This easy, healthy banana bread recipe is incredibly moist, sweet, and full of banana flavor. It's made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened.
This healthy banana bread recipe is easy and delicious. Just like a great classic banana bread, it’s incredibly moist, warmly spiced, and packed with sweet banana flavor. Eating a slice, you’d never guess that it’s made with whole wheat flour and sweetened naturally.
I started making this healthy banana bread recipe years ago, and it’s still one of my favorite treats. I love that it tastes so good and also happens to be good for you. When I have it on hand, I enjoy it with a cup of coffee for breakfast, grab another slice for an afternoon snack, and eat some more for dessert. Clearly, in our house, it disappears QUICK!
The next time you have ripe bananas on your counter, try this healthy banana bread recipe. It’s simple, flavorful, and perfect for any time of day. I think you’ll love it!
Healthy Banana Bread Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:
- Bananas, of course! The riper, the better. Brown, spotty bananas will give this recipe the best flavor.
- Whole wheat pastry flour and almond flour – This combination gives the banana bread a perfect moist texture.
- Baking powder, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar – They help the loaf puff up as it bakes.
- Coconut sugar – This unrefined sugar adds sweetness and caramel-y flavor to this recipe. If you don’t keep it on hand, feel free to replace it with cane sugar or brown sugar.
- Almond milk – For extra moisture. Oat milk or regular milk would work here too!
- Extra-virgin olive oil – For richness. I love using olive oil in healthy baking recipes like this one, but you can replace it with vegetable oil, melted coconut oil, or melted butter if you prefer.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract – For warm, spiced flavor.
- Walnuts – For crunch. Keep reading for more mix-in suggestions!
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Why no eggs? I don’t find that they’re necessary in this recipe. The mashed banana adds plenty of moisture and helps the loaf puff up in the oven. The apple cider vinegar contributes to its nice fluffy texture too. And bonus: because this recipe is made without eggs, it’s easy to make vegan. Just use non-dairy milk for a perfect vegan banana bread!
Flour Options for Healthy Banana Bread
I call for whole wheat pastry flour and almond flour in this recipe. This combination is wholesome, but it also makes this banana bread soft and moist, not dense or dry like some healthy baked goods can be.
I like Bob’s Red Mill’s whole wheat pasty flour, but I realize that it’s not available in every grocery store. Here are a few options for replacing it:
In addition to the 1/2 cup almond flour…
- Use 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- Use 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- Use 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Use 1 1/2 cups of your favorite 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend
How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
You can find the complete recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:
First, make the batter. Start by mashing the bananas at the bottom of a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.
Transfer the batter to a greased loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Spread it in an even layer. Then, sprinkle it with oats and more walnuts.
Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 42 to 50 minutes. Allow the loaf to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Spoon and level your flour. One of the biggest baking mistakes I see readers make is accidentally using too much flour. This happens when you scoop flour up with a measuring cup, which can cause it to become compacted. For a more accurate measurement, spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife, sweeping away the excess flour. Read more about the spoon and level method in my how to measure flour post!
- Don’t slice it right away. This healthy banana bread has the best moist texture and richest flavor after it’s had some time to cool. Though it’s tempting to slice into it as soon as it comes out of the oven, waiting at least 15 minutes (and ideally longer) always pays off.
Recipe Variations
This healthy banana bread recipe is delicious as written, but feel free to play with different spices or mix-ins. Here are a few ideas to change it up:
- Switch the nuts. Use chopped pecans or almonds instead of walnuts.
- Make it fruity. Replace the nuts with dried cherries, cranberries, blueberries, chopped dried apricots, or Medjool dates. You could also use a mix of nuts and dried fruit.
- Swap the spices. Try adding cardamom or ginger in place of the nutmeg.
- Or add chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips are sooo delicious here.
Want to make banana muffins? Check out my healthy banana muffins recipe!
How to Store and Freeze
Store leftover healthy banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
It also freezes well. To freeze banana bread, allow it to cool completely before you slice it. Then, freeze slices in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Allow individual slices to thaw in the fridge overnight, or microwave them for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
More Quick Bread Recipes
If you love this healthy banana bread, try one of these easy quick breads next:
Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 very ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)
- ½ cup coconut sugar, or regular sugar
- ¾ cup almond milk, or any milk
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour*, see note
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Topping
- 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
- 1½ tablespoons whole rolled oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and brush a 9x5-inch loaf pan with olive oil.
- In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas with the sugar, almond milk, olive oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar and whisk until combined.
- In a medium bowl combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, then fold in the walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts and oats.
- Bake for 42 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
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.