Delicious marbled banana bread which will impress children and adults alike. The recipe is easy to make, refined sugar-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, and healthy. This moist chocolate marble bread is perfect for breakfast on weekends. Or serve it with vegan chocolate spread as dessert!
Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread
I am probably the biggest fan of vegan banana bread which is no wonder since banana is my favorite fruit! If you have overripe bananas, you can either freeze them (to make nice cream) or you can make this delicious chocolate swirl banana bread. It contains 3 large bananas which make the bread moist and soft! Not only will they add a nice flavor, but they also serve as a fantastic egg replacement.
And since I love chocolate as much as I love banana, I couldn’t resist making chocolate marble bread! If you think it’s difficult or complicated to make this swirl pattern – I can assure you it’s not. It’s actually pretty easy to make a zebra cake and it looks fun – children love it!
All you need is just one batter which you divide into two bowls. Then you add cocoa powder, and a few other ingredients to one of the bowls to make the chocolate batter. Add a few spoons of light batter into the loaf pan, then add some chocolate batter. Continue until no batter is left. It’s always a surprise to cut into the freshly baked loaf and to find out how the marble pattern turned out!
Coconut Flour Banana Bread
I made a lot of gluten free banana bread recipes in the past, but I was never 100% satisfied. It can be a challenge if you live on an island with no access to a good gluten-free flour blend, therefore I always experiment in my kitchen. However, I really love how this coconut flour banana bread turned out.
I don’t use coconut flour very often because it’s very absorbing and can dry out baked goods if used in vegan recipes without eggs. But if you mix it with other flours it can make a perfect loaf which is soft and moist!
Not only is this recipe eggless, but you can also easily make this banana bread without butter. I just added 1 tablespoon each of coconut oil to the light batter and chocolate batter and that made it soft and delicious.
The Step-By-Step Instructions
Check the 6 step-by-step photos above. For the full ingredients list, ingredient measurements, and nutritional information, then please read the printable recipe card below.
Step 1 – Add all dry ingredients to a bowl and stir until there are no clumps.
Step 2 – Blend the wet ingredients in a blender until completely smooth. You can also use a food processor.
Step 3 – Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula or a spoon until the mixture is combined. Don’t over mix the batter
Step 4 – Divide the batter into two bowls. I recommend adding 1/3 of the batter to one bowl and 2/3 of the batter to the other bowl. Then add the ingredients for the chocolate layer to the bowl that has just 1/3 of the batter and mix with a whisk.
Step 5 – Line a loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it with a little oil (my mold measures 8 x 4 x 2.5 inches). Preheat your oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Step 6 – To make the swirl, simply drizzle a spoon of light batter into the pan, then with a different spoon drizzle a spoon of the chocolate batter on top of it, then again the light batter, etc until no batter is left.
Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes (+/- 5 minutes). The dairy free banana bread is ready when a toothpick comes out almost clean (can still have some crumbs on it).
Creamy Chocolate Spread
Plain vegan banana bread is delicious, no question, but I also like to put more chocolate on top of a thick slice. You should really give it a try, it’s so yummy! I will share my Easy Chocolate Hazelnut Spread with you. Simply mix everything together and you end up with a super delicious and creamy chocolate spread.
How To Store
You can store it at room temperature during colder months for a few days. If you live in a hot climate, I definitely recommend storing it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
You can also freeze this marbled banana bread. It’s best to put wax paper between the individual slices and store in freezer bags for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge or reheat in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until warmed through.
Recipe Notes
Sweetener: I used maple syrup for a refined sugar-free banana bread, however, you can also use agave syrup or your favorite liquid sweetener.
Coconut milk: I like using canned coconut milk because it makes the marble bread moist and soft due to the higher fat amount. If you don’t like coconut milk, you can use your favorite plant-based milk and add 1-2 tablespoons oil in addition.
Gluten-Free Flour: You can experiment with a different gluten-free flour blend, however, as mentioned above, coconut flour is very absorbent. That’s why you would have to use at least 1/2 a cup of a different flour (e.g. almond flour) instead of coconut flour. You can use arrowroot flour instead of tapioca flour.
Related Recipes
If you love bananas, you might also love the following vegan recipes:
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Marble Bundt Cake
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Banana Blueberry Bread
- Vegan Banana Pudding
- 3-Ingredient Banana Pancakes
- Chocolate Crepes With Banana
I hope you will like this recipe as much as I do. If you give it a try, let me know how it turned out. Please comment below and tag me with @elavegan and #elavegan if you post it on Instagram or Facebook so that I can see your vegan marbled banana bread.
Marbled Banana Bread
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (160 g) white rice flour
- 1/2 cup (50 g) tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup (33 g) coconut flour (*see recipe notes)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet ingredients:
- 3 medium (350 g) ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) coconut milk canned
- 1/3 cup (110 g) maple syrup
- 3 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp (14 g) coconut oil melted
Chocolate layer
- 6 tbsp (40 g) cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp (20 g) coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) coconut milk canned
- 1 tbsp (14 g) coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Put the dry ingredients (rice flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, and baking soda + baking powder) in a big bowl and stir until there are no clumps.
- Blend the wet ingredients (bananas, coconut milk, maple syrup, lime juice, vanilla extract, coconut oil) in a food processor or blender.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until the mixture is just combined.
- Split the batter into two bowls, so that you have about 1/3 of the batter in one bowl and 2/3 of the batter in the other bowl.
- Add the ingredients for the chocolate layer (cocoa powder, coconut sugar, coconut milk, coconut oil) to the bowl with 1/3 of the batter and mix with a whisk.
- Line a mold with parchment paper or grease it with a little bit of coconut oil. My mold measures 8 x 4 x 2.5 inches and preheat your oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- For the marble effect/swirl, just drizzle a tsp of light batter into your mold, then with a different spoon drizzle a tsp of the chocolate batter on top of it, then again the light batter, etc until no batter is left.
- Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes (+/- 5 minutes). The cake is ready when a toothpick comes out almost clean (can still have some crumbs on it).
- Enjoy your marbled banana bread with a chocolate spread!
Notes
Video Of The Recipe
- Flour: You can use a different gluten-free flour blend, however, if you sub coconut flour for a different flour then you need to increase the amount of flour. Coconut flour is very absorbent, that's why you would have to use at least 1/2 a cup of a different flour instead of coconut flour. My gluten-free flour blend made it fluffy and resulted in great texture and I totally recommend it.
- Sweetener: I used maple syrup for a refined sugar-free version, however, you can also use agave syrup or your favorite liquid sweetener.
- Coconut milk: I prefer using canned coconut milk because it makes the bread moist and soft due to the higher fat amount. If you don't like coconut milk, you can use your favorite plant-based milk and add 1-2 tablespoons oil in addition.
- The recipe makes one loaf which I cut into 10 pieces. Nutrition facts are for one piece.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Hi Ela,
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I followed it as written, although I used brown rice flour instead of white rice flour. However, the batter was incredibly thick, so definitely couldn’t “drizzle” the different layers of batter. So I had a question about measuring the dry ingredients, in particular the flours. I used a kitchen scale to measure by weight using the measurements you provided. Could that have been the problem? Should I have used the “cups” instead? The resulting loaf still tasted great, it’s just the appearance of the loaf as the layers didn’t level out and stayed piled. I suppose I can just call it an artisanal loaf.😂
Hi Jennifer, it’s always correct to follow the metric measurements which I provide. The batter might have been thicker due to the brown rice flour. I never used it for this recipe, so I am not sure.
You can see how thick my batter was in the step-by-step pics and in the video. It’s quite thick, not pourable, so maybe the word “drizzle” was not correct. Sorry, English is not my first language. 🙂
PS: The weight of the bananas is without the peel. I hope this helps.
Hello Ela! I love love love all your recipes. I tried this recipe replacing the white rice flour with Almond Flour but it did not rise or cook as well……..I had to put it back in the oven a couple of times, however, it tastes amazing!! Wondering what I may have done wrong or maybe the the Almond flour is not a good replacement.? Would brown rice flour work better? Thank you again for your amazing recipes!! They are greatly appreciated by me and my family!
Hello Paula, you cannot replace white rice flour with almond flour. You could only replace the coconut flour with almond flour, as explained in the post.
However, brown rice flour should work fine. I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Thank you Ela! I will try with Brown Rice flour next, but even though it did not come out as pictured with the almond flour, it tastes amazing!!! Everyone in the family still loved it. Will be making this recipe again for sure! Thank you again!
No worries, Paula! I am so glad it turned out delicious. 🙂
Hi Ela,
I followed the recipe however it came out very dry. Do you have an idea why this happened? Thanks
Hi Laura, did you maybe bake it a little too long (or your oven heats more than mine does?).
Does this turn out well with regular flour? Does it need to be modified?
Hi, I haven’t tried it, but I would suggest using 2 cups of regular flour.
Hi Ela. I tried to make this recipe to the T. Cooked for 45 mins. Let it cool for 25 mins or so. And when i sliced it… it was gooey in the center.. even though when i inserted the toothpick it came out clean. What do you think could have gone wrong here. 😔
Hi Pam, sorry to hear it didn’t turn out well. Did you use the exact same flours? What was the size of your pan? If it was smaller, the baking time will increase. Or maybe your oven wasn’t hot enough?
Thank you soooo much for a very wonderful delicious marble cake recipe! My teenager made this and it came out amazing!! It’s so moist and delicious! Reminds me so much of the cake we use to buy at a bakery shop in Japan before going vegan. It’s so wonderful. Thanks again!
That’s awesome, Sarah! I am so glad you and your teenagers liked it. Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Great recipe, as always! <3 The cake is moist, sweet and delicious. Thank you, Ela!
Sending plant-based love from Poland :)))
Hi Sylwia, I am glad you liked it! Thanks for your feedback and greetings to Poland. 🙂
This recipe is phenomenal! For fun, I added about a tablespoon of flaxseed meal. I also add some monk fruit for sweetening. What is not to love about this? It goes together quickly and looks so attractive with the marble effect. This is definitely a save and do over snd over again recipe.
Thank you for all your suggestions, too! I did make the chocolate sauce with peanut flour—another winner!
That’s awesome, Lynn. Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
This is a regular in our house. What a wonderful recipe! Actually… What a wonderful site! I haven’t had any meals from here I don’t like. It’s all fab. Thank you so much for your work, and sharing the deliviousness ❤
Hi Airike! Thanks so much for your lovely feedback! I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Happy weekend!
This turned out yummy. The only issue is the whole outer crust is a little chewy. The outer layer also cooked much faster in about 35 minutes but the inside felt slightly undercooked. So I covered the dish in foil and kept at lowest temperature for another 25 minutes. Any idea why this could have happened?
Also, if I don’t want to add the chocolate part, will the measurements for baking powder and baking soda be the same?
Thanks for sharing such an amazing recipe ????
Hi Rachna, thanks for your feedback. I don’t know why yours came out slightly undercooked. Maybe your bananas were larger/heavier, or it could be because every oven heats a little differently. Also, tapioca flour does tend to make baked goods slightly “gummy”, and if you want to prevent that you could use cornstarch instead.
I would reduce the baking powder by about 1/4 tsp if you don’t want to use the chocolate part. 🙂
Hi Ela , may I use maple syrup instead of coconut sugar for the chocolate part recipe ?
I think that should be fine, but please use less milk then. 🙂
Hi ela, may I know how less ? Recipe says 80 ML. How many ml should I use to get the taste and consistency ?
I never tried it, so you will need to experiment. The batter should have a similar thickness to the light batter. 🙂
Thank you ela, I shall try that. I am planning to ship this cake from toronto to chicago. Would the cake survive with a good shelf life? I am going to clip wrap the cake cutting them into slices. Each slice would be clinged wrap.
Good question, I hope so, but I cannot promise it. 🙂