This healthy banana bread recipe is super moist, delicious, and easy to make! It calls for simple ingredients like whole wheat flour and maple syrup.
This healthy banana bread recipe is moist, tender, and packed with sweet banana flavor. It’s every bit as delicious as my traditional banana bread, but it’s made with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with maple syrup.
My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s bursting with banana. I use 2 cups mashed (about 4 large bananas!), which gives it an incredible moist texture and fruity flavor. Try a slice for breakfast, as a snack, or even dessert. I guarantee you’ll reach for a second.
This healthy banana bread is easy to make with basic equipment, so you can bake a loaf anytime you have ripe bananas on hand. My son Ollie and I have been making it together on repeat lately. He loves helping mix the batter, and we both love how amazing it makes the kitchen smell as it bakes. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Healthy Banana Bread Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this healthy banana bread recipe:
- Bananas, of course! The mashed banana gives this loaf its moist texture and rich, sweet banana flavor.
- All-purpose and whole wheat flour – I use a combination of flours in this recipe to keep the loaf light and tender, but still pack in some of the benefits of whole wheat. Mixed with all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour adds nutrients and nutty flavor without making the loaf dense.
- Melted coconut oil – For richness. A neutral oil like vegetable oil, or even olive oil, would work well here too.
- Pure maple syrup – It sweetens the loaf naturally.
- Baking soda and eggs – They help the loaf puff up as it bakes.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract – For warm, spiced depth of flavor.
- Chopped walnuts – For crunch.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
I also like to top the loaf with a sprinkle of whole rolled oats. They get nicely crisp and toasty in the oven!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Recipe Variations
- Use a different flour. Whole wheat pastry flour and white whole wheat flour would both work in place of the white/wheat combo in this recipe. Though I haven’t tried it, I think a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend would work here too.
- Change up the mix-ins. Replace the chopped walnuts with pecans, raisins, dried cranberries, or even chocolate chips!
- Make healthy banana muffins. Divide the batter into a 12-cup muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes.
How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
You can find the complete recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post, but for now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:
Start by making the batter. Combine the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl and the dry ingredients in a medium one.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold the walnuts into the batter.
Next, transfer the batter to a greased loaf pan. Spread it in an even layer, then sprinkle with the oats.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. The top should spring back to the touch too.
Allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving!
Recipe Tips
- Use overripe bananas. Brown, spotty bananas will give this loaf the sweetest, richest flavor.
- Spoon and level your flour. It’s easy to accidentally use too much flour when you’re measuring with measuring cups. For the most accurate flour measurement, don’t scoop it up directly with your measuring cup. Instead, spoon it into the cup and gently level the top with a knife. Read more in this post on how to measure flour!
- Loaf getting too dark? Tent the top with foil. This loaf generally needs to bake for about 1 hour, but I always check it early, around 45 minutes. If the top is nicely browned at that point, I tent it with foil to prevent it from getting too dark as it continues to bake.
How to Store and Freeze
This healthy banana bread keeps well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
It also freezes well for up to 3 months. I like to slice it before freezing so that I can defrost one slice at a time for a quick breakfast or snack! Slices thaw in about 1 hour at room temp and in about 30 seconds in the microwave.
More Easy Quick Bread Recipes
If you love this healthy banana bread recipe, try one of these easy quick breads next:
Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed very ripe banana, about 4 large
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup melted coconut oil, plus more for the pan
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons whole rolled oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pan. If desired, line the bottom and two long sides with a sheet of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix. Fold in the walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the oats evenly on top.
- Bake for 50 to 65 minutes, or until the top springs back to the touch. A toothpick inserted should come out with just a few moist crumbs attached. I like to check the loaf after 45 minutes. If the top is golden brown, I cover it with foil for the remaining bake time to prevent further browning.
Notes
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Hi there! I had fun cruising around your website/blog. Your healthy banana bread recipe caught my eye. We here in Hawaii are blessed to have apple bananas available all months of the year. I love, love, love anything with bananas in it. I had everything on hand except whole wheat pastry flour and almond flour. Our close by specialty food store fixed me right up. I made the banana bread and it was delicious. I even managed to save enough for friends to have. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ll be back.
Made this recipe this morning! I had 4 bananas that were past their prime, so I made a double batch. I did half walnuts and half chocolate chips for my mix ins. The only thing I did differently is added an extra sprinkle of cinnamon on the top with the oats.
I ate my slice with a smear of peanut butter. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
Hi Shannon, I’m so glad you loved the banana bread!
Hello , I never made banana bread before and just wanna ask if I can use wholemeal rye flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour? And coconut flour instead of almond flour? 😀 thank you :-)))
Hi, Klara, I’d stick to the original recipe – I think rye might taste funny in banana bread and coconut flour isn’t a 1/1 swap (it’ll make your bread very dry unless the liquid amount is altered). I hope that helps!
OMG! Moist banana bread!!!! The banana flavor is amazing. I have tried millions of banana bread recipes, and this one takes the cake. Everything is right about it. I might eat the whole loaf. Also, the banana quinoa breakfast cookies in your cookbook were soft and perfect.
You know banana treats so well! Thank you!
What is on top of the loaf? I see Oats in the picture but they weren’t in the directions?
Thanks
Hi Cindy – a few extra chopped walnuts and a small sprinkle of oats. Thanks for pointing that out to me!
I love the banana bread recipe and made it few times. I want to make the gluten free version . I was wondering which gluten free flour do u recommend.
Thank you!
Hi Arlene, a few people have successfully used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour in place of the all-purpose flour. I really like Pamela’s GF flour as well.
This was SO good! I just made it this morning but swapped out the wheat flour for Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour. I am new to gluten-free baking so wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but WOW – so delicious!!
Aww, I love that they get to taste the batter 🙂
YUM! So thankful I had some super ripe bananas laying around this weekend to make this. I topped a slice with peanut butter and honey and it was absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing!
Yay, I’m so glad you loved it!
Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to try out this banana bread recipe on the weekend, It looks so yummy. Something I don’t make to often so super happy to have found your recipe, Thanks for sharing.
This is really good. I really like consistency and flavor the half-cup almond flour gives it. I was also craving chocolate so threw in a small handful of chocolate chips in addition to the walnuts—soooo good. Very moist, too.
Can’t wait to make this recipe.
I’ve used this recipe a few times over the past few weeks and ut appears that it has recently changed. Is this true? If so, can you share the original recipe?
Is there a flour you would recommend to sub for whole wheat to make it gluten free?
you could use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour in place of the whole wheat pastry flour. Hope that helps!
Thank you!
Gorgeous photo & beautiful recipe ? Thanks for sharing. Your blog is truly inspiring!
Do you think using spelt flour would work well?
yes! I’ve made it with spelt flour in place of the whole wheat pastry flour with great results.
I love banana bread! Looks so delicious!
Am not a baker. Never have been. But banana bread has always been an exception and this recipe is already on the top of my kitchen pile! Love each and every ingredient and the look of the finished product. Bananas as a fruit . . . could live on them . . . to each their own 🙂 !
i love the idea of a healthy quick bread but not the bananas. Is there something i can substitute?
Try this zucchini bread: https://fit-discovery.info/almond-chocolate-chip-zucchini-bread/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr%3E or pumpkin bread: https://fit-discovery.info/vegan-pumpkin-bread/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
I’m swooning over that topping!