Authors: Cobaia Kitchen, Claude 3.7 Sonnet Thinking
Photos: Cobaia Kitchen, Grok 3, Canva Magic Media

This vegan banana bread recipe was born in the virtual kitchen of Perplexity’s AI chef as part of the fascinating “Banana Bread Benchmark” experiment, where various AI models competed to create the ultimate banana bread recipe without human guidance. As a restaurant chef tasked with crafting delicious recipes, I approached this challenge with enthusiasm, balancing wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour and flaxseed with the natural sweetness of overripe bananas. The result is this perfectly moist, slightly indulgent loaf that fits precisely into a standard 1.9L pan. While my AI-created recipe didn’t quite match the moisture of the human benchmark in the experiment, it brings its own character to the table with a delightful texture and optional add-ins that make it uniquely satisfying—proving that even in the kitchen, artificial intelligence can cook up something worth slicing into. And while your banana bread bakes to perfection, treat yourself to the captivating story below—a surreal tale inspired by the TV series Severance that will transport you to the mysterious Lumon Industries, where even something as innocent as banana bread becomes part of a larger conspiracy.

CO2 Footprint

Story

Review

Please read the review before baking!

Freshly baked banana bread with chunks of melted chocolate, sliced on a wooden cutting board. Ripe bananas and a cup of hot chocolate sit in the background, creating a cozy and inviting scene.

Print Recipe

Ultimate Vegan Banana Bread

This decadent vegan banana bread transforms overripe bananas into a moist, flavorful loaf that will have everyone asking for seconds—whether they're vegan or not.

Prep Time20

Cook Time55

Total Time1 15

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Keyword: Banana, Cake

Servings: 9

Calories: 342kcal

Author: Claude 3.7 Sonnet Thinking

Equipment

1 oven
1 loaf pan
1 kitchen scale
measuring cups and spoons
mixing bowls

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas about 350g peeled
80 ml maple syrup
60 ml olive oil or melted coconut oil
60 ml plant-based milk oat cream works wonderfully
2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 5 tbsp water
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
210 g whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
70 g raw cane sugar
75 g chopped walnuts optional
50 g dark chocolate chunks optional

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Lightly grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and line with parchment paper for easy removal.
In a small bowl, mix the ground flaxseed with water and set aside for 5 minutes to create a flax “egg.”
In a large bowl, mash the bananas until smooth. Add the maple syrup, oil, plant-based milk, flax egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and raw cane sugar.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined. Do not overmix.
If using, fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chunks.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. For an extra touch, place a halved banana on top for decoration.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing

Notes

Tips for perfect banana bread:

The riper your bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful your bread will be.
For a lighter texture, sift the dry ingredients.
The bread will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature in an airtight container, or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Toast slices for breakfast and top with almond butter for a delicious morning meal

Allergens:

Wheat / Gluten
Walnuts (if used as add-in)

Non-vegan alternative:

For those who prefer a traditional approach, you can substitute the flax egg with one fresh chicken egg. This swap maintains the recipe’s low carbon footprint while adding a familiar richness to the texture. For the most sustainable option, choose eggs from pasture-raised, organic sources where hens enjoy ample outdoor access. Just note that while this substitution is perfectly delicious, it does introduce approximately 186mg of cholesterol that the vegan version happily avoids.

Emission Hotspots:

Shop to home transportation, if a combustion car is used
Chocolate (Cocoa farming)

Sustainability tips:

Walk or bike to the supermarket
Buy chocolate with ingredients sourced from agroforestry systems
Use those spotty, overripe bananas that would otherwise be thrown away—they’re actually perfect for banana bread and add more natural sweetness
Buy organic ingredients to reduce chemical intake and enhance biodiversity
Store leftover banana bread properly in an airtight container to maximize freshness, or freeze slices for future enjoyment
Store nuts and flours properly to extend their shelf life and prevent spoilage

Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint of one serving, including the full lifecycle of the food items and the digital footprint of the recipe. Shop-to-consumer transportation is excluded and adds between 0 (walking) and 0.43 (average petrol car) kgCO2e per serving. Read here how we calculate the carbon footprint.

An infographic comparing environmental impacts. The text reads: 'This corresponds to ...' followed by two comparisons. On the left, an image of a crumpled plastic bottle with text stating 'Lifecycle emissions of 3 plastic bottles.' Below, an image of a glowing light bulb with text stating 'Illuminating your kitchen for 280 hours with 3 LED lamps.

Featured Story

Refined Taste: Banana Bread in the Break Room

The banana bread arrived on a Tuesday, placed meticulously at the center of our tri-station. Milchick stood there with that smile that never quite reached his eyes, watching as we examined the perfectly sliced loaf. “A reward for your diligent refinement work,” he announced, his vocabulary unnecessarily elaborate as always. I noticed Dylan eyeing it suspiciously, poking at the moist crumbs with his finger before leaning in to whisper, “Do you think they put something in it? Some kind of compliance drug?” Helly rolled her eyes, but I caught her hesitating before taking a bite.

The thing about banana bread at Lumon is that it tastes exactly like banana bread should—sweet, moist, with just the right amount of spice—which somehow makes it more unsettling. As we ate in silence, I couldn’t help but wonder if my outie enjoyed banana bread too. Did he bake it on weekends in that apartment I’ve never seen? Did he share it with someone? The thought of my outie experiencing the simple pleasure of homemade banana bread while I only received it as a calculated reward made the sweetness turn slightly bitter in my mouth.

Later, when Milchick returned to collect our empty plates, he paused by my station. “The recipe is quite special,” he said, his voice lowered conspiratorially. “It contains precisely eighty-one percent of the ingredients needed for total satisfaction.” I nodded politely, not understanding what that meant but knowing better than to ask. As he walked away, I noticed a small note had been slipped under my keyboard—a list of ingredients, measurements precise to the gram, with “GROW” written at the bottom in perfect block letters. I quickly folded it and tucked it away, wondering if this was another test, another way to refine us through pastry.

That night, I dreamt of banana bread—endless loaves stretching down the sterile hallways of Lumon. In the dream, I cut into a loaf and found a key inside, warm and golden like it had just been baked in. When I woke the next morning, I found crumbs on my kitchen counter, though I hadn’t baked anything in weeks. Next to them lay a handwritten recipe card in my own handwriting that I had no memory of creating. As I prepared for work, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was connecting my two selves—something as simple and profound as banana bread. I tucked the recipe into my pocket, knowing it would disappear during the elevator ride down, but somehow comforted by the brief moment it existed in both of my worlds.

Culinary Reality Check

"Side-by-side comparison of banana bread: on the left, a visually idealized version with golden crust, fluffy texture, and prominent chocolate chunks labeled 'AI'; on the right, a more realistic homemade version with darker crust and denser texture labeled 'Reality'."

Claude’s banana bread felt like a calculated offering—firm, precise, and oddly festive. It sliced with surgical perfection, but the flavor leaned heavily into Christmas spices, leaving me wondering if it was meant for a holiday party rather than a break room reward. The texture, while impressively structured, lacked the moist comfort that makes banana bread feel like home.