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!
Equipment
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
this looks de-li-cious!
Didn’t love this as much as the reviews. It was ok, but not the kind of banana bread I want to devour. One piece (with a little butter, so it wasn’t too dry) was enough.
This was amazing. Had to find a new recipe after I forgot to buy butter and I think this is my new go-to. Delicious!!!
Made this bread today. It’s a bit on the sweet side for me, otherwise than that, it was perfect. Will make it again with less honey (probably 1/4 cup instead). Thanks for the receiipe.
This recipe was so delicious & easy to make. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Can this be made in advance and frozen?
Yes, you can freeze and reheat as needed.
This is the game changer recipe of covid lockdown for our household! Absolutely love it and so do the hungry caterpillars 🐛 honey, milk, olive oil and chopped walnuts combination is our go-to. Delicious and so easy it’s now on fortnightly rotation.
First time using a healthy recipe and the bread was delicious!! So moist and flavorful as I used the coconut oil & honey combination along with 4 bananas. Will keep this recipe going forward and now thinking need to try others from this website!
This bread is perfect 🙌🏾 So delicious. Tastes amazing and looks amazing. I’ll be making this recipe on the regular from now on!
It turned out to be AMAZING! We can’t tell if it was made using coconut oil and honey, neither did we feel the absence of all purpose flour in this recipe. So much healthier yet delicious! Yay, I will be making this more often. THANK YOU
this is literally crack in the form of banana bread. it’s literally addicting
The grandkids left bananas here. So banana bread I made. It’s in the oven now. The house smells amazing!
Best banana bread recipe ever! I double the vanilla and cinnamon. I also use Greek yogurt not milk. It comes out soooo moist and tasty and tastes far better than recipes that contain a brick of butter and a mountain of sugar. I also use raw, organic, high quality honey which I always feel helps enhance the flavor. So so happy I came across this recipe, I will never try any other recipes for banana bread again!
Delicious!!! So hard to find healthier baked good recipes that use easy, everyday ingredients. This is so moist and the crust has a perfect hardiness almost crunch to it. Thank you!
Oh my! This was my first attempt at baking and it came out so delicious I honestly can’t believe this ain’t cake! The Chico chips just did it for me!
Brilliant recipe!
This banana bread turned out delicious and so moist!! I used 3 ripe bananas, almond milk, olive oil, and honey for the sweetener. I didn’t have chocolate chips but they would’ve made this even better! Best healthy banana bread I’ve made.
This recipe was quick & easy to prepare. I used maple syrup which I think gives the bread a rich flavor. I cannot have dairy so I substituted non-dairy creamer (Italian Cream). I used golden raisins & toasted walnuts. It’s a dream!!
I made this recipe today and used ghee and almond milk instead of oil and greek yogurt and it was amazing. I always worry about my banana bread being too dry but this was moist and firm. I topped it off with 80% chocolate chips and it was really good.
This was very tasty. Recipe is perfect, and I had all of the ingredient on hand. My kids loved it and didn’t notice it was any different than our usual (white sugar) recipe.
This recipe is delicious! I made it in an 8 x 8 baking dish and baked it for 40 minutes. And it was perfect! I also used Lilly’s brand chocolate chips to keep the refined sugar low and they turned out great!
Love this recipe! This will be my third time making it, and it’s delicious 😋
So good and healthy. I used 1/2 cup spelt flour and 1 1/4 cup alll purpose and I realized after that I forgot to add greek yogurt But to be honest it turned out amazing regardless. Amazing healthy delicious banana bread.!!!
I have tried this recipe and it is super delicious, already made it few times. Thank you!
This has become a new favorite of our family. I have been making it once a week for the past several weeks. I use 4 very ripe bananas and white chocolate chips.
This came out great. I had whole wheat bread flour, and it worked well.
Loved this recipe so good! I wonder though how many grams does one slice weigh?
Wow, this is a fantastic recipe! Turned out very moist and light. I made it with Greek yogurt and didn’t have chocolate chips but it is really delicious. I’m at high altitude in Denver so I added a little extra flour with a splash of milk and it couldn’t have come out better! Thank you for this recipe!
I also used Agave instead of honey or maple syrup…fantastic!
This turned out way better than I thought it would. Absolutely delicious! The only small change I made is that I used less maple syrup as i don’t like very sweet things.
I made this today and the taste is really good. But it did not cook fully, even with over 20 min extra. I was hungry so I took it out, and a bit of it didn’t stick together.(Yes I greased it, maybe not enough I’m not sure.)
Best recipe 😍
Although I used vegetable oil, almond milk, 1/4 walnuts and 1/4 cup chopped caramilk 🤤🤤
Made these GF as muffins, ready in 30 mins and very moist indeed.
Thank you for the recipe. 🙂
SO FREAKING GOOD! the only thing I did different was add 1 tsp of cinnamon, an extra banana (wanting to get ride of my over-rip ones) and dark chocolate and craisens.
Literally the best ever.
The bread was moist, however very bland.. Not sweet and I could not taste the bananas. Do you recommend adding more honey and/or bananas?
Sure, if you personally did not find it sweet enough, go ahead and add another 1/4 cup more honey.
I am always on the look out for new banana bread recipes! This was so moist and yummy! I used whole grain spelt flour and didn’t have yoghurt but substituted with sour cream and it turned out great! I only had two bananas but would probably add a third to hopefully make it a little sweeter. I will most definitely be making this again!
Hello, I would like to use butter instead of the oils, can you tell me how much to use? They say that coconut oil has just as much saturated fat in it as butter and I like the taste of butter better. Thanks!
I believe it is 2/3 cup! I’m using that now!
You would sub it with a 1:1 ratio 🙂
I live at a higher altitude but followed the receipt exactly, and it tastes pretty dry. What did I do wrong?
I would follow instructions for high altitude baking by increasing the liquids and oven temperature.
The banava cake was delicious!
I make it every week!
So moist and healthy!
I would definitely make again. My husband and I thought it was delicious. We are always looking for ways to make delicious food that is healthy and sugar free. Thank you, I look forward to following Gimme Delicious and trying out other recipes… this was my first from this site!
Sounds lovely but it’s not sugar free. Honey and maple syrup are both sugar. It’s not white stuff you put in your tea but it’s glucose.
I agree. Not diabetic friendly.
the recipe is not sugar free in a strict sense yes, but you know neither are bananas …..
The best recipe for banana bread by far, although I did modify it slightly. I used olive oil and Greek yoghurt. Sultanas instead of chocolate chips. I only used 1 cup of whole meal flour and added 3/4 cup of porridge oats. It turned out so moist, I’ll definitely be making this again!
This is recipe is to die for! turned out great! I used applesauce instead of oil for low fat and extra moistness, and almond milk instead of regular milk. Using 3 bananas definitely did make the bread come out heavy but it was soooo worth it. Love the dark chocolate too!
My loaf was great on taste! Yet, it didn’t rise. What did I do wrong, I followed all directions.
I think it is because it doesn’t have baking powder. i think they left it out by mistake. I realized after I finished it was missing. Ill let you know how mine goes.
Your recipe says baking soda, not baking powder! I just put mine in the oven with soda!
How did it turn out? This recipe only requires baking soda and the bread will still rise.
The recipe does not include baking powder!
Won’t the texture of the bread turn out vastly different if one uses milk vs Greek yogurt?
Does it taste better with coconut or olive oil? What about the flour? White Whole Wheat or Regular Whole Wheat?