Soft, fragrant, and subtly sweet with warm spice and a little hint of citrus.
There’s something irresistible about the smell of banana bread baking. It hits you right in the memories. But this one is a little different. This yeast-based banana bread rises tall in your bread machine and bakes into a soft, sliceable loaf with just a hint of chew. It’s not sugary like a quick bread. It’s more of a breakfast loaf. You know, the kind you toast, swipe with butter or jam, and enjoy while you’re still waking up.
Banana bread in a bread machine? Absolutely! Banana bread in a bread machine sounds odd until you try it. I had to experiment more than I expected. A couple of loaves came out flatter than I wanted, and one batch looked so questionable I almost didn’t slice it at all. (It still tasted amazing… go figure.) Once the ingredient balance settled into place, the recipe finally became one I reach for again and again.
After getting comfortable with my bread machine, especially after nailing my Pumpkin Bread and my Peanut Butter Bread, I figured it was time to take on the banana loaf challenge. Some test batches were perfect, some… not so perfect, and that’s honestly part of the fun. This version is cozy, fragrant, and it feels like something you’d serve someone you really like.
Why You’ll Love This Yeasted Banana Bread
- Real banana flavor without the heavy sweetness
- Warm spices with a little lift from orange
- Toss it in the bread machine and walk away
- Soft, sliceable, vegan, and great for breakfast toast – or, for that after noon snack
How to make banana bread in the bread maker using yeast
The detailed directions are in the printable recipe card below. The following is an overview of the banana bread recipe.
Steps One and two: Prepare the Orange and Banana
Zest your orange and add the zest to the bread machine pan. Squeeze out one tablespoon of juice. Mash your bananas and measure one full cup.
Cook the mashed banana in a small saucepan over medium heat until it thickens and turns paste-like. It doesn’t take long. Stir the whole time, and don’t wander away. After cooking, it should measure about seven-eighths cup. Add it to the bread machine pan.
Steps Three and Four : The Wet Ingredients
Warm the plant milk and melt the vegan butter just until melted. Add them to the bread machine with the cooked banana, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, maple extract, and salt. Try to scatter the brown sugar around instead of dropping it in one solid clump. It helps everything blend.
Step five: Add the Dry Ingredients
Measure your bread flour using the spoon-and-level method. Add it on top of the wet mixture. Sprinkle your spices evenly over the flour. Make a small indentation and add the yeast right on top.
Accurately measure the flour
For precision in baking, weighing flour is the gold standard as it ensures consistent results. The weight of flour can vary significantly based on factors like humidity and measuring techniques.
However, if you don’t have a scale, the “spoon and swipe” method—lightly spooning flour into a measuring cup and then leveling it off with a flat edge—can offer a more accurate measurement than scooping directly. While weighing remains ideal, the spoon and swipe method is a reliable alternative for achieving better accuracy in your baked goods.
- First “lighten” the flour by stirring it about with a spoon to get some air into it.
- Next, take a spoon or smaller measuring cup and scoop out the lightened flour.
- Then shake the lightened flour into the measuring cup. You’ll be shaking the flour in the measuring cup until the level of the lightened flour is a little bit above the level of the measuring cup.
- Next, take a knife or other flat implement and cut the top of the flour all the way across the measuring cup.
- Finally, with one swift movement, use the same knife to swipe away the excess.
Step six: Let the Bread Machine take over (Your job is done!)
Set the machine to a standard white loaf with a medium crust. Press Start. This is the part where you get to relax while your kitchen starts smelling like warm bananas and spice
Notes & Tips for Success
- Higher-protein plant milks give the best structure. Almond or oat milk will work but may yield a slightly denser loaf.
- Spoon and level your flour so the loaf doesn’t get dense. (See above.)
- Cooking the banana first makes a huge difference in texture – Like, don’t attempt this recipe without doing this important step!
- Store cooled bread wrapped tightly at room temperature for two days or refrigerate up to five – but it’s really best enjoyed the first day.
- Toasting really brings out the flavor. Also jam. Citrus Marmalade and apricot jam are both the chef’s kiss! And butter. Maple cinnamon whipped (vegan) butter is divine.
Final Thoughts
This vegan bread-machine banana bread takes a little patience, but it’s worth it. The loaf is soft and gently chewy, and the banana-orange flavor with warm spices feels like something you’d save for a quiet morning.
If your loaf dips slightly in the center, don’t give it another thought. Slice it. Toast it. Enjoy it. Fruit breads have personality and this one is no exception.
Serve it warm with vegan butter, citrus jam, maple syrup, or your favorite nut butter.
The printable recipe card
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Bread Machine Yeasted Banana Bread with Citrus and Spice (Vegan)
Equipment
- Bead Machine
- orange zester
- small saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- 1 cup mashed banana slightly overripe but edible
- 3 Tablespoons plant milk use a high protein milk like soy milk or pea protein milk for best texture. See notes
- ¼ cup vegan butter melted
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon maple extract
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- 2¾ cup bread flour measured correctly, see notes
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ginger powder
- 1¾ teaspoon rapid rise yeast see notes
Instructions
- Prepare the orange: Zest and juice one med/large orange. Add one tablespoon on the zest and one tablespoon of the juice to the inner pan of the bread maker.1 Tablespoon orange zest, 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- Cook the banana: Mash the banana and then measure out one cup. Place one cup of mashed banana in a small pan on the stovetop and cook on medium/high, stirring constantly till the mashed banana has lost its wet sheen and be more paste-like. This will take anywhere from 3-6 minutes depending on how wet your banana was to begin with. Your banana will have been reduced to ⅞ cup (losing 2 tablespoons). Add the cooked banana to the bread machine pan.1 cup mashed banana
- Warm the milk and butter: Warm the plant milk in the microwave. Melt the vegan butter in the microwave – each for 30ish seconds. The milk should not be so hot that you can't touch it, and the butter just melted – not sizzling.3 Tablespoons plant milk, ¼ cup vegan butter
- Add the wet ingredients: Add the warmed plant milk and melted butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and maple extracts, and salt. The bread flour, spices, and yeast will be added last. Make sure to add the salt to this step though so that it does not interact with the yeast before mixing. Try to sprinkle in the brown sugar as best as you can so that it is not just dumped in a clump.3 Tablespoons plant milk, ¼ cup vegan butter, ⅓ cup light brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup, 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon maple extract
- Add the bread flour: Correctly measure the bread flour (see blog post and notes). Add on top of the wet ingredients2¾ cup bread flour
- Add the spices: Sprinkle the ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, ginger powder, and nutmeg evenly on top of the flour.1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ginger powder
- Add the yeast: Made a little indent in the top of the flour and add the rapid rise yeast on top.1¾ teaspoon rapid rise yeast
- Bake the bread: Set the bread machine to the standard white loaf. Medium crust. Medium-sized loaf. Press start and relax for the next 3ish hours!
