This Dairy Free Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Cherries is healthy and loaded with natural sweetness. It is also a super moist, kid friendly snack that the whole family will love!
I grew up eating A LOT of banana bread! My mom was not a stellar cook or baker, but she knew how to make a really good chocolate chip banana bread. I’m not sure how much sugar was in her version, but since becoming a mom of sweet-loving kiddos, I have been on a mission to cut back on the added sugar in a lot of my family recipes.
Luckily with banana bread, cutting back on added sugar is actually really easy! Bananas are so naturally sweet that you really don’t need much, and the addition of sweet cherries and dark chocolate chips in there totally levels up the taste profile, without a lot of sugar. With that said, this dairy free banana bread with chocolate chips AND cherries is a MUST for any banana bread fan!
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
This is not your mama’s banana bread. Here are a few reasons why you need this banana bread in your life!
- Dairy free
- Moist
- Kid friendly
- High protein (6 grams per slice)
- High Fibre (4 grams per slice)
- Naturally sweetened
Key Ingredients
Bananas– Obviously. You need to let them get SUPER ripe and speckly, almost going black (but like, not quite). I also add more bananas than most banana bread recipes call for, simply because I find that is what keeps the bread most.
Vegan Yogurt – This keeps the bread super moist without a ton of added fat!
Eggs- Ditto for the moist factor.
Cherries- I use frozen cherries. This not only adds moisture and sweetness, but also makes this bread taste like a banana split!
Dark chocolate chips – I mean, it wouldn’t be chocolate chip banana bread without chocolate!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Step 2: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, honey, eggs, Greek yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
Step 4: Stir in the cherries and chocolate chips.
Step 5: Transfer mixture to the prepared loaf pan. Top with extra cherries, sliced banana, chocolate chips and hemp hearts, then bake for about 60-75 minutes on the middle rack.
Expert Tips
My best tip for ensuring a super moist dairy free banana bread is to use lots and lots of ripe bananas! The riper the better. The eggs, yogurt and honey also contribute moisture, so they are definitely important to include in the recipe.
Recipe FAQs
Honestly, any fruit you like! Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mango, or even pineapple! You just need the bananas in there and the rest is up to you.
Totally. Go ahead and use regular butter and regular yogurt!
You can try, but admittedly I have never tested it. I expect it will definitely work, but won’t be as moist without the eggs. Flax eggs however are a great source of omega-3 fats, which I love! Give it a go and comment below the results!
You can make these into muffins and bake them for about 25-30 minutes for full muffins and 15-17 minutes for minis.
Yes! I often do make a double batch of this dairy free banana bread, wrap one in foil and then in a freezer bag. They can be stored for up to 6 months, and simply thawed and enjoyed on demand.
More Recipes You Might Like
If you enjoyed this dairy free banana bread, I have a ton of other yummy banana recipes! You’re never going to have bananas going to waste now!
- GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD
- PEANUT BUTTER BANANA MINI MUFFINS
- PB & J BANANA MINI MUFFINS
- BANANA PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE MUFFINS
What other add ins do you like in your banana bread? What are your thoughts on this dairy free banana bread? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
Healthy Banana Split Bread with Chocolate Chips (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup very ripe bananas mashed (about 3 medium)
- 1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1/4 cup melted vegan butter
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups frozen cherries
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips dairy free
For topping:
- 4-5 frozen cherries
- 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips dairy free
- 2 tsp hemp hearts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9 inch loaf pan with parchment paper (hanging over the longer sides. Grease the parchment paper and the pan on the short sides with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, honey, eggs, Greek yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Stir in the cherries and chocolate chips then transfer to the loaf pan.
- Top with extra cherries, sliced banana, chocolate chips and hemp hearts, then bake for about 60-75 minutes on the middle rack or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out relatively clean and the sides are well browned. Allow to cool fully on a cooling rack before carefully removing (using the parchment paper), then slicing and eating.
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Nutrition
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Rehoboth says
Awesome chocolate chip banana bread
Samantha says
I always love Abbey’s recipe and this one didn’t let me down. So delicious!
Donna says
I have been wanting to bake this for about 6 weeks. I finally got around to it today and omg! It’s perfect! It’s so easy to make, took at most 5 minutes to get it in the oven. Mine was done after 60 minutes. I didn’t wait for it to cool. I had a slice hot with cream cheese. Then another slice immediately after, It’s such a good recipe. Next time I might add nuts, and I want to try fresh cherries when they’re in season, but it’s absolutely wonderful just the way it is.
Tina says
Abbey thank you so much, I’m so happy I gave this a try! I didn’t have brown sugar so I had to substitute with stevia and I used normal butter instead and mixed in some milk chocolate chips as well. It is moist and delicious!!Love it!
Abbey Sharp says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed. This banana bread is definitely a winner.
Sasha says
Wow! These banana bread is legit! I don’t have vegan butter so I just use regular (don’t @ me) and maple syrup instead of honey. For me, it takes closer to the 75 mins. It’s just so easy and tastes so good! I’ve made it a few times now and it’s my favourite isolation recipe ! Everyone in my bubble loves it too! Thank you Abbey !
Abbey Sharp says
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it. Its one of my personal favs too 🙂