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
Hello…first of all I love this site and have tried recipes and thought I would try your Healthy Banana Bread. It looked very close to your pics and smelled great but it was so wet like it wasn’t cooking long enough maybe. I cooked it the full 50 minutes and then left it in another 10+ because it just didn’t seem like it was done :(. The recipe was very wet thin batter…any ideas. I would like to try this again. Thank you!
Hi Meriem, did you change anything about the recipe? What type of flours did you use? It sounds like the bread could have baked a little more. It is a moist bread, the batter should be wet, but I wouldn’t say it’s thin.
Beautiful bread, thank you!!! Being in high altitude, I cut the sugar to 1/3 and added a little more pastry flour – turned out well. Wish I could share the picture!!
This is the BEST banana bread! I’ve made it at least 12 times during quarantine. I split it into two loaves, cut slices and freeze half of it for breakfast throughout the week!
Love this! So easy to make. I have a peanut and all tree nuts allergy so I used white flour. The top of the bread is an unappealing beige color. Any suggestions to have it resemble your photo? Thank you
Hi Linda, if you use whole wheat pastry flour (or a mix of white and wheat flours) that would darken the color. All white flour will make it pretty white. Or if you like the taste how you have it you could increase the cinnamon and be sure to use the coconut sugar option.
Hello can I sub oat flour for the whole wheat pastry flour. Don’t have GF flour on hand and like the nutrition from oats. Would this impact the recipe much if all else remained the same?
Hi Shaneeza, no oat flour isn’t a 1:1 sub, the bread won’t rise properly.
LOVE this recipe! Tastes amazing right out of the oven. In fact, my family can’t stay out of it. 🙂
I’m beginning a no egg , no dairy diet and came across your site. I definitely want to try this recipe. Could you comment on the necessity for the vinegar in the preparation? I found out I have a Brewer’s yeast sensitivity, so trying to avoid vinegar.
Hi Kim, the vinegar reacts with the baking powder to help get vegan baked goods to rise a bit better. I think it could work without it, the loaf just might be a bit more flat, but would still be delicious.
Hi,
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Thank you!
No, coconut flour isn’t a 1:1 swap, it requires more moisture in a recipe.
Hi! Loved this healthy recipe! Would anyone have calculated the calories by chance?
how many calories are in the banana bread per slide ?
This is the best banana bread recipe that I have tried. Everyone who has tried it loved it. Thank you!
Hi Chris, I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi,
Can I use normal wheat flour instead of pastry flour? And, can I substitute oat flour or almond meal for almond flour?
Thanks,
Hi Karishma, you can replace the pastry flour with a 50/50 mix of wheat and all-purpose flour. You can’t sub oat flour for the almond, the bread won’t rise properly without changing other measurements.
Delicious
Just fantastic!! Thank you so much?me and my love are making this bread for our lazy Sundays and completely love it!?
Made a second batch the first day!!!! This was so tasty and wholesome. My parents loved it too and it’s nicely not too sweet for people who need to watch their sugar intake. This is the first recipe I’ve ever written feedback for because we absolutely love it! Going to check out your other quick bread recipes now. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi,
I’m excited to try this recipe but was wondering if the recipe would work if the whole wheat flour were substituted for a gluten free flour? If so, what would you recommend?
Thank you!!
Hi Lisa, others have made it using Bob’s Gluten Free Flour.
That’s a great recipe! love olive oil in it, not coconut oil that everyone seems to be using this days in alternative baking. I don’t use any coconut products (except for coconut sugar) due to it’s high sat. fat content with is better to be avoid in my situation.
I’m about to start baking right now! Just need to alter the recipe a bit due to high altitude (We are in Denver, CO). I do that only for recipes I find really exciting! That’s what this recipe is! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Alina, I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Great recipe. Made this a ton of times, sometimes use more almond flour in ratio or sub spelt flour to use less wheat but it always turns out amazing. Love that it has no butter, milk or eggs. Also use other nuts and seeds like sunflower, depending on what we have.
This was great! It’s healthy but doesn’t “taste healthy,” so my boyfriend was very happy. I used a mini loaf pan and baked for about 30 minutes.
Haha, I’m so glad you both enjoyed it 🙂
Oh no, that’s so strange, I’ve never had this happen. It’s possible that humidity is making a difference if it’s a hot summer night? I’d make sure the mashed bananas equal 1 cup so it’s not too wet, but it sounds like you did that. You could check your oven temp, or try turning it up a bit to 375.