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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
This recipe hits EVERY TIME!!! Even cooking this at high altitude and accidentally throwing the dry ingredients with the wet before mixing, still came out great. I also added in walnuts and choc chips! So yummy!!!!
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
Applesauce listed next to the butter, can be used instead of butter.
Made your banana bread today. My husband and I love it! This will be my go to recipe for banana bread from now on.
Love this easy “skinny” version of banana bread! Very rich flavor with only 2 tbsp of butter in it! My family loves it and I smell it baking right now! Sometimes I add chopped nuts and other times mini chocolate chips. Is very good!!!
This banana bread is SO good. I’ve been on the search for a good, and of course tasty, banana bread that doesn’t have an overload of sugar- and this one is IT. It was so soft and simple. Took around 42 minutes to bake in our oven. Everyone in my family loved it!
Out this banana bread in a bundt pan with same baking instructions. Very tasty, moist, but stays together, slices nicely!
Loved! Added dark chocolate chips too and it was perfect. Best banana bread recipe I’ve made so far! I also did half almond flour, half AP.
I added about a cup of chopped walnuts….. I was really surprised at the amount of vanilla at first but then it made sense!! Easy recipe to make, I didn’t have parchment paper in the house at the time so i coated the grease in pan with light coating of flour. I was a banana short so i added almost another tablespoon of butter, then my oven runs a little hot so i put timer for 35 mins …i got worried it was going to get to dry, so I stuck tooth pick in it after 29 mins in oven….it was done! It couldn’t of turned out any more perfect! Popped right out of pan too. I’m used to banana bread sweeter, but this is the best banana nut bread I’ve ever tried, not mushy bread either. After piece or two u don’t even miss the sugar. I put a little butter on my slices…just love it…thank you.
SO yummy– it’s hard to find good-tasting low calorie sweets, but this bread does the job!
This was very good! Moist, tasty and sweet. I added walnuts on one half and a few dark choc chips to the other half. Everyone in the house loved it. Thanks!
This is my 4th time making this and I can not rate this higher it honestly is my favourite snack & gets eaten sooo fast in me family! Thanks heaps 🙂 ps – add walnuts!!
This recipe sounds delicious! I love that the nutritional information is included, just wondering if you know what the serving size is in grams or ounces?
Thank you