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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 made these today and am very happy with the results! In the nutritional section, serving size “one slice” is too ambiguous. It would be more helpful if portion size was shown by weight or dimensions.
Hi Rosemary! I’m personally counting calories so I understand wanting to get the servings right! In the recipe, the total servings are 12, so if you try to cut 12 even slices you’ll get a good idea of where your individual servings are. If you have a kitchen scale and you really want to go for the gusto, you could weigh your finished batter and divide it evenly into a 12 muffin tin. Then you’d definitely make sure you were spot on for serving size 🙂 Going to make these this afternoon but I’ll be adding chocolate chips… lol
We love the bread. My son has eaten some with breakfast, lunch and dinner. But my other son is allergic to eggs. Has anyone tried just leaving the egg out?
I’ve just had gallbladder surgery, we love eating homemade banana bread. I was skeptical but this recipe was very nice and surprisingly moist texture. My five year old had 2 slices in one sitting, don’t think it’ll last 3-5 days lol
This is the only banana bread recipe I use! Comes out delicious and moist every time. My husband loves it too and requests I make it at least once a month. Seriously a perfect recipe. I usually mix in choc zero milk chocolate chips at the end or sometimes even blueberries. I also like to top it with cut up banana pieces. So good; I would eat this every day if I could! Love that it’s much healthier than other recipes out there.
I opted for a new banana bread recipe and tried this one. This one was extremely disappointing. I make banana bread all the time, but this one tatsted like salt. It was disgusting.
I’m guessing you accidentally added salt instead of sugar, or added 1/2 of tablespoon. Recipe calls for only 1/2 teaspoon of salt, which is intended to intensify the flavor but this quantity wouldn’t be able to change the taste.
Looks awesome!!
This recipe turned out fantastic, substituted monk fruit sugar for white. Tastes just as good as other recipes I’ve used with twice as much sugar. Thanks for an awesome healthy alternative
This banana cake is exactly what I was looking for. It’s just sweet enough, very light, and surprisingly very moist and fluffy. I’ve made it twice this week already. Everyone loves it, even the kids!
Made this today! Surprisingly so good! Highly recommend for a lower calorie option!
I made this banana bread today. It is delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! ❤️
Love, love, love this recipe! I make it all the time!! Everyone I share with loves it also. Thank you so much for sharing!!-) it’s always moist, delicious and Easy to make.