This easy no-fail Healthy Banana Bread recipe makes the most fluffy and moist banana bread you will find at only 238 calories per slice. 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, and I’m sure your family will love it as much as we do!
What Makes This Banana Bread Healthy?
To make this banana bread healthy:
The sugar is replaced with honey
For the butter, we opted for coconut oil. You can also use olive, avocado oil, or even apple sauce.
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.
How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
Make this delicious banana bread by combining the dry ingredients and setting aside. Next, simply combine all the wet ingredients and add in the bananas.
Stir in the dry ingredients and add in your favorite banana bread add-ins. I like to add chopped chocolate, chocolate chips, or nuts.
Lastly, transfer the batter into a greased 9×5 pan, and bake for 50 minutes. You can also bake this banana bread in a small square 8×8 pan for just 20 minutes or until cooked through.
Is Banana Bread Healthy?
Banana bread can be made healthy with simple substitutes that also taste amazing! Replace the sugar with honey or an alternative sweetener, replace the oil with healthier sats, and use whole wheat or almond flour.
What is the difference between whole-wheat flour and white whole-wheat flour?
Whole-wheat flour is made with red wheat, which is darker in color. It has a slightly bitter taste and a coarser texture. White whole-wheat flour which lacks bran color. It also has a milder flavor and a softer texture.
What Mix-Ins can I add to Banana Bread?
There are a ton of things you can add to your banana bread each time to give it a new flavor. I like to add chopped dark chocolate, chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, dried fruit, Nutella, oats, or berries.
Recipe Tip
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, 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 thaw, 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 Healthy Banana Bread Recipes To Try
- Healthy Oatmeal Banana Bread
- Almond Flour Banana Bread
- Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread
- Healthy Coconut Flour Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Have some extra ripe bananas and want to try new banana bread recipes? here are a few of my favorite banana recipes:
Healthy 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
Do you have a recommended cook time for a 9×13 glass pan?
I would bake for 30 minutes then keep an eye on it after that!
Tried this last night since I had a couple of overripe bananas to use and OMG. This was the best banana bread recipe ever!!! Glad I tried your recipe! Thank you!!
I wanted a recipe that would use up my overripe bananas but doesn’t have loads of refined sugars. This recipe did not disappoint. It was say to make and too very little time to prepare. Thank you.
What will be the baking time if i bake in a round cake pan?
No, for a cake pan the baking time will be much less. Keep an eye on it after 30 minutes.
Delicious recipe, whole family devoured this 🙂
Could I add another banana (1 1/2 cups total) and not mess up the results too much? I made the Cookies & Kate version of this recipe and liked it, but prefer more banana flavor. Your and their recipes only call for 1 cup of banana.
More banana will result in denser bread but I say go for it!
We have experimented with this recipe and have improved on it for us!! We use 3 eggs, 1.5 cups of almond flour, and 1/2 cup of coconut flour, no milk and no yogurt!! We used to make 2 pans at a time, and put in a cup of pecans, a cup of chocolate chips, and a half cup of cranberry chips. Again as I said, we experimented and used teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of vanilla.. play with your recipe and you can improve it each time. Plus we cut back the bake time to 40 minutes. We also use 2 cups of bananas.
Made with a mixture of blackstrap molasses and sorghum, upped the bananas (I like a lot of fruit,) full fat milk, olive oil, all purpose flour, and used orange infused craisins (they were on sale this week ) as well as some chopped walnuts/almonds. I had a bit of extra batter , so I made muffins with what was left. They turned out beautifully; moist and not too sweet (the molasses adds a bitter sweet element that I enjoy.) I served with a cinnamon-honey butter/ peach preserves and got all 👍🏻.
I choose to make this recipe bacause it was sugar and butter free.
I used honey, yogurt, olive oil and 2 bananas. I think it came out too moist and oily and supersweet!
Plus, I think that the cook time is underestimated or maybe the oven shoud be aired.
Nice recipe though, maybe I just choose the wrong combination of ingredients 🙂
Hey!
Can I replace the honey for brown sugar and the olive oil/coconut oil for vegetable oil?
Thanks!
Great recipe to replace my old sugar laden recipe. Sorry Grandma. Super moist, not too dense and just sweet enough. I am running low on whole wheat flour so I used 3/4 whole wheat, 1/2 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup almond flour. I added a chia egg to add an little extra bind. Turned out really good.
Made this while my In-Laws were visiting, and it was an absolute hit! Used white plain flour, 3 bananas, 0% fat greek yogurt, and a mix of honey and maple syrup (About 1/2 of the listed amount on the recipe). I mixed roughly-chopped walnuts into the batter, and pushed full walnuts into the top once it was in the pan for decoration. The batter was less liquid than I expected, but I didn’t have any trouble spooning it into the pan.
The loaf pan may have been slightly too small for the amount of batter, but it wasn’t an issue.
I baked in in an air fryer at 160°C, initially for 55 minutes. I checked it at 50 minutes, and the skewer came out with batter still on it, while the top was browning a fair bit, so I put foil over the top, and put it back in for another 15 minutes until the centre was properly cooked.
I sliced the loaf, and lightly toasted each slice in the fryer before serving with butter. It was amazing!
Thank you for the recipe!
So happy to hear it worked out for you! 🙂
Brilliant!!! This recipe is everything I love and more, thank you! I used maple syrup, my homemade yogurt, 100% whole wheat flour, lots of cinnamon, and chopped walnuts. It has the most perfect crumb, is not overwhelmingly sweet, and is the perfect slice of comfort. This is my new go-to banana bread recipe!
Delicious moist banana bread, made it with yoghurt, wholemeal spelt and plain flour and it turned out beautifully.
Thanks for the recipe. The bread turned out great. Can we use bread flour for the recipe?
Yes, it should work!
Delicious!! made it with oat and coconut flour.
Beautifully moist banana cake with firm crust. I used a combo of olive oil, some butter & coconut oil, and because I made it in my friends kitchen, there were no nuts or sultanas. Still great flavour. Also very good toasted.
Loved it Layla.i used maple syrup & whole wheat flour .Thankyou
Thanks for the feedback and for stopping by !! 🙂
Delish!!!
Everyone raved, especially because it was not too sweet.
A couple of tweaks… did not add chips or raisins but added unsweetened coconut to the batter and topped the loaf with oats and cinnamon. A great addition to my recipe box!!! Thank you!!
Hi there,
I’m quite a novice when it comes to anything food-related (except eating it).
You call for fresh, ripe bananas. It’s been engrained in my brain by my family that if the banana is about to reach the point that it’s too ripe, you put it in the freezer until it comes time for banana bread making. Can I use the bananas I have in my freezer or does it make a huge difference if they aren’t fresh?
Frozen bananas will work just fine just be sure to thaw them a little so they incorporate into the batter.
Hello!
I’ve made this recipe at least 6 times since discovering it this year and it’s perfect every time!
I took it to my Sunday school (back in Feb) for our office meeting and everyone was shocked that it didn’t have butter or sugar, yet still tasted amazing!
Thank you for this recipe, it’s become a classic in our household 🙂
So moist and delicious (i used rye flourbread also)! Toddler approved.
Im here from Liza Koshy’s video on her second channel “Liza Koshy too” and it turned out really good for her. just wanted to say that! Also go check her out. Her old videos are the funniest.
I made this with walnuts (no chocolate) and put a generous amount of cinnamon, a teaspoon of sugar in the raw and extra walnuts on top before baking….it formed the most delicious crust! YUM!
Thank you.
Sounds delicious!!
tbh i had my hopes pretty high for this recipe 🙁 but it was kinda bland (could’ve been sweeter in my opinion) and you could definitely till it was healthy banana bread compared to other recipes. It was a little dry and just didn’t satisfy my taste buds. I’ll stick to my other recipes.
Strange! This was SO moist and tasted like a choc chip sponge cake for me
I found it terribly bland also. My husband and I have been slathering our slices in peanut butter or cookie butter to give it some sort of flavor. Other than the chocolate chips in the recipe there is no sweetness. It just tastes vaguely like oil. I
Sorry, it did not work out for you! Did you use honey?
This is my GO TO banana bread recipe! SO good!! I find this one is even so much better than the unhealthy banana bread recipes. I would highly recommend.
I love this recipe. Quick tips to make it super healthy, I use oat flour, avocado oil, and sugar-free syrup. Also add a little nutmeg, just because I love that with cinnamon. Also adding a little monk fruit sweetener as a healthy alternative to add some sweetness. Overall this makes wonderful banana bread every time!!! and yes I have made it more than once 🙂
I tried this recipe,also replaced eggs with flax seed eggs, came out delicious. Bread’s texture moist and loved the flavor of coconut oil.i would rate 5 stars !! My family is asking me to make it again allready:)
Thanks so much for the detailed feedback, so glad it worked out for you with flag eggs!
I only have a 8.5 x 6 inch aluminium load pan, will this temperature still work? Thanks
Yes, it will work!
I don’t usually leave reviews, but this recipe was so good!! I went to make it and realized I was out of eggs (ugh), so I substituted applesauce and it was delicious. Also used oat milk instead of regular milk/yogurt. Moist and delicious! Thanks!
This banana bread is easy to make, very moist and delicious. The only thing that surprised me was how greasy the bottom of it is. I will definitely make again.