Our original banana bread inspires this healthy banana bread recipe. This version keeps all the deliciousness of the original but with a few smart swaps to reduce calories, sugar, and fat. We’ve even added whole wheat flour for an extra boost of fiber. This lighter banana bread is super moist, dense, and really delicious. For more banana recipes, see our banana muffins or these healthy banana blueberry muffins.
Key Ingredients
Bananas: For the best healthy banana bread, use very ripe bananas. I’m talking brown and speckled bananas. They are sweeter and make the baked bread soft and moist. If you have unripe bananas and can wait a day or two, place them in a brown paper bag and set them aside in a warmer part of your kitchen. Flour: I use a blend of all-purpose and whole wheat flour in this recipe. You can use 100% whole wheat, but blending in some all-purpose makes the bread more tender in the middle. I use the same blend when making my favorite whole wheat pancakes. Baking Soda: Helps the bread rise and brown nicely. Cinnamon, Molasses, and Vanilla: These make the bread taste amazing, rich, and warm. Olive Oil or Coconut Oil: Our traditional banana bread recipe uses melted butter, but for this healthier version, we call for less fat and swap in olive oil or coconut oil. If you want to stick with butter, you can! Sugar: Use what you have, but brown sugar makes our bread flavorful and moist. I use granulated sugar in the video, showing that you can use what you have on hand. We have reduced the sugar from 3/4 cup in our original recipe to 1/3 cup. A major savings and your blood sugar will thank you. Eggs: Provides structure and stability to the bread. We use two eggs. To make this recipe egg-free, use 2 flax eggs or aquafaba. Lemon: A bit of lemon zest and juice makes our bread extra delicious.
How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
Our healthy banana bread batter is so simple to make. To start, whisk together the dry ingredients: the flour (all-purpose and whole wheat), baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Then, toss your ripe bananas into a bowl and mash them with a fork. There’s no need for a stand or electric mixer when mashing bananas, especially if they are nice and ripe. Mix the bananas with olive oil, molasses, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Then, simply combine the wet and dry ingredients and bake! Easy! 3/4 cup (95g) whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 large bananas, heavily speckled or even black bananas are best, about 1 cup mashed 5 tablespoons (75ml) extra-virgin olive oil, melted coconut oil, or melted butter 1 tablespoon molasses 1/3 cup (65g) sugar, brown sugar is best 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon lemon zest 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2Butter and flour an 8 ½-inch by 4 ½-inch loaf pan. Or grease the pan and then line it with a sheet of parchment paper (as shown in the video). See tips for pan sizes. 3Whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together and set aside. 4Use a fork to mash the bananas into a chunky paste in the bottom of a large bowl. 5Whisk the olive oil, molasses, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice into the bananas until blended. 6Switch to a large rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then add the dry ingredients in two parts, stirring until the flour disappears and the batter is smooth. 7Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45 to 65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. After 30 minutes in the oven, check the bread for color. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, loosely cover it with aluminum foil. 8Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the bread and cool completely before slicing.
