Healthy Banana Bread
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Healthy Banana Bread is a delicious, low calorie treat! Made with applesauce, this clean eating banana bread is perfect for dessert! No refined sugar necessary for this super healthy banana bread – it’s delicious all on its own!
This post was originally shared in 2017 but has since been updated.
This Healthy Banana Bread is seriously THE BEST. I know that is a very bold statement, but it’s true.
It’s naturally sweetened with ripe bananas, a touch of honey, and applesauce —no refined sugar here! Coconut oil keeps the bread moist and tender, and if you’d like, you can add chopped walnuts for extra crunch and heart-healthy fats.
Made with whole wheat flour and pantry staples, it’s easy to whip up and guaranteed to become a favorite in your house.
Liz’s tip for the best banana bread
- “Help! My banana bread is sticking to the pan”: I typically grease my loaf pan really well with coconut oil, and you can also line a pan with parchment paper. Allow the bread to cool completely for about one hour before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan to help loosen the bread before taking it out.
- Use overripe bananas: Bananas that are brown and spotty are ideal for banana bread, as they provide natural sweetness and moisture. If your bananas aren’t fully ripe, you can microwave them for 20-30 seconds to soften them, making them easier to mash and incorporate into the batter.
- Allow the bread to cool before slicing: After baking, let the banana bread cool for at least an hour before removing it from the pan. This gives the bread time to set, which helps prevent it from falling apart when you cut into it.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Bananas: If you’re short on bananas, you can substitute them with a little bit of applesauce or pumpkin puree. If you have extra bananas, try our Healthy Banana Pancakes or Banana “Nice” Cream!
Honey: You can substitute honey with pure maple syrup.
Applesauce: I have not tried making this banana bread recipe without applesauce so I’m not sure how it would work. You might be able to substitute yogurt or pumpkin but without testing it I can’t be sure. If you want a pumpkin bread recipe, try this Healthy Pumpkin Bread!
Eggs/To make vegan: Replace 1 egg white with 1 flax egg. Sub honey with maple syrup.
Coconut Oil: You can replace coconut oil with extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter. Canola oil will also work but we don’t recommend cooking with canola oil.
Flour: It’s best to make this banana bread with whole wheat flour, as the recipe recommends. You can also use regular white flour, but your bread might be a little more dense. I would not recommend almond flour, coconut flour, or oat flour- they will not work. Coconut and almond flour can never be replaced 1:1 with regular flour. Try finding an almond flour banana bread recipe instead!
To make gluten-free: I haven’t tried making this bread gluten free but others have used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Flour and had success. If you try it, let me know! Try at your own risk though, gluten free baking is a science!
Spices: You can omit the ginger and nutmeg if you don’t have any. Add a little bit more cinnamon to compensate!
Healthy Banana Muffins: To make muffins, Pour the batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the muffin. You can also try our Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins or Protein Muffin Recipe
Mini Loaves: I haven’t tried making this healthy banana bread recipe into mini loaves, but I think it would work! Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf pan.
Nuts: You can use chopped pecans instead of walnuts or skip the nuts to make this bread nut free.
Lower Sugar: Skip the chocolate chips if you want a lower sugar banana bread. They’re optional.
Vanilla Extract: You can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for extra flavor if you’d like.
Zucchini: To up the nutritional benefits, try our Zucchini Banana Bread, which is the perfect mix of this recipe and Zucchini Bread.
How to make Healthy Banana Bread
- Mix together wet ingredients. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Pour batter into greased 8×4 loaf pan.
- Bake for 40 -45 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out completely clean when inserted in the center of the bread
To me, banana bread is not only delicious but brings back such great memories- banana cake is my Gram’s specialty!
Whether you enjoy this healthy banana bread for a breakfast treat or with a cup of coffee as an afternoon snack – I think you’ll find that it’s tasty and comforting.
Storage
Storing Banana Bread: You can store this bread covered on your counter for a few days, but I recommend keeping it in the refrigerator for maximum freshness! It will last up to a week in the refrigerator – but will lose its freshness after about 3 days on the counter.
How to freeze Banana Bread: You can slice this bread and individually wrap slices in plastic wrap or freeze banana bread whole. To defrost a whole loaf – take it out the night before you’d like to enjoy it and let it thaw in the refrigerator.
When you’re ready to serve – pop in the microwave. If you’re defrosting a single slice, you can put it directly in the microwave or toaster oven until it is warm.
Low Calorie Banana Bread vs Regular Banana Bread
This homemade banana bread has 230 calories per slice. It has 35g of carbs, 10g of fat, and 3g of protein.
Most banana bread recipes have 400 calories per slice, 60g of carbs, and closer to 12-15g of fat.
Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups ripe mashed bananas about 3 bananas
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted + cooled to room temp
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips optional
- ½ cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a greased 8×4 loaf pan.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, mash bananas with a fork until slightly clumpy. You can microwave them for 20 seconds prior to mashing to make it easier.
- Add the applesauce, melted coconut oil, honey, and egg white to the mashed bananas. Mix until combined.
- Add whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to the bowl. Gently mix until combined.
- Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips if using
- Pour batter into greased 8×4 loaf pan. Optional: sprinkle with a handful of chocolate chips and walnuts on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out completely clean when inserted in the center of the bread.
- Allow the bread to cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator to maintain freshness.
Delic!! I subsisted Greek yogurt for the applesauce (just didn’t have applesauce on hand!) and it worked out great!! Look it 45 mins to fully bake. Will definitely make again! Thanks!
I’ve made this banana bread on repeat. Love this recipe. The bread bakes nicely and holds up very well when slices. And the flavor is spot on. I haven’t yet included the chocolate chips but I do add extra walnuts. Delish!
Delicious! Just the right amount of gooey yumminess without any white sugar. Yummy!
Could you add protein powder to this? If so would I just add a scoop; or take a scoop out of flour and add the scoop of protein powder?
I haven’t tried that, I’m sorry! Some people have made our Banana Protein Muffins into a loaf pan and enjoyed it, but I never have. If you want to try that, I think you could use the same cook temp/time as the banana bread but I’d watch it carefully 🙂
As always an easy recipe to follow and make. Came out perfectly moist. It’s delicious! One of my favorite banana bread recipes.
Love it! 😍
Thanks for sharing.
I made this recipe, following all the steps. My banana bread was wet and flat. The only thing I changed was that I only had a 9×5 pan instead of 8 x 4. Don’t know what happened.
That could be the issue! a 9×5 pan is bigger, which will lead to a flatter bread
This bread is delicious! If you live in an area with high elevation, keep in mind you may need to bake it a lot longer, though. Mine needed 30 mins more, but I will definitely make it again.
What is your elevation please? I just want to compare it to mine to determine if I will need longer baking. I’m at 536 meters.
Thank you so much in advance.
Shirley
Made this bread twice now- LOVE IT! Also, my family loves this bread. It’s very light flavorful and easy to make. I had all the ingredients on hand and found it a perfect recipe to make on a snowy day. I hope to try and make an extra loaf sometimes and freeze it. I don’t know how this will freeze but I really like having a homemade treat on hand.
I’ve tried numerous healthy recipes for banana bread and can finally say I found the one! So good!
Family favorite!!
I like this recipe. It’s super easy to make and it’s delicious. Good texture and just the right amount of sweet, but not too sweet. The chocolate chips make it perfect.
Perfect, healthy snack that leaves the house smelling good! I omit the chocolate chips but it still tastes great. It’s one of my favorite recipes to make with my kids.
I’m normally not a fan of banana but this recipe is pretty good I like that there is no refined sugar what makes it so good is it simple ingredients that you already have in your pantry
So happy you liked it!
Tastes even better than it looks! Love that the banana does most all the work to sweeten this up too. And so easy to put together…yum!!
Thank you so much!
I have tried so many banana bread recipes you wouldn’t believe it. This is the best recipe by far. The bread has so much flavor and isn’t bland. It’s moist and fluffy. I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract. I made 14 muffins following this recipe and baked them for 18 minutes without using liners. I could have eaten several in one setting. I used Lily’s semi-sweet style baking chips that have no added sugar and walnuts. I won’t use another recipe. Thank you so much for posting this!
so glad you liked it, Christa! Thank you so much!
The perfect recipe to make with kids. I think they enjoy letting a couple of bananas ripen just so we can make their favorite banana bread. I love that it isn’t too sweet and usually omit the chocolate chips just because my kids like to enjoy multiple servings at a time.
So happy you liked it, Emily! Thank you!
A family favorite ! Always turns out very moist, I also chop up a 90% dark chocolate bar before baking
So glad you like it! Love the dark chocolate addition!