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Updated on Apr 25, 2023
This healthy banana bread is truly the best! It’s so moist, full of rich banana flavor and incredibly easy to make.
Your search for the perfect healthy banana bread recipe stops here! This healthy banana bread is everything you’d look for in a banana bread recipe:
- An exceptionally moist and soft loaf.
- Naturally sweetened with ripe bananas and honey.
- It’s made with almost 2 full cups of mashed banana, giving this bread loads of rich banana flavor.
I try not to label recipes as, “The Best,” unless I really mean it. I confidently call this healthy banana bread the best. It has the sweetness, moisture and flavor that you are looking for in a loaf of banana bread, healthy or otherwise.
I can’t even tell you how many times I have tested this recipe to make sure it is just perfect before sharing it here. I’ve tried out different amounts of banana, butter, sweetener and flour. I’ve made this banana bread with and without milk. I’ve found the perfect balance of ingredients and can’t wait for you to try this healthy banana bread recipe for yourself.
Healthy Banana Bread Recipe Ingredients
You’ll love the simple ingredient list for this recipe.
- Butter: I like to use real butter even in healthy baking recipes because you just can’t beat the rich, buttery flavor that it brings to baked goods. In this recipe, I’ve used a modest 5 tablespoons.
- Honey: For sweetness. You can substitute pure maple syrup if desired.
- Ripe Bananas: Be sure to use very ripe bananas for the best banana flavor. You’ll need about 3 1/2 large or 5 medium bananas.
- Eggs: The eggs provide structure and flavor and help the bread to rise.
- Baking Soda: Helps the loaf to rise as it bakes.
- Salt: Enhances all of the flavors.
- Cinnamon: Complements the banana flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: For an extra touch of sweetness.
- White Whole Wheat Flour: This whole grain flour has a milder flavor and texture than regular whole wheat. Sometimes white whole wheat flour can be hard to find; you can substitute regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour if needed.
How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
This whole wheat banana bread is made in one bowl, except for mashing the banana. I always mash my bananas in a separate bowl using a fork. You can also mash the bananas in a stand mixer.
First, whisk together the melted butter, honey and mashed banana. Then, whisk in the eggs.
Once the wet ingredients are well combined, add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla to the bowl. I like to add the vanilla last so that I can use the same measuring spoon that I used for the dry ingredients without washing in between.
Use your whisk to mix the batter up really well before adding the flour. You want to make sure that there are no clumps of baking soda or salt left in the batter.
Finally, add the flour to the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to mix in the flour until it is just combined. Mix until you don’t see any more streaks of flour and then stop. Over-mixing the batter will make your banana bread dense instead of light and soft.
When I bake quick breads like this banana bread, I prepare my loaf pan by cutting a sheet of parchment paper to fit in the pan, as you see in the photo above. Lining the pan with parchment as well as greasing the pan will make sure that your banana bread comes out of the pan easily, without sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Healthy Banana Bread Baking Tips
- The key to making the best sweet banana bread with rich banana flavor is to use very ripe bananas. You want your bananas to have lots of brown spots on them.
- If you are using bananas from your freezer, thaw them before proceeding with the recipe. Drain off and discard any excess liquid that separates from the bananas as they defrost.
- To measure the flour, spoon it lightly into your measuring cup and then level off the top. Do not scoop the flour directly with the measuring cup, since this can cause you to pack in too much flour.
- After adding the flour to the bowl, mix just until everything is combined. Overmixing at this point can cause the bread to turn out tough or dense, rather than soft and tender.
Recipe Variations
- To make dairy-free banana bread, substitute coconut oil for the butter in the recipe.
- To make banana nut bread, mix chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter after adding the flour.
- Craving chocolate? Mix some chocolate chips into the batter to make chocolate chip banana bread. Or try this Chocolate Banana Bread.
- If you like blueberries in your banana bread, try my healthy Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe.
How to Freeze Banana Bread
Banana bread will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months, when wrapped well. Let the baked bread cool completely on a wire rack before freezing.
You can wrap and freeze the loaf of banana bread whole. Or, if you want to be able to grab individual servings of banana bread from the freezer, slice the bread and wrap each slice individually in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped slices in a larger airtight storage container or zip-top bag for storing in the freezer.
You can thaw banana bread overnight in the refrigerator or on the counter at room temperature for a few hours. Individual slices of banana bread can be thawed quickly in the microwave.
More Banana Recipes
Baking banana bread and Banana Muffins are a few of my favorite ways to use up over-ripe bananas. I like to make both ahead of time for quick breakfasts and snacks for my family. Here are a few more banana recipes to use up those ripe bananas!
- Banana Smoothie
- Banana Pancakes
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
4.98 from 69 ratings
The Best Healthy Banana Bread Recipe
Servings: 12 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr
Total Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
This healthy banana bread is truly the best! It's so moist, full of rich banana flavor and incredibly easy to make. This bread freezes well for quick breakfasts and snacks; see the notes below for storage instructions.
Print Recipe Leave a Review Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, or coconut oil
- ½ cup honey, or pure maple syrup
- 1 ¾ cups mashed ripe banana, about 3 ½ large or 5 medium bananas
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 grams) white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Lay a sheet of parchment paper across the bottom and up the sides of the pan (see photo in post above).
Melt the butter in a large glass bowl in the microwave (or melt butter in a pot on the stove and transfer to a large mixing bowl).
Add the honey and mashed banana to the bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs.
Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla to the bowl. Whisk until very well combined.
Add the flour and mix with a rubber spatula until just combined. You want all of the flour to be incorporated into the batter, but try not to over-mix.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Check on the banana bread after 35 minutes and loosely cover with foil as needed to prevent the top from over-browning.
Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer it to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- To make dairy-free banana bread, use coconut oil instead of butter in the recipe.
- Store banana bread at room temperature/in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow bread to cool completely before freezing.
Serving: 1/12 loaf, Calories: 193kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 39mg, Sodium: 200mg, Potassium: 162mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 205IU, Vitamin C: 3.1mg, Calcium: 21mg, Iron: 0.7mg
Nutrition information is an estimate.
Cuisine: American
Course: Breakfast
Tried this recipe?Mention @kristines_kitchen on Instagram or tag #kristineskitchenblog.
This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Kristine's Kitchen!
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posted by Kristine Rosenblatt on Jan 21, 2023 (last updated Apr 25, 2023)
228 comments Leave a comment »
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228 comments on “The Best Healthy Banana Bread Recipe”
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Riese — Reply
This has been my go to recipe for quite some time now. I’ve always make it with honey, but now that my baby is starting solids I tried it with maple syrup for the first time. So so good!
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Shy — Reply
My client and I made this recipe together. We added pecans and pumpkin seeds (what we had on hand). Simple, sweet recipe. Thank you
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Farah — Reply
Wow, the banana loaf was delicious!! So moist with the right amount of sweetness. I added around 2 cups of banana as I didn’t want to waste any and about 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Hubby loved it and is normally not a fan of loaves. We had 2 slices each so far!
Will use this recipe going forward 🙂
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Rose — Reply
Hi, Kristine! I just made two loaves of this recipe of yours. The only alteration I did was topping them with some chocolate chips ( for my very picky son). Soooooo delicious! Can’t believed that these were baked with whole wheat flour! Thank you for posting this recipe!
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Debbie — Reply
I made this recipe for my flock of parrots, minus the honey. I’m hoping they will like it when I give it to them after it cools off ! It smells great ! ?
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Alicia — Reply
Our go-to banana bread recipe. I love that there is no refined sugar and it’s not overly sweet. I have to be dairy free while nursing so I use canola oil, since it’s what I have, and this turns out delicious every time! I usually add nuts, both walnuts and pecans have been great. Thank you for the recipe!
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Dee — Reply
I wonder if you would consider updating this with bananas by weight? Because I used 5 smallish ones and my bread came out pretty much solid banana goo inside, with trails of cake between them. I had to throw it out. ? I knew something was wrong when it sunk dramatically as it cooled. It was cooked through, the skewer came out clean. I can tell by the comments that the recipe isn’t at fault, but I guess different countries assess banana size differently!
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Kristine — Reply
I’m sorry you had that experience. The next time I make this I can try to get a weight measurement. In the meantime, I always measure out 1 3/4 cup of mashed bananas. 🙂
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Mari — Reply
Great recipe! I used maple syrup and subbed the flour for Bob’s Red Hill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour and it was perfect. Only problem is, I was too impatient to wait for it to cool and cooked it for 60 minutes but probably should’ve cooked for an additional 5 minutes. I don’t usually have much luck baking and this turned out great!
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Meg — Reply
How long would I bake mini-loaves instead of using a regular size loaf pan?
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Kristine — Reply
Mini loaf pans may vary in size, but I would suggest that you start checking the bread at 20 minutes. It will likely take 25-30 or 35 minutes in mini loaf pans. Enjoy!
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Jessie — Reply
I used 1c. almond flour and 1c. Sprouted spelt flour, added one extra tbsp butter, a tbsp of honey instead of half cup, baked in mini loaves for 30 min… turned out fabulous, perfectly moist!
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Sash — Reply
used pan for brownies and added some strawberry jam. turned out great for the first time, will definitely try again! very soft, not overly sweet.. thank you! 😉
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Sherry — Reply
Mine came out dry. I used 2 T coconut oil and 3T avocado oil. Not sure if the swap out of oil made it dry or if I over baked it. It did have good flavor. I added walnuts to mine.
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Kristine — Reply
Hi Sherry,
Thank you for testing a substitution for butter, if it came out dry it probably needs more oil or less bake time.
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Karen — Reply
Thanks so much for this recipe! It’s my first banana bread and I see no reason to try out other recipes – I thought it was absolutely perfect. Enjoying a slice here in Ireland 🙂
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Diána — Reply
Thank you for the recipe! I must try it! But may I ask how big is a cup? I live in Hungary. I measure everything in grams and liters… I have different cups measuring 2 / 2,5 / 3 deciliters… I’m sure it does matter which one of them I use. 🙂 Thank you!
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Kristine — Reply
Hi Diána,
The volume of a US cup is 237 ml/2.37 deciliters.
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Tate — Reply
So so good I highly recommend
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Kate — Reply
Gluten free version?
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Kristine — Reply
Hi Kate,
Another commenter said that they substituted the flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour and it was perfect. I hope that helps. 🙂 -
Dawn — Reply
I used one for one of King Arthur’s GF flour and added an extra egg. It turned out perfect!! So appreciative of a healthy GF recipe!
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Rhiannon — Reply
Really impressed with this recipe, I threw in some chocolate chips, and popped the loaf tin in a water bath to cook. It has turned out so good – especially for a first attempt. Moist, not soggy in the middle as many loafs can be, and not overly sweet. Thank you.
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe!
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Kim — Reply
Hi Kristine – if using coconut oil, should I melt it or use it at room temp? Thanks!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Kim, You should melt it. 🙂
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Trina — Reply
Can I make this recipe with almond flour?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I haven’t tried this with almond flour. Sometimes other adjustments are needed to a recipe when substituting almond flour, so you might have to do some experimenting.
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Bebe — Reply
Did you try? And how did it turn out? I just Used almond flour for mine hoping it turns out fine 🙏🏽
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Ashley — Reply
I love banana bread and was skeptical that I would like a healthier version but this recipe did not disappoint! Very simple to make too. I used pure maple syrup as me sweetener and the bread baked up beautifully! Moist and not too dense inside and a nice little crust on top. It was very good and my household ate the entire loaf in one day. Definitely my new go to recipe. ?
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Jackie — Reply
This is crazy…. I melted the butter and completely forgot to add it!! It’s still turned out good. It’s still raised fine and was moist too. I’ll skip the butter the next time too!
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sarah — Reply
I have tried this recipe twice now and I am loving it!! I didn’t have vanilla extract both times, so i used half the amount of almond extract and it still tasted great! Thank you!
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Emma — Reply
Thank you for the great recipe Kristine! I only got a weird shape loaf pan which is 13inch x 5.5inch. Do you think I should adjust the amount of ingredients or stick to your recipe’s measurements? Thank you!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Emma, It’s difficult to say without some experimentation. My thought is that you could 1.5x the recipe and then you may have to also adjust the baking time. Bake until a tester in the center comes out clean.
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Krystal — Reply
Absolutely love this recipe! So delicious and moist with a great banana flavor! My kids were fans of it as well! Definitely a keeper recipe for our family! Thank you so much!
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Charlotte — Reply
I have always had high stress over banana bread. Every time I try to make it it is always so wet inside even with extra time. However, this recipe was perfect! I used maple syrup and in the end I actually took it out 5 minutes early (50 minutes total)! I am so happy and glad that I don’t have mushy banana bread. Thank you!
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Pushina Jones — Reply
I made this recipe for my daughter. It came out great! I used coconut oil instead of butter. I also substituted the flour with almond and oat flour. The loaf came out so moist and delicious. This is a great recipe! Thank you for sharing this with us.
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Alexis — Reply
Hi Kristine.
Could I add Blueberries to this one? I would rather use honey then Maple Syrup and your Blueberry Banana recipe calls for syrup.
Thanks
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Yes, you can add blueberries. You can also swap honey for the maple syrup in the other recipe. 🙂
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Alexis — Reply
Hi Kristine. Thank you!! So in your opinion which one would you make? Lovely moist banana bread. They’re similar ingredients with a few differences in measuring. This one has more reviews and the other one seems to be less calories. It’s so hard!! Looking for a. yummy Banana bread to serve for tea with friends.
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Alexis — Reply
I made this recipe and added Blueberries. So so good! I had a couple friends over for tea and paired it with a fruit salad
. It’s so moist and yummy. Both friends took a peice home and now have the recipe. Thanks for another great recipe!!-
Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for sharing how it turned out. 🙂
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Rebecca Starr — Reply
Hi Kristin, can’t wait to try this recipe as I was looking for one without refined sugar. What do you recommend for High Altitude baking? I am not sure about the moisture being too dry if I add more flower. Thanks for your help!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Rebecca, I’m not an expert in high altitude baking, but there are many resources online with tips for that. Good luck!
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Sheila — Reply
WOW!! This banana bread knocked my socks off! It is absolutely amazing! My husband and one year old loved it too! Thank you so much for the best banana bread recipe ever! ❤ I can’t wait to check out more of your recipes! 🙂
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Sally — Reply
Used maple syrup ,delicious easy cake still working on my oven timing and temp
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Deborah Brown — Reply
Brilliant simple recipe for a shocking cook. My friends didn’t believe that I made it!
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Sarah — Reply
This recipe came out great! I used regular whole wheat flour (I didn’t even know white whole wheat flour was a thing lol) and I added a light sprinkling of chocolate chips on top to make it more enticing to my little ones. Everyone in my family LOVED it!!
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sophia — Reply
Hi!! Can you substitute the oil with applesauce? 🙂 I would love to try that!! thanks for replying!!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Yes, I think that will work. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out! Enjoy!
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Sophia —
Thank you!! I baked it immediately tonight and it worked out great!! I baked it a little bit longer, but it stayed a little bit wet. Yours looks like a good cake and mine was more a wet cake. Still good, but wet. I also substituted the honey with stevia sugar, so I don’t know if that has something to do with it.. ?
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Kristine Rosenblatt —
It sounds like it may have needed a few more minutes in the oven. It also could have been the applesauce substitution that made it a little more moist. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Belinda McCain — Reply
just took this out of my oven ,smells devine thanks for posting this recipe!!!
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MissInfoHwy — Reply
I made this almost exactly as written. I had a splash of maple syrup I added to the nearly 1/2 cup of honey. I added some crushed walnuts. The family said this was the BEST that I’ve made! I’m passing this one on! Thanks
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Shani — Reply
This recipe is perfect for healthy eaters. The only thing I did different is I added Lily’s chocolate chips, crushed pecans, and instead of regular honey, I used Keto honey and Keto maple syrup. I just did half and half. This is delicious!!!
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Leah — Reply
I loved it 🙂
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Patricia A Adams — Reply
Love your blog 🙏🙏🌹🇺🇸
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Jessica — Reply
I can’t believe this recipe has no sugar and it’s still SO good! Such a good way to satisfy your sweet tooth when trying to avoid sugar!
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Heather — Reply
This is our go to recipe. We sub yogurt for some of the oil. It’s delicious. Thank you!
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Jessica — Reply
I would like to make this as a two-layer 8” cake for my daughter’s birthday. Do your current measurements for the loaf also apply to a one-layer 8”? Or would the measurements be different? I saw another recipe where this was the case, so wondering if I can use a different cake pan. Thanks!
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Hi Jessica, I haven’t tried baking this in a cake pan so I can’t say for sure what size cake pan you would need or how to alter the baking time.
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Karol — Reply
This bread is perfect. Moist, not too sweet and so easy. Great recipe.
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Sam — Reply
I am not sure I did it right. It was very dense and striped white and brown. Any thoughts about what I did wrong?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
It is really hard to say. Reasons why quick breads may come out dense could be incorrect measurements (always be sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off, don’t scoop directly with the measuring cup) or overmixing the batter after adding the dry ingredients.
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Gabby — Reply
So good! Will definitely be making it again!
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Molly — Reply
Love this simple recipe that calls for butter or coconut oil, and honey or maple syrup. Was just what I was looking for! Can’t wait to try today!
thank you! -
Karrie Mae — Reply
Tasted good but don’t rise. Why?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
If your baking soda is old, that could be the problem. Fresh baking soda will be most active to make quick breads rise. Another common reason could be that the pan is overfilled, so be sure to use the correct size pan. It can also be caused by adding too great a quantity of liquid ingredients in relation to the dry ingredients, so be sure to measure carefully.
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Frederick Leiss — Reply
What would be the timing in oven if converting this to muffins?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I recommend using my Healthy Banana Muffins recipe if you wish to make muffins. It’s another favorite!
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Francesca — Reply
Made this banana bread for the first time yesterday,added a handful of chocolate chips and nuts and it’s so delicious!
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Mare — Reply
Made this 100 times, always perfect. Love it with some apple added to the dough.
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Nicole — Reply
Great recipe! I used Gluten free plain flour and frozen blueberries in place of 3/4 cup bananas as I didn’t have enough. It turned out beautiful!
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Christine C — Reply
Super helpful blog. Thank you for explaining purpose of each ingredient in the bread. Can’t wait to make it and take it to our square dance tonight and share it with our fellow Square dancers.
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CaitS — Reply
Just made this and is so good! I wonder if this would work to double the recipe and put in a Bundt cake pan? Have you ever tried that?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
I’m glad you enjoyed it! No, I have not tried that. My concern would be that it might not bake through all the way in the center if baked in a Bundt pan.
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Anonymous — Reply
This is the BEST healthier banana bread recipe!! It was absolutely delicious. I am keeping this recipe in my rotation and have made this multiple times! The family really enjoys it!
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Laura — Reply
Fabulous recipe!!! I like to add pecans and sometimes semisweet chocolate chips too. I only add about 1/3 cup of maple syrup if my bananas are really ripe. Sooooo good!! Thank you for the recipe!
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Cynthia — Reply
Hi Kristine:
Great recipe! I had two foil loaf pans on hand and made two, one with raisins (my hubby loves raisins) and one with blueberries. I had to use white flour as that’s all I had available. It turned out really moist and yummy, will definitely have again. Love that there’s no sugar, I used honey and it was sweet enough.
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Lisa — Reply
I thought I put a reply but maybe not! This is so delicious! I added 2 more eggs and some chopped walnuts mixed with pure maple syrup and added that as a topping and wow! The added eggs make it nice a moist 😋
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Liz — Reply
The flavor was good except for the sides and bottom because it tasted overdone there:(
I cooked it for 50-55 minutes. When I try again, I’ll try for less time. (It did not look like it was overcooked, so I didn’t pull it out sooner.)🤷 -
Roma — Reply
Thank you! I made the recipe with my LO who enjoys cooking. Recipe is easy, healthy and tasty. Perfect for snack. The only problem we couldn’t stopped eating this delicious banana bread.
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Stephanie Harrington — Reply
I love this recipe, just wondering would this work in muffin trays as banana muffins? How long would you bake for?
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Kristine Rosenblatt — Reply
Instead, I’d recommend you make my Healthy Banana Muffins recipe. It’s a tried-and-true favorite recipe that I make all the time!
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Pisey — Reply
I made this week and it’s the most tasty banana bread! Thank you for doing all the hard work to make it so good!
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Katie — Reply
SO delicious😊 will be baking this recipe again! Thank you for this amazing recipe. I baked my bread for a total of 55 minutes and it was perfect.
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