Want to make someone’s day? Bake them some banana bread! Just yesterday, I said, “I’m going to bake some banana bread,” and watched a full-grown man’s eyes light up like a kid’s on Christmas morning.
Banana bread is one of those classic, all-American comfort food recipes that fills the whole house with warmth and makes everything better. Banana bread is magic.
I perfected this banana bread recipe for my cookbook and wanted to share with you here. This recipe has all the hallmarks of classic banana bread—it’s fluffy, moist, infused with sweet banana flavor, and beloved by toddlers and adults alike.
Bonus? This recipe requires just one bowl, a few measuring cups and some basic ingredients.
What makes this banana bread healthy?
- This banana bread recipe is made with 100 percent whole wheat flour, unlike traditional banana bread recipes that call for refined flour and lots of processed sugar.
- This banana bread is naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, which offer some trace nutrients that white sugar does not.
- Lastly, this recipe calls for a reasonable amount of unrefined oil rather than whole sticks of butter (choose from virgin coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil).
As you can see, my homemade banana bread has plenty of redeeming qualities, chief being that it won’t send your blood sugar levels for a loop. You can keep them all to yourself, though. No one will be able to tell that this is healthy banana bread!
Banana Bread Flour Options
This recipe is flexible! Any of the following flours will work well. I love to use white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour—they offer all the whole wheat nutrients, without the characteristically nutty flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
- Oat flour*
- Spelt flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat pastry flour
- White whole wheat flour
*To substitute oat flour, you’ll need to use 2 1/2 cups, for reasons elaborated in my guide to oat flour.
Want to make your banana bread with almond flour? You sure can, but it’s not a simple substitute, so follow my almond flour-based banana bread recipe instead.
Tip: How to Measure Flour
For best results, it’s important to measure your flour properly. Here’s how to measure flour in cups using the “spoon and swoop” method:
- Gently stir your flour with a large spoon to loosen it up.
- Spoon the flour into your measuring cup (don’t scoop it in!).
- Level off the excess with a butter knife.
Banana Bread Variations
Now that I’ve finally perfected this basic banana bread, feel free to change up this recipe and make it your own. Toss some chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter! Same goes for chocolate chips. You could also add raisins, chopped dried fruit or slices of bananas.
Craving muffins instead? Follow my recipe for healthy banana muffins.
Following a special diet? With a couple of minor tweaks, you can make this bread vegan (so dairy free and egg free, too) or gluten free. Check the recipe notes for details.
Watch How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
Healthy Banana Bread
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 55 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
With this healthy banana bread recipe, you’re only a few simple ingredients away from the best banana bread ever! It’s made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. You can easily make this banana bread vegan or gluten free—check the recipe notes for details. Recipe yields 1 loaf (about 10 slices).
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil or high quality vegetable oil*
- ½ cup honey (168 grams) or maple syrup (155 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (225 grams) mashed ripe bananas (about 2 ½ medium or 2 large bananas)
- ¼ cup (56 grams) milk of choice or water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (NOT baking powder; they aren’t the same!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
- 1 ¾ cups (220 grams) white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour**
- Totally optional: ½ cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried fruit, fresh banana slices…
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius) and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in the mashed bananas and milk. (If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, simply let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for about 10 seconds in the microwave.)
- Add the baking soda, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, and whisk to blend. Lastly, switch to a big spoon and stir in the flour, just until combined. Some lumps are ok! If you’re adding any additional mix-ins, gently fold them in now.
- Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. If you’d like a pretty swirled effect, run the tip of a knife across the batter in a zig-zag pattern.
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (typically, if I haven’t added any mix-ins, my bread is done at 55 minutes; if I have added mix-ins, it needs closer to 60 minutes). Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes. You may need to run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the bread from the pan. Carefully transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool before slicing.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my honey whole wheat banana bread, originally based on All Recipes.
Storage suggestions: This bread is moist, so it will keep for just two or three days at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for five to seven days, or in the freezer for up to three months or so. I like to slice the bread before freezing and defrost individual slices, either by letting them rest at room temperature or lightly toasting them.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Flour alternatives: In place of the whole wheat flour, you can use an equal amount of all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Or, substitute 2 ½ cups oat flour.
Make muffins: Here’s my banana muffin recipe.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey, replace the eggs with flax eggs and choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk) or water.
Make it dairy free: Choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk) or water.
Make it egg free: Replace the eggs with flax eggs.
Make it gluten free: Use an equal amount of Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free blend or 2 ½ cups certified gluten-free oat flour. Do NOT substitute coconut flour.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
If you love this recipe: You will also love my banana muffins, banana cake with cream cheese frosting, healthy pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins. Here are all of my baked goods and banana recipes.
Recommended equipment: I am totally in love with my Fiesta Loaf Pan in Turquoise (affiliate link).
Natalia
Made it yesterday and is truly AMAZING!! Best banana bread i ever had! I reduced the honey amount to half just because i don’t like super sweet and the bananas were already and turned out perfect! thanks for sharing this great recipe :)
★★★★★
KLARA
It’s nice but half a cup of honey is definitely too much for me.
★★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, Klara.
Olga Yuditsky
I made this with 2.5 cups of oat flour and it didn’t rise. I even cooked it longer than a hour. The inside is a goopy mess. Where did I go wrong?
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that. How did you measure the flour? Did you spoon and level it?
Mona
I would use less oat flour than regular flour (not more) because oat flour absorbs much more liquid that other flours do.
Brandon
You could also check your baking soda to see if it has gone bad.
Kym
Came out great, saved the recipe to use it again
★★★★★
Ania
A healthy banana bread that’s actually delicious! The ratios work perfectly. I make it fully gluten, sugar, and dairy free by using olive oil instead of butter, oat flour, and really ripe bananas that are sweet enough to avoid the honey. For the oat flour, I used Cookie + Kate’s guide to oat flour and you need to use 2.5 cups of oat flour which ends up being 220 grams. I use a scale to get the ratios right– I highly recommend using a scale for the flour! I also add 1/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (when I do want a little extra sweetness but with a nice added crunch). Adding these doesn’t mess up the batter. Love this recipe! My new go-to.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Ania!
Kirsten Pennattz
Thanks for the recipe – I love it – I mashed the bananas in a different bowl and completely forgot to mix them with the rest of the dough- thankfully quickly realized once it was in the oven and able to add it in . I liked that you shared the importance of measuring correctly , very helpful. I used avocado oil and left it in the oven 10 min longer since it is a convection one .
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you love it, Kirsten! I appreciate your review.
Libby
Freaking delicious! Used the maple syrup instead of honey. Added 1/4 chocolate chip and 1/4 pecans. Love it. Family wants to eat whole loaf in one sitting
★★★★★
Kate
I’m excited it’s a hit, Libby!
Jake
I made this today with all purpose flour. I went long on the oven baking time because the toothpick was not clean(about 65 minutes). It now looks like the bread is unevenly distributed. The banana taste is on top and the bottom is brown and is dull tasting. Is this from baking it too long?
★★★
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like it wasn’t mixed well and separated. It should have been combined more and not separated when baking.
Michelle
This smelt amazing as it was cooking. After reading other comments, I put less honey in ( about half). On tasting, it def need more honey, and there was a slight metallic taste ( I’m assuming this is from the baking soda as there wasn’t enough honey to soak it up). Looking forward to trying it again with more honey.
★★★★
Jodie Proctor
Hey. Mine is quite runny when spooning in. The grams for bananas seemed to measure at 3.5 bananas, could this be why? I used gluten free flour blend…
Kate
Likely since you had too much banana. I hope you try it again!
DJ
Made this a few weeks ago. Made one batch with whole wheat flour, half with dark choc chips. Made another batch with all oat flour and dark choc chips. Both turned out delightful. Not oily. Not dense. Not muffin-y. Not dry. Both types were delicious. I left half of each out to eat throughout the week and froze the other two halves. Turned out so well, I have almost black bananas I have been waiting to ripen just to make this recipe again. Will make with oat flour again and freeze as an alternate to eating oatmeal (increase oat consumption during breastfeeding, love the variety!) Must try. Huge fan of no sugar, no butter. So excited to make this again!
★★★★★
Kristin
My 10 YO daughter loves to bake, but I don’t love all the high-sugar recipes. We had ripe bananas on hand so I googled ‘healthy banana bread recipe’ and yours popped up. After a quick check of the ingredients, I printed it off and let her go for it! It turned out well – not too wet and not too sweet. Great for a snack or part of breakfast. I did wish it had risen a little more, but of course my kids didn’t care! We didn’t mix anything in this time, but I think it would be even better with nuts, chocolate chips, or blueberries. Thanks for the winner!
★★★★★
Charlsa A Matson
I made this as directed then realized I was out of eggs! I swapped eggs foe 1/3 cup of plain yogurt, added some blueberries and swirled some strawberry preserves in the batter then baked as directed. It was delicious and my toddler loves it, thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Charlsa! I appreciate your review.
Ruchi Jairath
It turned out great! I used vegetable oil and added walnuts. I like how honey gives this bread a dark brown color.
★★★★★
Pam
I made this loaf today. A little dry, I must admit. But tastey.
★★★★
Lisa
Just made this and a yummy cake. Can’t wait to share it!
Kate
Great to hear, Lisa!