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.
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
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
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe January 2017. Updated January 2021 and January 2022.
Process photos by Nikole from The Travel Palate
This post contains affiliate links.
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?
This recipe is delicious! I only used 2 tbls of brown sugar. I poured half the batter in a bread pan, drizzled honey over it, then added the rest of the batter on top. I also swirled cinnamon and the butter over the top. My husband ate the whole loaf.
Sounds AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing–I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Just made this and it’s amazing!! Can’t even tell it’s low fat! Thank you so much!
I agree! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Is there a possible substitute for the brown sugar? Would a white sweetner work to sub for both types of sugar called for? And what type of yogurt should I be using to replace the butter? I presume wheat flour could replace the white flour? And one more thing, if I have smaller loaf pans, I imagine a shorter baking time would make up for there being multiple loaf pans in the oven?
Hi Amy, it seems other commenters have had success with sweeteners as a replacement in this recipe (I haven’t tried that to say for sure). You could substitute a Tablespoon of applesauce or plain yogurt for the butter. Use a lower baking time for smaller pans. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
I tried this recipe yesterday and the banana bread came out great! It was very moist and delicious. Instead of white flour, I used Spelt flour, olive oil instead of melted butter and honey instead of sugar. Next time I make it though, I will probably try grapeseed oil, yogurt or applesauce instead of the olive oil. Next time I plan on adding walnuts to the recipe. Thank you.
Love you substitutions! Thanks so much for sharing.
Super moist and not too sweet -perfect! I was surprised how little sugar and butter this needed so I was skeptical but I do not think I will need another banana bread recipe from now on-truly! I like how it only took half the time as some of my previous recipes were 60-70 min to bake and even then sinks in the middle! I did a double take on 1 Tbs vanilla … not sure if I ever had a recipe w that much but I trusted it, even the cinnamon seemed a lot but I trusted it… Loved it with walnuts in it too.
Thanks so much Nancy! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! The vanilla and cinnamon really help boost the flavors and make up for the lack of sugar. Love that you added walnuts too! Thanks for your review.
Can’t wait to try this! Do you think I could substitute coconut oil for butter and still achieve the same texture? 🙂
I haven’t tried it but I think it will work great!
Yesterday, I was given about 8 lbs of bananas after a 10K and today, I tried your recipe. My husband, who is a bread baker, was very complimentary of the result and your recipe. The texture is very nice and I love that it is not too sweet. I made one with walnuts too and it is delicious. Thank you!
What a great compliment! Thanks so much Kristin!
Just tried this recipe for the first time and yay! I made them in my trusty muffin top pans, topped with a sprinkle of oats and extra cinnamon, and now I have 12 beautiful banana bread breakfasts waiting. My kids are drooling over them, and I know I’ll have to buy more bananas ASAP!
Yum! Thank you for sharing. I love the oats and cinnamon sprinkled on top–delicious! Thanks for following TBFS!
Anyone tried using cake flour? I’ve tonnes left and want to try this recipe ASAP!! 🙂
Hi Fiona, cake flour should work just fine in this banana bread recipe!
Any idea how many WW Freestyle points this would be?
At 12 slices, I modified this slightly (replaced butter with unsweetened apple sauce and replaced sugars with sweeteners). Mine came out to 3 smart points/slice or 2 slices for 5 Points.
Thanks for sharing this tip!