This Vegan Apple Crumble Banana Bread is full of sweet bananas, spiced apples, and a layer of vanilla cream cheese frosting with crumble. It’s extra moist, easy to make, and will become your new favourite banana bread recipe this Autumn / Fall.
Vegan Apple Crumble Banana Bread
This vegan apple crumble banana bread is the ultimate cosy autumnal bake, packed with sweet banana and juicy spiced apples, topped with a buttery crumble for the perfect crunch. But we’re not stopping there, once baked and cooled, it’s finished with a cloud of vegan vanilla cream cheese frosting and even more spiced apples. It’s soft, moist and full of warm cinnamon and autumnal flavour, every bite is a little bit of heaven. You are going to love it!
Looking for more Autumnal recipes? Check out my: Vegan S’mores Brownies, Vegan Pecan Pie Cake, Easy Vegan Toadstool Cookies, and Vegan Pumpkin Spice Tiramisu.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Super moist, thanks to the fresh bananas.
- Topped with silky smooth vanilla cream cheese frosting.
- Finished with a deliciously crunchy and buttery crumble and more spiced apple.
- 100% vegan and completely plant-based!
- Golden, crisp crumble meets soft, fluffy banana bread – it’s so good!
- Perfect with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.
- Cosy and comforting autumnal bake.
- Made with simple, wholesome ingredients.
- The perfect treat for vegans and non-vegans alike.
Recipe tips and tricks
- Use very ripe bananas: The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more flavourful the banana bread will be. Make sure to use bananas with brown spots for ultimate sweetness and flavour.
- Don’t over-mix the batter: Mix until the ingredients are just combined. Over-mixing can make the banana bread dense rather than moist, soft and fluffy.
- Prepare the crumble: Make the crumble in advance so that it has time to cool before adding ontop of the frosting, as any heat could immediately melt the frosting.
- Choose the right apples: Be sure to use apples that hold their shape when cooked, such as Granny Smith or Pink Lady apples, for little pockets of spiced apple throughout the banana bread.
- Don’t overfill the loaf tin: Leave enough room for the banana bread to rise (this recipe will rise).
- Make the crumble buttery: Rub the butter into the dry ingredients for a crumbly crumble with crunchy bits on top.
- Cool completely before frosting: Make sure the banana bread is cool before adding the cream cheese frosting, otherwise it will immediately melt and slide off the side of the cake.
- Add vanilla generously: A good amount of vanilla bean paste into the cream cheese frosting as it helps to balance out the warm spices and brings out the sweetness of the banana and apple, along with adding speckles into the frosting.
- Let it rest before slicing: Once frosted, give the loaf some time to settle. This makes it easier to slice neatly and allows all the delicious flavours come together.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Apple Crumble Loaf Cake
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Enjoy the taste of autumn with Vegan Apple Crumble Banana Bread. Moist, spiced, and topped with crumble and creamy frosting.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the banana bread
- 120ml of soy milk
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 320g of ripe bananas (without skin/peel)
- 120g of caster sugar
- 60g of dairy-free plain / vanilla yogurt
- 80ml of oil (i use sunflower)
- 280g of plain / all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon of ground all spice
- 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
- Vegan butter (See step 9)
Ingredients for the spiced apples
- 4 red (granny smith or pink lady) apples (sliced and diced)
- 30g of caster sugar
- 1 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground all spice
- 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting
- 70g of dairy-free cream cheese
- 40g of dairy-free butter
- 120g of icing / powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
Ingredients for the crumble
- 150g of plain / all purpose flour
- 100g of caster sugar
- 100g of dairy-free block butter (chilled)
Instructions
Method (spiced apples)
- Chop the apples into small chunks (squares) and add into a mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle over the sugar and spices, mix to combine. Make sure the apples are evenly coated.
- Set aside while you make the banana bread batter.
Method (banana bread)
- Preheat your oven to 170°C fan and line a loaf tin with grease proof paper. Allow the paper to hang either side of the tin, this makes it easier for lifting out the bread when baked.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Whisk together then set aside for 5-10 minutes. This creates the vegan ‘buttermilk.’
- In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas until mostly smooth (a few small lumps are fine).
- Add the vegan ‘buttermilk’, caster sugar, dairy-free yogurt and oil. Mix until smooth.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices until no dry ingredients are visible.
- Add some of the mixture into the lined tin, spread even then add a layer of the spices apples. Repeat until you’ve used up all of the banana bread batter (refer to video for example).
- To get the classic loaf ‘crack’ down the middle of the bread, cut some long pieces of vegan butter and place down a line into the batter.
- Place the banana bread into the oven and bake for for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are okay). Check the bread at 40 minutes, to ensure it’s not burning. If the top looks like it’s browning, lay over a sheet of baking paper to prevent further browning.
- Once baked, allow the banana bread to cool in the tin for about 10–15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before adding on the cream cheese frosting.
Method (Cream cheese frosting)
- In a stand mixer with balloon whisk attachment or in a medium sized mixing bowl with a hand whisk, add in the dairy-free cream cheese and butter and whip together for 2-5 minutes until light, pale and fluffy.
- Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and whip until its thick and creamy.
- Spoon the frosting on top of the loaf cake (only when the cake has cooled, as any heat can immediately melt the frosting). Use an off-set spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it over the entire banana bread.
- Decorate with some cooked spiced apples (see notes) and the golden crumble on top.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Store: Store in a sealed container in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before enjoying. Best eaten 2-3 days of making
Cooked spiced apples: Cook some of the spiced apples in a saucepan over low / medium heat, with a splash of water until the apples have softened and the sugar has made a delicious syrup. Allow this to cool then top the banana bread with it.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45-50 minutes
- Category: Cakes and layer cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
