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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
I am trying to watch my cholesterol and sugar, thank you for this great recipe. I substituted applesauce for the butter. It tasted wonderful, even my husband liked it. Do you think I can substitute mashed sweet potatoes instead of bananas?
Quite a nice recipe, very moist and the perfect sweetness but slightly dense (that might be my fault). I topped it with some walnuts and brown sugar and it was delicious!
This is delicious. I’ve made it 2x now and both times was a big hit with my very picky 10 year old. One thing, I had to bake it for over an hour but maybe it’s my oven. We just moved and I’m not used to it yet.
The second loaf I made 1.5 X the size to get a higher loaf. It’s so good. I also baked the bananas in their skin before using them so that added to the sweetness. I also substituted the white sugar for coconut sugar. I highly recommend this recipe.
Thank you
Made this for the 1st time from the Tastes Better from Scratch cookbook. I used 3 – 6×3 pans and baked the bread for 26 minutes. Also, added a little over 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips. Delicious!!! I will definitely be making this again.
Made this the other day and my super healthy athlete son devoured it. A lot of healthier breads are chewy, but this has the texture of a full fat version. I used a small container of no sugar applesauce because I was out of butter. I did add some chocolate chips. Waiting on some bananas to ripen so I can make more. Thank you.
I never write reviews but this recipe was so great. I’ve tried a lot of different banana bread recipes and always had to tweak them a little so they weren’t too sweet or dry as a bone. This recipe took care of everything.
I will admit though that I did substitute the butter for olive oil and used half a cup of oat flour for part of the all purpose. Tastes amazing! Thank you.
It is light and moist and yummy!!! Some banana breads are dense. This is light and fluffy. It’s a keeper.
I made this recipe as muffins and they turned out fabulous! You can’t even tell it’s been modified to be healthier. Will definitely be my go-to recipe from now on!
My favorite banana bread recipe EVER! I tried this by chance, hoping it would taste okay despite the low amount of sugar and it was incredible! The addition of the cinnamon was perfection and you don’t miss a bit of sugar. I did add a few chocolate chips as well. I made mine into muffins and they were moist and delicious. Can’t wait to make again!
My loaf came out very dry. Might try again another time.