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
Delphine 21
Merci pour cette belle recette, j’ai fait quelques adaptations mais nous avons aimé. J’ai remplacé les 160g de farine de riz (marre de ne manger que de la farine de riz) par 70 g de farine de sarrasin + 50g de farine de riz + 40g de farine de teff. et ça fonctionne nickel. Au moment de mettre mon extrait de vanille je me suis dit que j’avais fait une grosse bêtise : il est tellement concentré (je l’ai ramené de Martinique) qu’il colore toutes mes préparations en marron. Du coup je me suis dit qu’il n’y avait plus d’intérêt de faire un marbré, on aurait pas vu la différence entre la couche nature et la couche cacaotée. J’ai opté pour la couche nature avec des pépites de choc, et c’était parfait. Merci encore.
Ela
I translated your comment with Google Translate, but since I don’t speak French I will reply in English. 🙂 I am so glad you liked the recipe! How interesting that the vanilla extract from Martinique was so intense that it colored the whole bread brown. Thanks for sharing the alternate flour blend, happy to hear it turned out great with a mixture of buckwheat flour, rice flour, and teff flour. 🙂
DaniELA
Hello Ela,
Can I change the coconut water/milk in an other „milk“. Did. you try it before?
Thanks DaniELA 😉
Ela
Hi Daniela, I answered this already in the recipe notes. I will copy and paste if for you:
Andrea
Hi Ela. Can I eliminate the oil? If so how much applesauce in it’s place?
Ela
Hi, you can replace 1 tbsp oil with 1 tbsp applesauce, but keep in mind that the result can be different.
A
Wish if you can make a classic healthy vegan Banana bread
Ela
You can make it plain without the chocolate part. 🙂
Patrycja
I used buckwheat flour instead of coconut flour (doubled the amount as recommended), it turned out really good!
The taste of buckwheat is quite strong, so it probably would not work for everyone.
.
Ela
Sounds great! Thanks for your feedback, Patrycja. 🙂
Raisa
I made this banana bread today and subbed the rice flour for oat flour. Ela, I have to say it is the best banana bread I ever did make. I will definitely save it for the future. ♥️
Ela
Yay, that’s awesome, Raisa! I am so glad it turned out great with oat flour. Thanks for your amazing feedback! 🙂
Deborah
Wow!! This recipe is FANTASTIC. I made a couple modification based on what I had, used lemon instead of lime, sunflower oil instead of coconut because I don’t like coconut for baking. Added walnuts! And I halved the recipe and made it into 2 mini loafs. I LOVE how soft and moist it is. Thanks!!
Ela
Fantastic! I am glad it came out delicious! Thank you for your feedback, Deborah. 🙂
Rachna
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Can you tell me how many cups will the 3 medium sized mashed bananas be? I usually do cup measurements instead of weight.
Thanks.
Ela
Hi Rachna, it would be about 1 1/3 cups. Hope this helps. 🙂
Roopa
Hello Ela,
Bread came out delicious, I did not find canned coconut milk at this time so I used boxed one. I added one tablespoon extra oil .stillTop part got pop separated little! Next time would be better. Do you have any other suggestions for this?
Thanks lot for beautifully described detailed recipe:)
Ela
Hello Roopa! I am glad it turned out delicious. I am not sure what you mean with “stillTop part got pop separated little”?
Much love, Ela
Kinga
I have made this cake multiple times now and my kids love the taste. I love the taste and the fact that it’s gluten free. My youngest has a gluten sensitivity. Thank you for this wonderful recipe :*
Ela
I am very glad that you and your kids love the banana bread, Kinga! 🙂
Astrid Espitia
Hola Ela, me encanta tu trabajo visual, es realmente de admiración…gracias a tus recetas porque son inspiración para ser vegana y comer más saludable.
Ela
Aww, you are very welcome, Astrid! Muchas gracias. 🙂
Darleen
I will be so excited it this tastes as good as it looks. I even have all the ingredients. Can’t wait to try it
Ela
Great! Enjoy. 🙂
Katie
What are a few different substitutes for rice flour? I dont have that one on hand and am still “new” to the gluten free baking world.
Ela
You could most likely use buckwheat flour or sorghum flour instead. A store-bought gluten-free flour blend should work as well. 🙂
Ce
Hi!
I am following you on Instagram for a while now and tried your recipe yesterday as I lack of gluten free baking experience and wanted to finally have a great texture to my cakes.
Just to tell you thank you! The recipe turned out great! I didn’t do the chocolate layer, which I replaced by dark chocolate chips, and replaced maple by agave syrup, and cooked only 35mn (otherwise my oven would have burnt the cake), but so so yummy!!
I have to say it is so hard but way worth it to wait for it to cool completely so the tapioca sets and is not chewy.
Well thank you again, next time I will try to use chickpea flour instead of rice (local flour where I am) and maybe insert a homemade blackcurrant jam instead of chocolate 🙂
Ela
Sounds awesome! Thanks so much for your great comment! 🙂
Tasha
Can you taste the coconut in the finished product?
Ela
I don’t, Tasha. But I wouldn’t mind it either because I love coconut. You can, however, use any other plant-based milk and add a little more oil (since coconut milk contains more fat than any other milk). Hope this helps. 🙂
Rach
Hey!
Love love love the look of this,
Was wondering whether I could replace the cocoa powder with cacao powder and if so, how would you go about it?
Thanks!
Ela
Yes, absolutely! You can use cacao powder, it will taste a little bit more bitter though. 🙂
Anton
Thank you, Ela! The taste and the structure are awesome!
I have used popato starch instead of tapioca flour and hommade hemp milk instead of coconut milk – and the result is still great! I am really pleased having the bread with a cub of nettle tea:) Ups, and I’ve lost the mabre effect by incident – used carob syrop – and the batter became as dark as with cocoa powder in it ))
How do you think, is it ok to use ground sunflower seeds instead of peanut flour? I have to make some modofocations, because it’s rather difficult to find all proper ingridients here in Ukraine.
Thank you!
Ela
Hello Anton! I am so happy you liked the recipe. Do you mean ground sunflower seeds for the chocolate spread? I wouldn’t use it as it’s very different from powdered peanut butter (which turns into peanut butter when you mix it with water). You can leave it out and use more cocoa powder or use any kind of nut butter. 🙂
Nesreen
Hi! This recipe looks AMAZING!
Is it possible to make the recipe using just white flour?
Ela
You can give it a try! Since I don’t use wheat flour (I have a wheat intolerance) I am unable to tell you how it will turn out. You will most likely need less plant-based milk though since coconut flour is very absorbent. 🙂
Melissa
Nesreen, I’m curious if you had any success using white flour? We don’t have gluten sensitivities here and I’d love to try it with what I have on hand!
Lynn
Yes I too would love to know how to make this with all wheat flour.!
Ela
It should work just fine. Simply use less milk and add more if needed. Check the video to see how thick the batter should be. 🙂
Sue Newman
This recipe is outstanding! Since I am currently undergoing chemo and have a very unpleasant metallic taste in my mouth, the combination of banana and chocolate is perfection. Thank you so much for sharing your creative culinary skills. Every recipe I’ve tried is wonderful.
Ela
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback, Sue! I am truly wishing you all the best.
Much love, Ela ????
Anica’s
I loved it! I made it for my daughter( allergies), but enjoyed a couple of slices myself ???? while packing her snack box ???????? thank you!!!!!!! P.S. I hope it freezes well! The rec. is a keeper, never the less!
Ela
So happy you liked my recipe! I never tried freezing the banana bread though. 🙂
Anica Nestorovski
Im making another batch, and I have been freezing slices, between baking paper in boxes! all well!
Ela
Sounds amazing! 🙂