Valentine’s Day Banana Bread (Vegan GF-Option)
A light and fluffy vanilla banana bread with a hidden pink banana bread heat inside frosted with a luscious pink buttercream and decorated with heart-shaped sugar cookies. This banana bread creation is naturally vegan and easily gluten-free.
Now, I may not be one to rub Valentine’s Day in your faces, and truth be told I don’t have anyone to celebrate with apart from my friends for Galentine’s and I suppose we should celebrate self-love, too! That said, like Christmas and festive bakes, I am loving any excuse to make things pink and add all the extra sprinkles and decoration! It is so fun to make cakes and bakes pretty – even if it takes some time and patience!
Icing cookies is so fun, and I cannot think of anything more relaxing (when it goes right) but it can be time-consuming! So, pop some music on, bake the cookies for topping this Valentine’s Day Banana Bread and then decorate the Heart Sugar Cookies with friends/family/little ones and go as wild or as reserved as you like. They’re slightly crisp, with a slightly softer inside and a golden colour. They have a yummy crunch, and they hold really well on top of cakes and dunked into tea.
The Heart Sugar Cookies are based on my recipe for Chocolate Covered Mummy Sugar Cookies but use whatever shapes you like. The recipe is really versatile and makes lots of cookies!
Moving onto the cake part for this Valentine’s Day Banana Bread: it’s similar to my Hidden Gingerbread Banana Bread as there’s a really fun hidden shape inside the outer loaf: a pink heart. It is easy to make, when you know how, and I’ve uploaded a video on my social media to show you.
How to make a hidden heart banana bread:
- Make the pink banana bread loaf: a simple banana bread recipe coloured pink either with natural vegan food colouring or using a pink powder like beetroot/pitaya or something similar.
- Bake and cool the pink banana bread: it has to cool down fully.
- Slice the pink loaf: into slices about the same thickness as your cutter.
- Cut out the heart shapes: cut out a heart from each slice of banana bread. Keep them lined up in order.
- Make the vanilla banana bread batter: this is the main banana bread.
- Spoon a layer on the bottom of the dish: just a shallow layer.
- Line up the hearts: in the correct order, down the centre of the loaf tin.
- Spoon over the vanilla batter: carefully spoon over the rest of the batter to evenly cover the hearts.
- Bake: until golden brown, risen and firm to touch.
That’s it! The resulting Valentine’s Day Banana Bread has a lovely little heart-shaped surprise inside and then simply frost the cake with pink buttercream. Use a vegan, natural food colouring if desired or use a pink berry powder for the colour (be aware of any taste it may add) and then top with the cookies and other sprinkles!
I am really into buttercream at the moment after discovering a love for a really good vegan butter brand. I often use vegan margarine, too, but butter really is better for buttercreams in terms of texture and taste!
A few notes on this banana bread:
- For a gluten-free banana bread: make sure to use a recommended 1:1 GF flour blend for both banana bread batters and for the cookies, too.
- If you only want to make one banana bread: choose either the pink or the vanilla recipes and make one cake and then continue to make the buttercream.
- If you’re looking for a healthier frosting: I love my protein mousse from the Peanut Butter Protein Cookie Cups for frosting cakes, too.
- What to do with the leftover pink banana bread: make my Vegan Chocolate Cake Balls coming very soon! Keep your sliced cake in a container for up to 3 days before making the cake balls/pops.
I hope you will love this fun, Valentine’s day themed Banana Bread, it is fun to make all year round, as the flavours are classic banana bread with sugar cookies – which are always a winner! The banana bread is light and fluffy, slightly chewy and vanilla-y with a luscious, sweet buttercream and gorgeous decorations. I also love to add some pink and white sprinkles, too.
If you are looking for more Valentine’s Day recipes, how about my:
- Vegan Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
- White Chocolate Macadamia and Cranberry Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Salted Chocolate Almond Butter Fudge Cups
- Raspberry Jam Babka
- Coconut and Raspberry Wagon Wheel Bites
Heart Sugar Cookies (Vegan GF-Option)
Simple and sweet sugar cookies with a few basic ingredients that are naturally vegan with easy GF Swaps. They are slightly crisp and golden with a softer middle and perfect for decorating.
Ingredients
- Cookies:
- 100g vegan butter or margarine
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp plant-based milk
- 250g plain or GF flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- A pinch of salt Icing:
- 100g icing sugar
- 2-3 tsp water
- Optional: 1/2 – 1 tsp food colouring
Directions
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla essence and the milk until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and add in the salt. Stir to a thick dough, bringing together with your hands.
- Wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line 2-3 large baking trays with parchment paper.
- Lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and roll out on the dusted parchment underneath a second piece of parchment. Roll to about 1/2cm thickness and cut out cookie shapes. Re-roll any scraps and continue to use up all the dough.
- Work in batches to bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until golden – smaller cookies will cook in less time.
- Allow to cool fully on a wire rack. Once cool, stir together the icing sugar, water and optional food colouring until thick but pipe-able and ice/decorate the cookies.
Pink Banana Bread (Vegan GF-Option)
A simple and delicious pink vanilla banana bread that makes a gorgeous colour for a hidden heart cake or a fun Valentine’s themed loaf on its own. Decorate with fluffy pink buttercream and sugar cookies for a fun, vegan and gluten-free bake.
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed (300g)
- 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
- 1/3 cup (80ml) plant-based milk
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50g caster or coconut sugar
- 180g plain or GF plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp vegan pink food colouring or 1 heaped tsp pink/red food powder
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a loaf tin.
- Mash the bananas until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Add in the chia seeds, milk, sunflower oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence and sugar. Leave for 5 minutes.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and food colouring. Stir to a thick and smooth batter.
- Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and cool fully on a wire rack.
- Either continue onto step 1 below to make the hidden heart banana bread or skip to step 6 to frost this cake.
Valentine’s Banana Bread (Vegan GF-Options)
A light and fluffy vanilla banana bread with a hidden pink banana bread heat inside frosted with a luscious pink buttercream and decorated with heart-shaped sugar cookies. This banana bread creation is naturally vegan and easily gluten-free.
Ingredients
- Banana Bread:
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed (300g)
- 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
- 1/3 cup (80ml) plant-based milk
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50g caster or coconut sugar
- 180g plain or GF plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda Frosting:
- 100g vegan butter
- 150g-200g icing sugar
- 1 tsp milk
- ½ – 1 tsp vegan pink food colouring
- To decorate: vegan heart sugar cookies, sprinkles
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a loaf tin.
- Using the cooled pink banana bread, slice into thin slices (the same thickness as your cookie cutter) and cut out a heart from each slice. Store the leftover cake in a container or eat. Keep the hearts in order.
- Make the plain banana bread batter: mash the bananas until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Add in the chia seeds, milk, sunflower oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence and sugar. Leave for 5 minutes.
- Add in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir to a thick and smooth batter.
- Pour a few tablespoons of batter into the loaf tin to cover the base. Line up the pink banana bread hearts down the centre of the tin and carefully cover with the rest of the plain banana bread batter. Bake the loaf for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and cool fully on a wire rack.
- Prepare the frosting by beating the butter until smooth and gradually add in the icing sugar, food colouring/powder and plant-based milk until thick and smooth.
- Spread onto the cooled cake and decorate with sugar cookies and sprinkles. Store the banana bread in an airtight container for 3-5 days or freeze (un-frosted) in slices.
I look forward to hearing what you think of this Valentine’s Day Banana Bread, so please let me know in the comments below and tag me in your bakes, I love seeing them! I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With V-Day banana bread love x
Nummy!
🙂 thank you
Looks so cute, Amy!
thank you so much, Marrah! It was so fun to make 🙂
[…] cake! Whether you have cake that’s going a bit dry or is a bit sad-looking or you’ve made my Valentine’s Day Hidden Heart Banana Bread and have the pink banana bread scraps ready to go, these cake balls are the best way to eat your […]
Hey my great friend Amy. Looks amazing and I so love 💕 your pink theme to your Valentines banana 🍌 bread loaf. Oh my days me and my parents love your banana bread recipes. I definitely want to make the above and also adore 🥰 the pink iced cookies 🍪 as well.
Splendid photography as always and hope you amd your family are staying safe. Mine say hi to yours and my dog 🐶 Ben says woofs to your Jessie xxxx Saved to my WordPress saved collection and of course I will tag you into my bakes using your recipes
so glad you love the pink banana bread!
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