Notice anything different around here? Yes! An Unrefined Vegan’s facelift is healed and ready for its closeup! A big thank you and tons of gratitude to Lindsay at White Oak Creative who did a fantastic job brightening, refreshing, and updating my site and logo. What she’s done makes everything I’ve done look so much better. If your site is in need of some love and attention, check out Lindsay’s work.
Got my money where my mouth is
The sugar’s in the cane
If I had a million dollars
I’d blow it on champagne.– David Gray, Snow in Vegas
I love David Gray. I adore David Gray. And Snow in Vegas is a really good song from his latest album, Mutineers. I’ve been belting out this song in the car and on the treadmill (yes, I can run and sing at the same time) and the whole time, I’ve been singing, “The sugar’s in the cake!” (Imagine that it’s slightly off-key, at an alarmingly loud volume.) Turns out he’s actually singing, “The sugar’s in the cane.” Where I’m going with this is that this seemed the perfect lyric to set up this post because – there is no sugar in this cake! See? But, alas.
So, continuing with my undeclared chocolate theme for February…I’ve got a sugar-free, chocoately, whole foods kind of dessert (or snack!) for you today: vegan Marbled Banana Bread. There’s a wee bit of oil in here, but I won’t tell if you won’t – and the other really good ingredients make up for this slight badness, don’t you think?
But about that lack of sugar. It won’t come as any surprise from anyone who has read this blog for even a little while – I love me some stevia – and especially NuNaturals stevia products. I use a bunch of their sweeteners in the recipe below, and happily, I can share these products with FOUR of my readers. And it doesn’t matter if you live in Kansas, Toronto, Paris, Bangkok, or Manchester, England. You can enter the giveaway. Here’s what is up for grabs:
- one bottle of Vanilla Stevia Liquid
- one 50-packet box of NuStevia White Stevia Powder
- one bottle of NuNatural’s new Cocoa Syrup
- one bottle of the unbelievably delicious Cocoa Mint Syrup.
- PLUS A FREE BONUS PRODUCT


- 1/4 cup chopped Medjool dates, soaked for ~20 minutes, drained
- 3 large, very ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tsp. vanilla stevia liquid
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. powdered stevia
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. cocoa or cacao powder
- 2 Tbsp. NuNaturals Cocoa Syrup or vegan chocolate syrup
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees and line an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Put the dates, bananas, coconut oil, applesauce, and liquid stevia in a high-speed or regular blender and process until very smooth and thick. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a big bowl if you’re up to stirring by hand), add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, powdered stevia, and salt. Pulse at low speed a few times to combine.
- Scrape the banana mixture into the flour mixture and slowly start the stand mixer. Mix until a thick batter forms, then mix in the nuts, if using. Scoop out about 2/3 of the batter and set it aside. Add the cocoa powder and the chocolate syrup to the remaining batter in the mixer and process until completely combined.
- It’s time to marble. You can either put all of the vanilla batter into the pan and then add the chocolate batter – swirling deep with a knife or spoon – or you can alternate dollops of both batters and then swirl. Either way, swirl and then bake the cake for 55-60 minutes. Check for doneness by sticking a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing it (and the parchment) from the pan and letting it cool completely on a wire rack. Or, eat it while it’s still a bit warm.
ENTER THE NUNATURALS INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY!
That bread looks and sounds delicious! I absolutely *adore* NN products – they’re pretty much all over the kitchen and I get very sadface when they’re done, especially the cocoa syrup and peppermint drops. ;D
I’m SO glad you are able to enter this giveaway :-)! Yes – the cocoa syrup…sigh.
You can bet I troll the internet hard for NN giveaways because they’re usually the only ones I can enter! 😀
I’m always so shamefaced by how quickly the cocoa syrup disappears – my omnivore husband is not allowed to touch it because he can get his grub on at any restaurant he pleases, so it’s all mine!
Haha! Fair enough!! Have you had a chance to try the Cocoa-Mint syrup?! Holy moly!!
Oh yes! 😀 I’m suck a sucker for mint-flavoured anything so last time Ron sent me *three* bottles of the glorious stuff! It’s not as thick as the cocoa syrup but good grief it’s gorgeous on the tongue 😀
This looks really exciting. I am just in the process of going vegan (allergies to eggs, milk, wheat etc.) and trying to find recipes that will make my family happy can be a challenge. I am trying to turn this into an adventure instead of a problem.
It IS an adventure! Sooooo many possibilities – so many wonderful foods and flavors await you. Best of luck and thanks for stopping by!
Aaaaah! Your new site looks so great! I love the makeover – very light, playful, approachable, and fun.
I feel reborn ;-)! Thanks, Cadry!
The site is gorgeous; and the bread looks pretty darned good, too!! Congrats, Annie!
Hey, Nikki! Thanks so much! I’m very happy w/ the “new look” :-)!
This looks amazing, Ann!
Thanks, Becky!
The bread looks absolutely delicious! I would love to try these products!
Thanks, Natalie!
First of all I love the new design of the site! It’s so pretty and it looks so much cleaner than the old one 🙂 Lindsay did a wonderful job.
And the marble banana bread looks super duper amazing! Yumm!
I love the new look! So bright and fresh!
The site is so bright and beautiful. Awesome new look!
Ohhh…gorgeous !!! I love your new look !!! Wow…what a nice makeover. Good job !!!
Hummmm…your banana bread looks sooooooo good. I really like banana bread so I’ll definitely put your’s in my Pinterest for a nice snack soon 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful giveaway !!! Very, very, very interesting. I never tried the cocoa flavor…sounds interesting.
This bread sounds so delicious, nutritious and easy to make! Unfortunately I don’t have twitter so my chances to win the amazing products are not that big. But nevertheless I am happy, I found your site with all the great recipes! 🙂
I appreciate you stopping by, Barbara! You never know, you may get lucky and win these wonderful products, especially w/ four chances to win :-)!
WoooW! Where the heck am I?
Love it. And love NuNaturals…I’m out of the vanilla and it really hurts ;(
Site looks fabulously fresh and this cake needs to be in my belly ♥♥
Haha! Yeah, did some redecorating :-)! It was about darn time, too! I just restocked the vanilla – phew – but am dangerously low on the peppermint. Yikes!
I love the new look of your site Annie!! Easier to navigate, brighter, fresh….all of the above! It is more simple and streamlined too, if that makes sense! I love it! This bread looks just gorgeous too….love those gorgeous brown swirls!
Thanks, Brandi! It SOOOOoooo needed an updating! I did away with a whole lot of junk :-)!
This blog is GORGEOUS!! I continue to be blown away by how your blog has blossomed!! I adore everything about it. And this bread!?! HOLY YUM! I looveee those vanilla stevia drops!
Thanks, friend! I’m very pleased with the new look – it was high time!! We gotta win you some of this stuff :-)!
thank you for giving the opportunity to enter the giveaway even to you international readers 🙂
btw, this recipe is SO perfect, can’t wait to try it!!
Just another reason I love NuNaturals – they want everyone to be able to win their products! Thanks for stopping by, Francesca!
Your website looks fantastic — love this new layout! And your photo is gorgeous!
I love the new look of your cool blog, Anne! Waw even!
Oh, Annie, the new look is absolutely gorgeous! Happy Blog-Housewarming! 🙂 xxx
Thanks, Bex!!
I made your delicious marbled cake & love it so much! So tasty too! 🙂 Yummmm!
Woohoo!!
Ooh yes, Anne! xxx
This banana bread looks so pretty, and I love the ingredient list! I also LOVE David Gray. I saw him in concert a few years ago and he was so, so good. I’m waiting for him to go on the road again sometime so that I can see him again!
I’m jealous, Nicole! I’ve never seen David Gray live and would love to. I don’t think he gets to Oklahoma ;-), but I’m keeping my eye out for him!
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