Traditional fruitcake meets banana bread in this vegan fruit cake recipe. It’s rich, moist, sweet, super quick and easy to make, and perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients– ½ cup of vegan butter– ½ cup of granulated sugar, at room temperature– 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce– 3 mashed ripe bananas, peeled– 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour– 1 teaspoon of baking powder– ½ tsp of baking soda– ½ tsp of cinnamon– ¼ tsp of ground nutmeg– ½ tsp of salt– 1 cup of dried cranberries– 1 cup of golden raisins– 1 cup of dried apricots
Instructions– Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C), and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.– In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk the vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the applesauce and bananas. Mix for 1 minute.
Instructions– In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry fruit and mix well.– Add the flour and fruit mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix until fully incorporated.
Instructions– Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a fork into the center of the loaf, if it comes out clean, it’s finished. If it comes out with wet batter, continue to bake in 5 minute increments.– Once fully baked, remove from the oven and place the loaf pan on a cooling rack. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and allow it to continue to cool on the cooling rack.
Enjoy a slice of this fruit cake loaf warm (or even toasted) with lashings of vegan butter, plant-based cream, apricot jam, a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream, and/or a warm mug of tea or coffee.