• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • All Recipes
  • About
Occasionally Eggs

Occasionally Eggs

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes for Every Season

  • Cookbook
  • Contact
  • All Recipes
  • About
  • Cookbook
  • Contact
Muffins and Quick Bread

Spelt Banana Bread

January 29, 2022 by Alexandra Daum
Time: 1 hour   Servings: 10
Vegan spelt banana bread, made with whole grain spelt flour, ripe bananas, and flexible add-ins so you can make it how you like most.
Jump to Recipe
Flour slices of chocolate chip banana bread.

While there are a handful of banana bread recipes on OE, I was missing a basic spelt banana bread – this is the one I make most often. The add-ins are flexible so you can add whatever you like most to the loaf.

It has a nice tender crumb and great flavour from the spelt flour. And with only nine base ingredients, it’s an easy everyday recipe.

There are other banana bread recipes on the site made with spelt flour, but they’re a bit more complicated – tahini banana bread, coconut banana bread – but this is the easiest option. I don’t always have ingredients like tahini and coconut on hand so it’s good to have something basic to make when the bananas are ripe!

This is made in one bowl, so there are less dishes to clean. There are several changes you can make to adapt it to what you like most, so see below for some notes on that, and make this really easy snack.

Table of Contents hide
Why You Should Try This Recipe
Ingredients
Step by Step
Recipe Notes
How to Store
Expert Tips
FAQ
Spelt Banana Bread

Why You Should Try This Recipe

Already vegan and with no egg subs, this is truly a simple recipe. No flax, chia, or aquafaba needed, as bananas are an excellent binding agent already.

  • It’s made with olive oil: olive oil banana bread is dreamy, and adds to the flavour of this loaf without being overwhelming.
  • Less than 10 ingredients: chocolate chips can be the 10th if you plan on using them, but the base recipe needs only a handful of simple ingredients.
  • It’s lower in sugar: using really ripe bananas means not as much sugar needs to be added, and you get a loaf that’s just right without being too sweet.

Ingredients

Spelt flour banana bread ingredients with labels.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Spelt Flour: use either light or whole grain spelt flour, or a combination of the two. You can use other types of flour that contain gluten (but this is a spelt-specific recipe, so I can’t really provide guidance on that).
  • Coconut Sugar: you can probably sub brown sugar, or even something like date sugar, but I’ve only tried it with coconut. It adds a nice caramel note.
  • Bananas: overripe is best – it’s lightly sweetened, so the riper the bananas are, the sweeter the banana bread will be.
  • Olive Oil: use another oil that’s liquid at room temperature in place of olive oil if preferred. Melted coconut oil can also be used but it will make for a slightly denser banana bread.
  • Oat Milk: or any pourable milk type. Don’t use canned coconut milk, it’s too thick.

Step by Step

1. Mix wet ingredients: mash the bananas, then whisk in the other wet ingredients.
2. Add dry ingredients: mix in the dry ingredients and add-ins to combine.

Spelt banana bread steps 1 to 4.

3. Transfer: scoop the batter into a lined baking tin and smooth it out.
4. Bake: use the centre rack for best results, and bake for about 50 minutes.

If you can’t see the accompanying recipe video, watch it here.

Recipe Notes

Regarding additions – by this I mean the chocolate and seeds, in this case. You could use chopped chocolate rather than chips, nuts, raisins or other dried fruit, any type of seeds (barring chia, which absorbs too much water). You can also leave them out altogether if you prefer a plain banana bread.

The add-ins are provided here by both weight and volume. Generally speaking, seeds/chocolate/dried fruit weigh approximately the same amount, so you’re fine changing it up but using the same weight. If it’s a bit more or less it won’t make such a difference to the recipe.

My tin for the pictured loaf is 11.5 by 26cm (4.5 by 10 in.) so it’s slightly longer and narrower than a standard tin. The baking time doesn’t change when using a slightly wider tin, but it’s good to do a skewer test just in case.

If you need a GF version, here’s a recipe for vegan gluten free banana bread.

How to Store

Storage: this can be stored at (cool) room temperature in a sealed container for 2-3 days, or refrigerated for longer.

Freezing: freeze the whole loaf or individual slices in an airtight container for up to six months.

Close up of banana bread.

Newsletter

Sign up for weekly updates and subscriber-only recipes.

Expert Tips

  • Don’t over mix: spelt is lower in gluten and can become tough when mixed too much. Mix until just combined and no longer.
  • Go for ripe bananas: this is key to the recipe, and the bananas shouldn’t be just yellow, but spotty at the very least.
  • Cool before slicing: the urge to cut into that warm banana bread is strong, I know, but the slices will be much nicer if it cools fully first. It might crumble a bit if the loaf is still warm.
  • Blend the banana: if you hate chunks in your banana bread, you can blend the wet ingredients with an immersion or standing blender. Transfer to a bowl to mix the dry ingredients in, though, as they shouldn’t be blended at high speed.

FAQ

How is spelt flour different from regular flour?

It has less gluten so the methods used for baking with it are a little different. It’s an easy switch to go from plain flour to spelt, though, as it works in much the same way.

What’s special about spelt flour?

It’s a lower-gluten ancient grain, so it’s easier for some people to digest than modern wheat flour. It also has a distinctive nutty flavour that tastes great in baking.

Should spelt flour be refrigerated?

Any whole grain flour should be refrigerated, or at least kept in a cold place, to extend shelf life. Whole grains spoil quickly.

How do you use spelt flour in baking?

Almost all of the baking recipes on Occasionally Eggs, unless gluten-free, are made with spelt flour. It’s used similarly to wheat flour but with some important differences, so I recommend using spelt-specific recipes.

More Banana Recipes

Vegan Banana Blueberry Muffins
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Vegan Banana Milkshake
Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

If you make this Spelt Banana Bread or any other quick bread recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

Yield: 10

Spelt Banana Bread

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour
4.75 from 4 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 3 large ripe bananas 500g / 18 oz. weighed with peel
  • 180 ml oat milk
  • 50 ml olive oil
  • 300 grams spelt flour
  • 80 grams coconut sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 150 grams add-ins (chocolate chips, seeds, nuts, etc.)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease or line a bread tin.
  • Peel the bananas and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mash with a fork.
    3 large ripe bananas
  • Add the milk and olive oil to the bowl and mix to combine.
    180 ml oat milk, 50 ml olive oil
  • Add the spelt flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and add-ins to the mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until just combined, but don't over mix.
    300 grams spelt flour, 80 grams coconut sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 150 grams add-ins (chocolate chips, seeds, nuts, etc.)
  • Spoon into the prepared tin and even out the top of the batter.
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
  • Cool for a few minutes before carefully removing from the tin and cooling fully on a wire rack.
  • Spelt banana bread freezes well and will keep, in a sealed container, for several days at room temperature and longer in the refrigerator.

Video

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.


Nutrition

Serving: 1slice Calories: 320kcal Carbohydrates: 42g Protein: 8g Fat: 14g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Monounsaturated Fat: 6g Sodium: 287mg Potassium: 234mg Fiber: 6g Sugar: 11g Vitamin A: 68IU Vitamin C: 3mg Calcium: 90mg Iron: 3mg

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Muffins and Quick Bread, Snack, Snacks
Cuisine: American
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Print
Woman in garden adjusting peas growing on bamboo.

Occasionally Eggs

by Alexandra Daum

If you’re looking for approachable, seasonal vegetarian recipes, you’re in the right place! Occasionally Eggs is all about healthier plant based recipes that follow the seasons.

Find vegetarian staples, refined sugar free desserts, and hundreds of vegan recipes. All OE recipes are vegetarian, dairy free, and refined sugar free.

More Muffins and Quick Bread:

Oat-topped muffin on a small plate with more muffins behind.Banana Carrot Muffins
Several muffins piled in a shallow bowl with a cinnamon stick.Vegan Apple Muffins
Close up of a stack of three muffins.Lemon Cranberry Muffins
Several pumpkin muffins on a plate.Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Previous Post: « Winter Pizza
Next Post: Chickpea Soup »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Princess Smith says

    October 16, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    I am excited to try this recipe. Can you substitute the sugar for Honey, Agave, or Maple syrup and what adjustments need to be made?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      October 16, 2022 at 8:25 pm

      Hi there – I’d recommend trying this tahini banana bread (you can use any nut/seed butter) instead, which is also made with spelt flour but uses maple syrup instead of coconut sugar. I think it’ll be more reliable than trying to make a sub to liquid sweetener here.

      Reply

About Alexandra
Recipes
FAQ
Contact
Work With Me

STAY IN CONTACT
get weekly updates, exclusive recipes, and more

   

Get the cookbook

© 2023 Occasionally Eggs | Images and text may not be used without permission | Privacy Policy