I am known for my many variations of healthy banana bread. Bananas are something I actively avoid eating unless they are in bread form. I’ll never go grab a banana and just eat it plain. But, magic happens when they are transformed into a moist banana bread hot and fragrant from the oven. Still, banana bread ain’t no intensely fudgy brownies, or kunafa so I don’t want it to have comparable calories. It’s best eaten for breakfast or an afternoon snack with coffee, and for that to happen it needs to be healthy and lower in calories so it’s non guilt inducing. I still see bananas as a stodgy and predictable healthy food so they have no room in a guilt inducing calorie fest!
What’s so healthy about this version?
I think this is my favorite variation of healthy banana bread yet. It’s the most similar in taste and texture to regular old high fat banana bread, but with a lot of those calories skimmed off. While my old standard favorite unhealthy banana bread has 1 cup of sugar, this one has a mere 4 tablespoons. Instead of 1 1/2 sticks of butter, I use 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. It’s subtly sweet, hearty and moist and you will love it!
There’s not a ton of flour in this. I used half whole wheat and half white flour. This gives more nutritional impact without the bread being too dense. Making baked goods a little dense and heavy sometimes happens with whole wheat flour.
This recipe is so easy because you don’t need a stand mixer, just a couple bowls and a good old fashioned whisk! I’m sure it could be made with gluten free flour but I haven’t tested it out. If you do please let me know!
I kept this very classic by just adding a halved banana on top for a pretty look, but I’ll definitely add some pecans or walnuts next time because I love nuts in my banana bread. I couldn’t resist a sprinkling of dark chocolate chunks in the batter because chocolate and bananas are a perfect pairing.
Simple Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 4 medium overripe bananas, mashed
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4-5 tbsp coconut sugar Depending on how sweet you want it.
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
Instructions
- Grease a standard sized loaf pan (9×5 inch) with pan spray or butter and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 180 C, 350 F.
- Mash bananas in a mixing bowl (I use a potato masher). Add egg, vanilla, coconut sugar, and whisk well to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to the banana mixture and stir gently with a spatula to combine. Gently stir in the melted coconut oil.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. If topping with a halved banana, slice a banana in half lengthwise and lay gently on top of the batter. Sprinkle with some extra coconut sugar.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. I like eating banana bread warm out the oven, sometimes with a little butter, sometimes with some nut butter. Always with coffee.
This looks really fluffy. I hate super mushy banana bread but this looks very good. Fraction of the calories ! Will have to try this
I hope you like it! It’s definitely a winner with us 🙂
My boyfriends favorite, I added walnuts and dry cherries, I also used all purpose flour instead of 50/50, I needed 55 minutes to fully bake it.
YUM!
thanks for the great tips Inga and for sharing! I would definitely try this with dry cherries yum!