chia to help keep things from falling apart, but I’m not sure! Sorry I can’t be a bit more help.
Alexandra Daum says
Crazy! I just weighed a cup again to make sure. From what I've read, humidity couldn't account for such a large difference in weight, so it might be that your flour is very packed or something like that as well. I think either will work as long as you stick to the same form of measurement for the other ingredients as well, but I'd usually recommend using metric. I hope it works out!
Sarah Wright says
280g of spelt flour is about 1 cup according to my scale. I'm in an extremely humid climate though, so I think water weight could account for disparity. Would you recommend 280g or 2 cup, if I had to pick one?
Alexandra Daum says
Unfortunately I haven't tested them in this recipe, so I can't guarantee that they'll work – I'm not sure how well the bread would hold together in that case. It might work with something else to help bind it but I'm not sure how well it'd rise.
Anonymous says
can i use almond flour or graham flour?
Alexandra Daum says
Thank you so much!
kkushion90 says
This bread looks so scrumptious! I love the addition of dates for sweetness!!