This banana bread is soft, moist, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup, because for the life of me I will never understand pouring sugar into a bowl of super ripe bananas. This banana bread is so quick and easy to make you’ll never let a brown banana go to waste again.
Healthy Banana Bread
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 45 minutes
Servings: 1 loaf, about 10 slices
INGREDIENTS
- 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 ½ cups)
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup olive oil or melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (all-purpose flour will work just as well)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Optional mix-ins: ½ cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or dark chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
- Prep:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan generously with butter, making sure to coat the bottom and sides well.
- Mix wet ingredients:
- Mash bananas in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in eggs, honey, oil, yogurt, and vanilla until fully combined.
- Mix dry ingredients:
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Combine wet and dry:
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stirring gently with a spatula until just combined (do not overmix). Fold in nuts or chocolate if using.
- Bake:
- Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake 45–55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool and release:
- Remove pan from the oven and let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Run a butter knife or thin spatula around the edges to loosen the loaf. Place a wire rack on the counter, then carefully tip the pan on its side and ease the loaf out by gently tapping the bottom and sides. Turn loaf upright and place directly on the rack.
- Finish cooling: Let cool completely before slicing for the cleanest cuts. It’s especially important to let it cool completely before covering for storage.
NOTES
- Make it dairy-free: Use coconut yogurt and coconut oil.
- Make it nut-free: Skip nuts or swap for seeds.
- Extra fiber boost: Stir in 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal or chia seeds.
- Sweetener: I love to use maple syrup for this banana bread, but honey works wonderfully as well. If you’re bananas are ripe enough, you won’t miss the sugar!
- Storage: Store at room temp up to 3 days, in the fridge up to 1 week, or freeze slices for 2–3 months.
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