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This EASY Healthy Banana Bread recipe is made with low sugar, no oil and is just over 100 calories per slice. It yields incredibly moist, perfectly sweet, and delicious bread!
Looking for more bread recipes? Try my Lemon Poppy Seed Bread, Artisan No Knead Bread, or Skillet Cornbread!
What I love about the recipe:
- Normal Ingredients – No artificial sweeteners or anything out of the ordinary here. I use basic pantry ingredients you already have.
- Healthy – No oil, low sugar, FOUR bananas, and around 100 calories per slice!
- Tastes Amazing – When baked goods are labeled “healthy” they often don't taste great, but I promise you no one would ever guess that this banana bread is any different! It is still just as moist, sweet, and scrumptious as traditional banana bread!
How to make Healthy Banana Bread:
Grease a standard 9×5” loaf pan (I also like to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper to make sure the loaf doesn't stick).
Mash bananas in a mixing bowl. Add egg, vanilla, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and stir well to combine.
Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add to banana mixture and stir to combine. Stir in melted butter.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 5-10 few minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack.
Pro Tips:
- Use very ripe bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter it is, the easier it is to mash, and the more sweetness it adds to the bread.
- Trick to ripen bananas quickly: Place the bananas (peel on) on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for about 6-8 minutes. until the outer peel is dark.
Storing and Freezing Instructions:
To Store: Banana bread will keep at room temperature for 3-5 days.
To Freeze: Cool completely and then store in an airtight container or freezer safe bag for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw to room temperature before serving.
Recipe Variations:
- Healthy Banana Muffins: Follow my instructions HERE!
- Mix-Ins: Feel free to stir in ¾ cup of you favorite chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or raisins, at the end, before adding the batter to the pan.
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Healthy Banana Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 bananas, , about 1 ⅓ cups, mashed (320 g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, (15 ml)
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar, (38 g)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, (25 g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, (2.6 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, (4 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda, (5 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, (2.5 g)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (white or white-whole wheat) (180 g)
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, , melted (or substitute applesauce) (28 g butter or 30 g applesauce)
Instructions
- Grease a standard 9×5” loaf pan (I also like to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper to make sure the loaf doesn't stick).
- Mash bananas in a mixing bowl. Add egg, vanilla, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and stir well to combine.
- In a separate small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir to combine.
- Gently stir in melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 few minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe January 2017. Updated January 2021 and January 2022.
Process photos by Nikole from The Travel Palate
Delicious!I have made it 4 times in 3 days! We just can’t get enough!!!
I absolutely LOVE this recipe!!! I make it as muffins and I add walnuts. I make this EVERY weekend so we have them for lunches for the week. My whole family LOVES them!
Hi, did you add applesauce as listed in the ingredients list?
How long did you bake the muffins?
I don’t see applesauce in the ingredient list
Can you sub honey for sugar?
Honey will work, but it’s a bit sweeter and adds moisture. You can use about 3–4 tablespoons honey in place of the sugar and bake as directed.
I made this recipe for the first time, it was super easy and I loved it, so tasty! The browner the bananas the better
The best I have made and I have made quite a few but this is by far the best that I have made. I like the ingredients without compromising the flavor and taste I was looking for this recipe with no oil low sugar so it’s perfect so healthy thanks so much I will be making on repeat! The whole family loved it!
Love this recipe. I used 2 tablespoons of avocado oil instead of butter. It was delicious. The bananas made the bread sweet enough with just 5 tablespoons of sugar. I could taste the bananas.
I made this today. It was actually really good! I didn’t use brown sugar because mine was all hard, so I used syrup. I also subbed out the granulated sugar for stevia.
Added some walnuts, pecans, and dark chocolate chips to the mix 💯
I’m going to try substituting pumpkin purée for the bananas . I’ll let you know what happens. I’ve made. the banana bread dozens of times and it’s excellent.
Delicious! Added walnuts and raisins. I did the applesauce and it came out beautifully. Baked 45 minutes. Parchment paper made it an easy cleanup! Will make again soon!!
I don’t see applesauce in the ingredient list?
It’s written as an option, next to the melted butter in the recipe ingredients list
I’ve made this so many times already, we love it! I use (gluten free) teff flour and instead of any sugar I use 10 drops of monk fruit extract. It comes out dark brown, and it’s so wonderful and moist. Will definitely be making this in the future!
I was initially sceptical about this recipe because it uses just one egg and no milk/yogurt. But for such a deceptively simple recipe, this turned out wonderful. I subbed the 2 sugars with 4 tablespoons of dark brown sugar and used 2 tablespoons of oil instead of butter. It was tender, flavourful and I had people asking for the recipe. A definite winner!
I think this is a simplest best recipe I have ever used for banana bread. I actually make it into muffins which come out moist and perfect and are easy to wrap up and freeze for a few months if needed, but they don’t last in my freezer more than a month. They never have my daughter loves them. She begs me from college to bring them up to her or to make them when she comes to visit so she can take them back. Thank you for putting this recipe out there.