Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

This vegan pumpkin banana bread is soft, fluffy, and the perfect banana bread for pumpkin season! It’s filled with pure pumpkin puree, sweet banana, warm pumpkin pie spice, then swirled with a delicious cream cheese filling throughout. All you need is 12 simple ingredients and 20 minutes to get this bread baking in the oven.  

Turn your favorite vegan banana bread into a fall recipe with the addition of pumpkin puree! It’s truly one of my favorite things to indulge in during the colder season and no one would ever guess it’s vegan. 

If you love pumpkin puree as much as I do, check out these Vegan Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding, or even my Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte. You can even use it in a savory pumpkin recipe like Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup and Vegan Thai Pumpkin Red Curry!

Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Banana Bread

• A great sweet treat filled with pumpkin flavor.
• It’s made with mainly pantry staples – chances are, you’ve got most ingredients on hand right now! 
• The vegan cream cheese filling doesn’t taste vegan! This is non-vegan approved bread.

Ingredient Notes

For the Pumpkin Bread Batter

• pumpkin puree: I developed this pumpkin banana bread recipe with canned pumpkin puree, specifically the brand Farmer’s Market Organic Pumpkin Puree. This recipe may work with your own homemade pumpkin puree, but I have not tried it. If you do, make sure the pumpkin puree isn’t too wet, otherwise your pumpkin bread may be too moist. 
• mashed bananas: This recipe uses about 1 small banana (both fresh or frozen then thawed banana will work). I do not recommend substituting the mashed banana with additional pumpkin puree as some of the sweetness in this bread comes from the banana. For the best sweet flavor, use a ripe spotty banana. 
• vegetable oil: Any neutral oil such as avocado oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, or even a light tasting olive oil will work. I do not recommend using coconut oil unless all of the ingredients you are using are room temperature. If any of the ingredients are cold, the coconut oil will harden and make the moist pumpkin bread extremely oily. 
• light brown sugar: The perfect compliment to the pumpkin and pumpkin spice! If you prefer to make this vegan pumpkin banana bread recipe refined sugar-free, replace the light brown sugar with coconut sugar. Do not replace with liquid sweeteners such as maple syrup – it will make the batter too wet.
• pumpkin pie spice: I used a pre-made pumpkin pie spice blend, but if you want to make your own pumpkin pie spice mix, try this Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice recipe. 
• flax eggs: This is the vegan egg substitute in this pumpkin banana bread loaf. Make sure to use ground flaxseed – whole flaxseed will not become gelatinous in the same way and will not work. If you’re out of flaxseed, chia seeds is the next best option.
• all purpose flour: I have only tested this easy vegan pumpkin banana bread using regular all-purpose flour. If you want a more nutritional pumpkin banana bread, replace half of the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour.

For the cream cheese filling

• powdered sugar: This is added to the powdered sugar to the cream cheese to cut the tanginess of the cream cheese. To make it as smooth as possible, sift it through a fine mesh sieve before adding to the cream cheese. 
• vegan cream cheese:Only use Kite Hill Cream Cheese in this baked recipe. Most vegan cream cheeses are oil-based or contain a significant amount of oil. When baked, these oil-based cream cheeses will completely melt into the batter. This will not only make your bread significantly more moist, you’ll also lose the swirled layers. Kite Hill cream cheese does not contain oil – just healthy fats from nuts. It therefore mimics regular cream cheese when baked and will not melt or separate. 

How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread

1. Prepare the flax eggs. ​In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseeds with water. Set aside for 10 minutes, or until gelatinous, similar to the consistency of egg whites. 
2. Prepare the cream cheese filling. If using, add the powdered sugar and vegan cream cheese into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the powdered sugar and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy, like cream cheese frosting. 

3. Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat together the flax eggs, pumpkin puree, mashed banana, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. 
4. Add the dry ingredients. Into the same large mixing bowl, add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and sea salt. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a smooth batter forms. 

Layer the batter in the loaf pan

1. Pour half of the pumpkin banana batter into the bottom of a prepared loaf pan.
2. Add half of the cream cheese filling on top of the pumpkin banana batter. I like to do this in 3 dollops with a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop. 
3. Spread the dollops out into an even cream cheese layer.
4. Swirl in gently with a knife.  

5. Layer the remaining pumpkin banana bread on top of cream cheese filling layer. 
6. Add remaining cream cheese filling on top of the pumpkin banana batter. Again, I recommend and like to do this in 3 dollops with a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop. 
7. Spread the dollops out into an even cream cheese layer.
8. Swirl in gently with a knife. 

9. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean (I usually cook for 60 minutes). Allow the bread to cool for at least 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then turn out and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. 
10. Slice into individual slices, then enjoy for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or an indulgent dessert! 

Recipe FAQs

I don’t have any vegan cream cheese. Can I leave it out? 

Yes! This bread is great with or without the cream cheese! If making without, simply just pour the pumpkin banana bread batter into the loaf pan and bake for the same amount of time.

What can I use as a substitute for overripe bananas?

No bananas? No problem. Replace the bananas with unsweetened applesauce.

Can I substitute regular flour for gluten-free flour in this recipe?

Sorry, this recipe has not been tested with gluten free flour. If you choose to experiment with gluten free flours, I’d start with a 1 to 1 gluten free flour but note that there is no guarantee that this will work well. 

Can I add nuts or chocolate chips to this recipe?

Yes, if you prefer to make this pumpkin banana bread recipe without the cream cheese filling, you can certainly add additional toppings such as chopped nuts, pumpkin seeds, or your favorite chocolate chips for added flavor and texture. 

Expert Tips and Tricks

• Use a cookie scoop. I like to place equal dollops of cream cheese filling on the pumpkin banana bread batter to ensure an even layer that’s easy to spread! 
• Use Kite Hill vegan cream cheese. It is the best tasting vegan cream cheese available and will yield excellent results. 
• Make sure you use the correct amount of banana. If you use too much banana, the batter will be too moist and it will be undercooked in the center of the loaf.

Storage Instructions 

Keep leftover pumpkin banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Refrigeration or freezin is not recommended. 

More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes

This post was originally published October 21, 2020 and has been republished on October 20, 2021 to include an improved recipe, new photos including step by step process shots, frequently asked questions and tips for success.