Darshana Thacker Wendel
Darshana Thacker Wendel is a whole-food, plant-based chef and former culinary projects manager for Forks Over Knives. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of Forks Over Knives: Flavor! She created the recipes for Forks Over Knives Family and was a lead recipe contributor to the New York Times bestseller The Forks Over Knives Plan. Her recipes have been published in The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, and LA Yoga magazine online. Visit DarshanasKitchen.com and follow her on Instagram for more.
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Comments (52)
I thought that when I made it all of my family loved it but said that when I tried making it with dairy milk it tasted better.
Rose age 9.
Bland, rubbery, and dry. I’m an experienced home cook and I followed the recipe to the letter, and it still turned out poorly. I’m glad it turned out well for other people, but my loaf went in the trash.
4 tsps of vanilla seems excessive? Please advise. Thanks.
Delicious! So glad I made this, it came out perfect.
This is my all time favorite bread! It has so much flavor. It’s like a treat to have a piece.
This is SO tasty! It’s exactly what I was hoping for, soft and flavorful. I used oat flour and coconut sugar and omitted nuts and figs, and it worked great. Next time I’ll try without the sugar because I’m pretty sure it’ll still be delish.
I use a pampered chef 4 loaf pan (using only 3) for 35 minutes and it’s perfect. I substitute oat flour and use different dried fruit and occasional add shredded coconut- so it’s a great base recipe for any treat.
Can I substitute applesauce for the cane sugar?
I’m not FOK but if you use applesauce I would reduce the amount of banana so it’s not too wet. I see others are omitting sugar though, and I’ll probably use date sugar. 🙂
Horrible gummy bread that never truly baked inside, even though i left it in for longer. Just a waste of my ingredients. Skip this.
Since cane sugar is not such a good thing, why didn’t FOK use or at least suggest an alternative?
I did not understand the sugar either.Is cane sugar a whole food?? A plant based food?
Hi Leslie,
In some cases we recommend using a small amount of cane sugar (or white flour.) While these ingredients are processed, we think that the payoff in taste and texture is worth using them sparingly because a little really does go a long way. If you want to omit the cane sugar in this recipe, you could replace it with coconut sugar or date sugar. Let us know how it goes!
My bread is done but didn’t brown! I double checked the recipe and I didn’t forget anything. Help!8
I made a mistake with my previous comment, forgot to add the word “out” to with to make the word without. I meant to say the banana bread was fine without the sugar added because of the sugar in the fruit. Carol Starkey
Where is the nutrition information?
Can this be made without sugar? I am on Esselstyn heart diet.
I have made these breads with the sugar listed and they turned out fine! There is a lot of sugar in the fruit.
Is there a substitute for the wheat flour that works I can not have gluten.
Use almond flour or Paleo Flour!
is there a way to use fresh figs instead of dried? I have a bunch out on my fig tree right now.
I have a fig tree with a bumper crop right now. Any suggestions for changes if using fresh figs? Maybe less plant milk?
Given that bananas vary greatly in size, why wouldn’t you give the measurement for mashed banana in cups? This is pretty basic.
4 medium bananas is approximately 2 cups of mashed banana
I agree that a volume or weight measurement would have been helpful in this recipe. I had five smaller, ripe bananas that needed to be used up. I omitted the sugar. This bread was good but still too sweet for my tastes. I can’t imagine adding any additional sweetener.
This was delicious! I used chopped dates and substituted brown sugar for cane sugar. I used the walnuts also. It as moist and delicious. Perfectly risen and flavored. I love there is no egg and oil!
Love this recipe! Easy to make and tastes delicious. Great grab and go breakfast or snack.
I made it GF & mostly vegan using oat half/half, & gluten free flour, but I had to use pecans since I had them. The oat half/half worked great. My gf family absolutely loved it.
Figs are not vegan
I’m sure any dry fruit will work, such as raisins or dates
Most figs grown in the US are self-pollinating and do not contain wasps and are therefore vegan.
Eating WFPB isn’t the same being as vegan. I’m not concerned about accidentally eating the little wasps that pollinate figs.
Why? They are from a tree.
Great recipe, not too sweet! I’m be making it again soon, the bananas are ripening!
Instead of 2 cups of whole wheat flour can I use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup vital wheat gluten?
I would not substitute a whole cup of gluten for a cup of flour. Plus, this is a “quick bread” that does not need a lot of gluten.
Worth the try, you may need to adjust the liquid. I’m not sure if the wheat gluten absorbs more of not.
I admit I was a little doubtful at first because of the amount of baking powder and apple cider vinegar in the recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised. It has a nice crispy top crust and moist interior. The figs add a nice variety to the bread and I look forward to making more.
I’ve always had a problem with my banana breads not rising properly. Holy cow, this one did not disappoint. Plus its so delicious, simple and clean! Love it, will definitely make again.
Can I use date paste instead of date sugar?I have been given some date paste and am not sure what to do with it
I made this yesterday and both my aunt and I love it! Added almonds instead because I didn’t have walnuts and I didn’t add the dates. 10/10 would make again. I’m trying to go vegan so when I saw it I ran. My only concern is when cooled it’s not as moist as I’d like and the flavor of the WHF is strong. But it’s not overbearing. I’m definitely heating this up with some icecream tonight!
Love this bread. It is my staple. Curbes all biscuit and sugar cravings,
This is an easy and delicious recipe. My husband loves it so I make it frequently.
I would really love this for breakfast! This Peach Bread Recipe also gives the same vibe 🙂 https://veganglobetrotter.com/delicious-peach-breakfast-bread-3-favorites/
This was nicer than what I expected. It was moist and nicely browned. I wonder if rolled oats could have been used instead, and what was the purpose of the vinegar? I used Swerve sweetner because that is what was on the shelf. I would definitely make this again.
Can the figs be substituted with dates?
No harm in trying
This Banana-Fig Bread is very good but I was wondering if I could make muffins this time, with this receipe.
Thanks,
Cathy Jardine
Overall, quite good. It rose beautifully, which was a pleasant surprise after some of the vegan loaf recipes I have tried in the past. 4/5 stars only because after baking until done based on the toothpick test and lightly browned on the outside, the inside of the loaf was still moister than what I personally prefer.
We are not a dairy free or refined sugar free household, so I made this recipe with cow’s milk and white sugar, but this was wonderfully moist and made the whole house smell delicious! The figs and walnuts added great texture and flavors!
Can the sugar be eliminated?
Yes! Do not use pure sugar cane. Use date sugar only which is dried dates that have been pulverized. Dates in their dried state do not raise blood sugar. You can cut back the volume to 1/4 cup if you like.