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Banana bread is one of the best baked goods, because you can get away with eating it at any time of day. This banana bread will fulfill all your cravings without taking up all your calories – it has a few healthier swaps – and you won’t even notice the difference.
What Makes This Banana Bread Healthy?
Out of all the baked goods you could indulge in, banana bread is far from the most unhealthy. Actually, banana bread delivers some impressive key vitamins and minerals such as potassium and B vitamins. The primary component of banana bread that makes it less healthy is our tendency to bake it with high sugar and fat content. By cutting those elements down, you can make significantly healthier banana bread.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- As opposed to our original banana bread recipe, this one is butter-free. Instead, you’ll be using unsweetened applesauce, a touch of oil, and an extra banana.
- This recipe includes only half of a cup of sugar — which, yes, is still sugar. But it is less than most recipes!
- Almond milk takes the place of cow milk, but if you just gotta get that dairy in then feel free to use nonfat milk instead.
- The addition of whole wheat flour brings extra fiber to this bread, making it the perfect sweet treat to accompany your morning coffee!
Ingredients Needed:
- Granulated sugar – I reduced it to 3/4 cup granulated sugar from my original recipe.
- Applesauce – Unsweetened so you don’t add any extra sugar. The applesauce takes the place of some of vegetable oil.
- Vegetable oil – You still need a bit, but we’ve cut down the amount.
- Bananas – Make sure they’re really ripe and brown spotted. I used thawed frozen bananas.
- Eggs – Always buy large eggs.
- Almond milk or nonfat milk – I always use unsweetened vanilla Almond Milk but you can use any kind of milk in this recipe.
- Mini chocolate chips – Mini chips give you more bang for your calorie buck, so to speak.
- Baking soda – Helps the banana rise along with the vinegar.
- Vinegar – 1 teaspoon is all you need to help activate the baking soda.
- Flour – I use a combination of All-purpose flour and whole wheat flour.
- Salt – Needed since we use vegetable oil – you need that salt for flavor.
How to Make Banana Bread Healthier
- Mash your bananas in a large mixing bowl.
- Add sugar, applesauce, eggs, and oil to the bananas.
- Stir in milk, baking soda, salt, and vinegar.
- Mix in flours.
- If using chocolate chips, you can add them to the mixture now.
- Pour the mix into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes in an oven that’s been pre-heated to 350°F. The top should become golden brown as it bakes.
How to know when Banana Bread is Done Baking
When done, a toothpick can be used to test the doneness of the banana bread. Insert the toothpick into the the center of the bread; if it comes out with just a few crumbs, it’s ready!
Expert Tips
Use overripe bananas for the best banana bread. When overripe, bananas are easier to work into your batter because they are much softer. Beyond being more convenient, they are also sweeter than ripe or underripe bananas, which affects the flavor of your bread significantly.
You can freeze overripe bananas right in their peels. Then let them thaw, cut off the tops and squeeze out the center to make banana bread whenever you want!
Looking for more ways to use those black bananas? Check out our recipes for banana zucchini bread, chocolate banana bread, and banana cake!
FAQs
Yes! You can use less sugar altogether or even use honey to sweeten your banana bread. If using honey, you will want to use a ¾ ratio to sugar and reduce the amount of milk used in your recipe by a few tablespoons to account for the liquid.
Applesauce works as a healthier alternative to oil. You can also use butter, which, yes, has more fat but is also richer in vitamins than oil. Dealer’s choice!
After the bread has completely cooled, you can wrap the bread in plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container at room temperature. The bread will last for around four days. If you need it to last longer, feel free to freeze it.
Yes, banana bread is ideal for freezing. Wrap the bread in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container and simply dethaw for 3-4 hours when desired. Banana bread will stay fresh in the freezer for up to one month.
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Healthier Banana Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (79ml) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
- 3 medium tired bananas brown spotted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk or nonfat milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (124g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (124g) whole wheat flour
- ½ cup (90g) mini chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5x3” loaf pan with cooking spray.
- Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, applesauce, and oil and stir until mixed.
- Mix in eggs, salt, and baking soda. Add the vinegar to the milk and add it to the bowl. Stir until combined. Stir in both flours, then stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. The top will be a nice golden brown.
- Cool completely before removing loaf from pan, but you can cut slices from the pan after it’s cooled for about 15-20 minutes.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Store leftover banana bread covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freeze banana bread whole or in slices for up to 2 months.
Recipe Nutrition
Healthier Banana Bread everything you love about my banana bread recipe with just a few reductions and ingredient swaps – no strange ingredients just a banana bread with less fat and processed sugar.
You know, I’ve been following a diet {read healthy eating} routine wherein I need to keep eating something or the other every 2 hours and it’s not just to lose weight but to also stay healthy. I’m thinking eating a slice of this SCRUMMMMMMY banana bread every 2 hours! I’m sure I won’t be able to resist! <3 I mean, look at THAT!!!!! I.CAN'T.EVEN!!!!!!! That is sooooo good and so much healthier! And I wouldn't skip those chocolate chips EVER! <3
I have a bunch in the freezer still and it’s so hard not to just eat it all!!
This looks delicious, Dorothy! The healthier changes are great! I love a recipe like this where there isn’t much guilt involved!
I was so excited to see this that I decided to make it right away! I am currenltt making it ans got to step 4 and am confused, there is no butter in this recipe, so am I just pouring the banana mixture in the flour, not into a butter mixture? Help!
It should have read sugar mixture! Sorry about that, I thought I caught all the changes. Just mix the two mixtures together!
Thank you! The bread turned out perfect! I made it in mini loaf pans so I felt like I had more but at the same time not feel as guilty for devouring an entire loaf to myself. Thanks for the recipe, it was delicious! :)!
Yay Heather! I’m so glad! 🙂
You’re a good wife!!! I don’t think I could do it-Michael has videogames instead of sports and I’ll take those any day lol.
I am also SO HAPPY that you made healthier banana bread! It looks so amazing, I can’t believe all the healthy subs you used!
WHY didn’t I see this sooner? I literally have banana bread in the oven – and yours looks incredible (aka better 😉 ) And this is even dairy free! Seriously, I need to learn the art of patience because I am now out of bananas. Oh well, pinning this because it is definitely happening! It looks just like your moms; never would’ve guessed it was healthy! (And I can totally hashtag relate #dontweightmeeither )
Lol I can’t wait to see yours!!!
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