This easy no-fail Healthy Banana Bread recipe makes the most fluffy and moist banana bread you will find! It contains NO processed sugar or butter and comes together in just a few minutes!
It’s finally here! We are a huge fan of banana bread. Somehow, we always end up with 3 to 4 very ripe bananas just sitting on the counter. Bananas that are too ripe to eat, but are perfect for baking. You know what they say, when life gives you ripe bananas, make banana bread.
But seriously, ripe bananas are a dream in banana bread and make the best banana bread ever. This healthy banana bread is everything you want in banana bread. It’s moist, dense, and full of flavor. I made a batch and shared a few slices with my friends and they could not believe it was “healthy”.
This recipe is a keeper for sure, and I’m sure your family will love it as much as we do!
HOW TO MAKE BANANA BREAD HEALTHY
To make this banana bread healthy:
The sugar is replaced with honey
for the butter, we opted for coconut oil
As for the flour, whole wheat flour works wonders!
Another very important ingredient is the ripe bananas. Ripe bananas are super sweet so the riper the better. If your bananas are not yet brown or soft then you can place them in a 300F degree oven for 20 minutes or until dark brown. I swear this method will produce the ripest bananas that are perfect for banana bread.
HOW TO STORE BANANA BREAD
This banana bread will last at room temperature for 3-4 days. To store, place a paper towel in an airtight container or ziplock bag and top your bread with another paper towel. Be sure to seal the bag or airtight container.
To Freeze: You can leave the loaf whole and just wrap it and store it in a freezer-safe bag or container until you’re ready to eat it. You can also slice it and freeze it as well. To unthaw, just move it to the fridge for a short time or take it out of the freezer and set it out on the counter. It will unthaw quickly and easily.
More Delicious Banana Bread Recipes To Try
healthy Moist Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil, or olive oil
- 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/4 cup milk or Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 2-3 medium bananas
- 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour, or plain all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, or chopped walnuts, raisins, optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 325F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil, honey, milk and vanilla for 2 minutes. Stir in the bananas, flour mixture and chocolate chips (or any other add ins of choice.
- Pour batter into greased pan, sprinkle with some more cinnamon, raw sugar, or banana slices (optional) Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, slice and enjoy!
Notes
For dairy-free/vegan: use almond milk and flax eggs and maple syrup.
*Trader Joe’s has white whole wheat flour that is also great in this bread.
Recipe inspired by allrecipes and cookie and kate
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
GET THE MUFFIN VERSION HERE!!
Healthy Moist Banana Bread Muffins
Thanks for this recipe. Putting the nanners in the oven to ripen was brilliant!
Made this a few days ago & it took much restraint not to eat the whole loaf at once! This bread is so moist & delish. Even though I love chocolate, I’m a purist when it comes to banana bread & substituted chopped walnuts. I can’t wait to make it again (the bread disappeared after a few days). I wonder how that happened?! Guess I have to force myself to make it again (sigh) & solve the mystery.
P.S. Do you have a healthy recipe (that tastes decadent) of Nanner Pudding?. It’s one of my faves.
Bake on!
“Really” Perfect banana bread recipe. Printed and added to my cookbook for safekeeping 😀
I am not that good at cooking and tried some recipes before that didn’t turn out good. Baked this one a couple days ago and it voila, pretty, moist, delicious bread! So happy and ready for the next batch. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I thought I had found the perfect healthy banana bread recipe elsewhere but I was wrong since this is the perfect one. I have made it twice already and it’s a hit with the family (even the picky ones in the extended family). Son even asked to take some home with him but his Dad had already eaten most of it except two pieces which son gladly accepted. Guess that means I should make some again this weekend before he visits again. Maybe I should make two loaves. lol Thank you for the great recipe.
I’m so happy to hear your son likes this healthy banana bread, Sharon! my daughter actually likes it more than regular banana bread as well so I make it for her all the time.
I am mid-prep and can’t see when to add the greek yoghurt….im assuming i mix it in with wet ingredients? fingers crossed it works as I’m a bit of a kitchen nuffy. hope its right!
Yes, mix it in with the wet ingredients.
Amazing recipe. I have finally found the perfect banana bread recipe. Thank you.
You are welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I made this today as 6 jumbo muffins and baked for 40 minutes. They were delicious! I used regular AP flour vs. WW. I skipped the chocolate too since I’m trying to use these as a sugar free alternative (honey is ok…just not refined sugar). I’ll definitely make these again!
Hands down the best banana bread recipe. It was wonderful. I am always trying recipes with white whole wheat flour, without refined sugar or artificial sweeteners, but a lot of them don’t seem to work out that great. So happy I tried this one. You nailed it!
Such a delicious recipe. I’ve made it twice, first with honey and walnuts, second time with maple syrup, dark chocolate morsels and banana slices. Both with almond milk. It makes a dense, soft, velvety loaf that is not too sweet – less like banana “cake” which is what most banana bread recipes are – but just really good satisfying banana bread.
For some reason loaf cake recipes always take me much longer to bake than recipe calls for, probably bc my altitude/climate. This was no exception; the bread was perfect at 80 minutes.
Thank you for a keeper banana bread recipe that is healthier than many alternatives.
I have made this a few times just as the recipe is using whole wheat flour, honey, and Greek yogurt (without chocolate chips). I have five kids 12 down to 1 and every single one of them love it and get so excited each time I make it. Hubby says it’s delicious as well. Definitely my go to recipe every time I make banana bread/muffins!
I’m so happy to hear all of your kids loved the banana bread Amber! 🙂
I’m not much of a baker, but this turned out delicious even with my level of expertise! Followed the recipe exactly and did not use walnuts and cinnamon as my wifey dear does not like those ingredients. She loved this as my New Year’s Eve bake off. A wholesome and healthy start to 2018! Cheers and warm regards
Do u have a blue berry muffin recipe that’s healthy?
We loved this!! My husband raved about it. Not to sweet. Will definitely make again and again!
would spelt flour and or coconut flour work in this recipe?
I DID HALF SPELT, HALF REGULAR FLOUR. COMES OUT VERY WELL
Might be a silly question, but when you use the coconut oil, do u measure it out in the solid state then melt it……or do you just melt enough to make 1/2 cup of liquid?
Measuring it in a solid state should be fine.
I wasn’t too successful in softening the oil, but enough that the result was great!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Hi There!
I made this exactly as given( coconut oil,milk and choc chips and walnuts) and it seems to be the best banana bread I’ve ever eaten!!
Thanks
Jackie
This is a perfect banana bread recipe! I doubled it and made one loaf and 12 muffins. Since I actually love whole fats, I used Kerrygold butter in place of the oil (would have done half coconut oil but was out) and organic 10% cream in place of milk. I used maple syrup as the sweetener and organic unbleached all purpose flour. I cut up one fresh banana and mixed into the batter along with chocolate chips before baking. Truly delicious on every level! Next time maybe I’ll try it out with full fat coconut milk. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the tips, Hillary !
Positively amazing. I didn’t tell my family this is a healthy version at first. They raved it was the best bread I ever made. I used vanilla fat free Greek yogurt. It was a good choice. This recipe is a keeper.
haha, you’re just like me. I don’t tell them it’s healthy at first to see their reactions 😀
I made this Banana bread today, it’s delicious! Was so quick to whip together. I will be making this again.
You didn’t say whether self raising or all purpose flour- which is it?
It’s always all-purpose flour unless otherwise noted! 🙂 This recipe calls for whole wheat flour.
Great recipe! Did all it as is except subbed
all purpose flour. Per recipe I did honey, and almond milk not yogurt, and 1/2 cup dark choc chips. Made muffins and sprinkled the tops with cinnamon sugar I had hanging around. They are fantastic! Great texture. Not super sweet but with the chocolate, they’re perfect. Not sure I’d like them as much with the WW flour haha but I might try it if I have some around. Will be making again!
Can Apple sauce be used in place of the honey, maple syrup or Agava?
I am using it in place of the sugar for this recipe today. You add the same amount of applesauce that it calls for in sugar, and reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup. Since 1/4 cup is all the liquid this recipe calls for, I’m going to mix it together without it and if it seems too dry, I’ll add a little milk by the tablespoon.
Sorry, in place of the honey/syrup, etc.
Worked lovely without adding additional milk. This loaf I made as a holiday gift for a person that is diabetic.
Hi, how long does it stay fresh on counter top? I wanted to carry this for travel made a day in advance! Thank you!
About 3-4 days. We like to wrap it in plastic wrap tightly to keep fresh.
This is great! I add some nutmeg in the batter and sprinkle some coconut sugar on top too.
I like adding flax seed and nutmeg to the ingredients. Also, I use lots of bananas instead of sugar to sweeten the bread! I switched to wheat flour years ago and the bread comes out very dense but so yummy!
I substituted the milk/ yogurt for the cottage cheese I had–absolutely wonderful and moist. This is my new go-to!
Oh neat! I was going to try almond milk as a sub to see if it’ll take… the bananas are almost ready!
I have made this several times now with almond milk or coconut milk and it comes out great.
This is awesome. Could I use oat flour (blended oats) as a replacement for wheat? Than you!
Instead of the coconut oil, I used good quality local olive oil (I live in Spain, so it’s always fresh and flavourful) , along with toasted chopped walnuts and dates instead of the chocolate chips and 50:50 honey and maple syrup. Fantastic recipe!
can you make this into muffins?
Yes, you can. Be sure to bake them only 15-20 minutes.
Can this recipe be made in a bread maker machine?
I haven’t tried this recipe in a bread baker, but please let us know how it goes if you do.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I used gluten free flour and baking powder, canadian maple syrup, soy dairy free yoghurt and dates and walnuts. The dates sweeten the cake instead of the chocolate chips.
Totally yummy.