Our Favorite Healthy Banana Bread

This Healthy Banana Bread is easy to make with simple ingredients. It comes out wonderfully moist and full of banana flavor – all naturally sweetened and with 100% whole wheat flour!

While I do share a lot of THM recipes on here… This isn’t one of them. Like my healthy zucchini bread, I enjoy baking banana bread with some honey as the sweetener and good old whole wheat (or whole spelt) flour.

Now I do grind my own grain for this recipe (and for most of my baking). But no worries, I do have the instructions included for store-bought whole wheat flour in the recipe as well.

Ingredients you’ll need

This is just an overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe – great as a visual grocery list! Scroll down to the recipe card for quantities.

Ingredient notes

• Flour: I use a mix of freshly ground spelt and wheat. But, I have also tested this recipe using 100% store-bought whole wheat flour. The bread tastes a little less nutty and is a little less dense in my experience. Tastes just as good, though!
• Bananas: Make sure your bananas are very ripe! You want lots of brown spots or even almost all brown skin. That’s how the bread comes out flavourful and sweet.
• Honey: I prefer a runny, mild honey for this recipe. Maple syrup would be an acceptable substitute. If you want to use a sugar alcohol like Xylitol in place of the honey, I will tell you that I haven’t tried myself. I would go for 1/3 cup Xylitol (or other granulated sweetener) plus 2 tablespoons more oil (or milk) to make up for the removed liquid.
• Oil: I like making this recipe with melted coconut oil. But you can use any mild oil you have on hand, or use melted butter. If you want to make a lower fat bread, use 5 tablespoons Greek yogurt and only 1 tablespoon oil. The bread comes out a little heavier for me this way.
• Optional topping: I didn’t add this to the ingredient list, because it’s absolutely not mandatory to make it (and I mostly make the bread without! My oldest child will only eat banana bread with a streusel topping though, so when I don’t have anything else for her on hand I will add the nutty topping). The topping consists of pecan nuts, oil and either 1 tablespoon sucanat or 1 tablespoon Xylitol.

How to make a healthy banana bread

1. Start by mashing the bananas, then add the remaining liquid ingredients. Whisk well until fully combined.

2. Next, you’ll want to combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

3. Finally, fold the dry into the wet ingredients.

Now it’s important you don’t overmix the batter! This is always important with banana bread, but especially so with a healthy whole wheat recipe. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine the batter and only fold until the ingredients are roughly combined. Lumps are fine!

4. Then, transfer the batter to a lined loaf pan. If you’re using the nut topping, evenly spread it over the bread now!

Bake the bread until it’s risen and browned and done in the middle. If you add the topping, you’ll want to loosely cover the bread with a piece of baking parchment or aluminium foil once the top gets browned, about 25-30 minutes into baking depending on your oven (only VERY briefly open the oven to cover the bread, else it will come out flat!).

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely before slicing!

Recipe tips

• Make sure to measure your flour correctly: Spoon into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife. Otherwise you might add too much flour, ending up with a dry bread.
• Don’t forget to preheat your oven while you’re preparing the banana bread batter. The bread needs to go into a hot oven, else the baking powder cannot work correctly.
• Do not overmix the batter, you will end up with a too-dense and gummy loaf. Also, never use a whisk to combine the wet and the dry ingredients! Always use a wooden spoon or spatula, else you will quickly overmix the batter.
• Don’t forget to cover the bread with baking parchment or aluminium foil after around 25-30 minutes of baking IF you add the topping. Otherwise, it will end up too dark and burnt around the edges.
• Make sure to allow the loaf to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. The texture really is better vs right out of the oven.

Storage tips

• Counter: Wrap the bread in clean baking parchment or a clean tea towel and store on the counter for 2-3 days.
• Fridge: Keep the bread in the fridge in an airtight container, ziploc bag or tightly wrap in foil or parchment paper. The bread will keep for 4-5 days this way.
• Freezer: Let the bread cool completely. Wrap first in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Label with the name and use-by date (freezer for up to 3 months), then freeze. To defrost, allow the bread to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, or until you can easily remove the foil. Place the bread on a wire rack on the counter and allow to fully defrost for several hours.

More healthy baking recipes

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