Healthy Banana Bread!
With this healthy banana bread recipe, you're only a few basic ingredients away from the best banana bread ever! It's made with whole wheat flour and honey.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Want to make someone’s day? Bake them some banana bread! Just yesterday, I said, “I’m going to bake some banana bread,” and watched a full-grown man’s eyes light up like a kid’s on Christmas morning.
Banana bread is one of those classic, all-American comfort food recipes that fills the whole house with warmth and makes everything better. Banana bread is magic.
I perfected this banana bread recipe for my cookbook and wanted to share with you here. This recipe has all the hallmarks of classic banana bread—it’s fluffy, moist, infused with sweet banana flavor, and beloved by toddlers and adults alike.
Bonus? This recipe requires just one bowl, a few measuring cups and some basic ingredients.
What makes this banana bread healthy?
- This banana bread recipe is made with 100 percent whole wheat flour, unlike traditional banana bread recipes that call for refined flour and lots of processed sugar.
- This banana bread is naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, which offer some trace nutrients that white sugar does not.
- Lastly, this recipe calls for a reasonable amount of unrefined oil rather than whole sticks of butter (choose from virgin coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil).
As you can see, my homemade banana bread has plenty of redeeming qualities, chief being that it won’t send your blood sugar levels for a loop. You can keep them all to yourself, though. No one will be able to tell that this is healthy banana bread!
Banana Bread Flour Options
This recipe is flexible! Any of the following flours will work well. I love to use white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour—they offer all the whole wheat nutrients, without the characteristically nutty flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
- Oat flour*
- Spelt flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat pastry flour
- White whole wheat flour
*To substitute oat flour, you’ll need to use 2 1/2 cups, for reasons elaborated in my guide to oat flour.
Want to make your banana bread with almond flour? You sure can, but it’s not a simple substitute, so follow my almond flour-based banana bread recipe instead.
Tip: How to Measure Flour
For best results, it’s important to measure your flour properly. Here’s how to measure flour in cups using the “spoon and swoop” method:
- Gently stir your flour with a large spoon to loosen it up.
- Spoon the flour into your measuring cup (don’t scoop it in!).
- Level off the excess with a butter knife.
Banana Bread Variations
Now that I’ve finally perfected this basic banana bread, feel free to change up this recipe and make it your own. Toss some chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter! Same goes for chocolate chips. You could also add raisins, chopped dried fruit or slices of bananas.
Craving muffins instead? Follow my recipe for healthy banana muffins.
Following a special diet? With a couple of minor tweaks, you can make this bread vegan (so dairy free and egg free, too) or gluten free. Check the recipe notes for details.
Watch How to Make Healthy Banana Bread
Healthy Banana Bread
With this healthy banana bread recipe, you’re only a few simple ingredients away from the best banana bread ever! It’s made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. You can easily make this banana bread vegan or gluten free—check the recipe notes for details. Recipe yields 1 loaf (about 10 slices).
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil or high quality vegetable oil*
- ½ cup honey (168 grams) or maple syrup (155 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (225 grams) mashed ripe bananas (about 2 ½ medium or 2 large bananas)
- ¼ cup (56 grams) milk of choice or water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (NOT baking powder; they aren’t the same!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
- 1 ¾ cups (220 grams) white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour**
- Totally optional: ½ cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried fruit, fresh banana slices…
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius) and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in the mashed bananas and milk. (If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, simply let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for about 10 seconds in the microwave.)
- Add the baking soda, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, and whisk to blend. Lastly, switch to a big spoon and stir in the flour, just until combined. Some lumps are ok! If you’re adding any additional mix-ins, gently fold them in now.
- Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. If you’d like a pretty swirled effect, run the tip of a knife across the batter in a zig-zag pattern.
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (typically, if I haven’t added any mix-ins, my bread is done at 55 minutes; if I have added mix-ins, it needs closer to 60 minutes). Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes. You may need to run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the bread from the pan. Carefully transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool before slicing.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my honey whole wheat banana bread, originally based on All Recipes.
Storage suggestions: This bread is moist, so it will keep for just two or three days at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for five to seven days, or in the freezer for up to three months or so. I like to slice the bread before freezing and defrost individual slices, either by letting them rest at room temperature or lightly toasting them.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Flour alternatives: In place of the whole wheat flour, you can use an equal amount of all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Or, substitute 2 ½ cups oat flour.
Make muffins: Here’s my banana muffin recipe.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey, replace the eggs with flax eggs and choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk) or water.
Make it dairy free: Choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk) or water.
Make it egg free: Replace the eggs with flax eggs.
Make it gluten free: Use an equal amount of Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free blend or 2 ½ cups certified gluten-free oat flour. Do NOT substitute coconut flour.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
If you love this recipe: You will also love my banana muffins, banana cake with cream cheese frosting, healthy pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins. Here are all of my baked goods and banana recipes.
Recommended equipment: I am totally in love with my Fiesta Loaf Pan in Turquoise (affiliate link).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I needed to use up 3 very rapidly deteriorating bananas lol, and I try to avoid added sugar even in dessert recipes so this sounded perfect.
Due to the extra banana which I desperately wanted to include, I reduced the maple syrup I was using to 1/4 cup. It worked out really well. I did not tweak the recipe besides that.
Thank you. This will be my go to banana bread from here on.
I love this recipe!!! It’s healthy, moist, tasty and my husband enjoyed every bite of it! I made it two wks ago and I’m making it today again!
Thank you for this recipe..
I have made this recipe so many times over the years, often baking them in muffin tins and they turn out perfectly. I usually sub the flour for oats and put it all in a blender and halve the honey/ maple and don’t miss it. They work really well if you add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder to the mix and a little more oil if you want to try a chocolate variation.
I don’t usually comment on online recipes, but I LOVE this recipe. I can’t even count how many times I’ve made it. It averages out to every week or so. Soooo good!!!
One of the best banana breads I’ve made. I couldn’t find my usual recipe that uses yogurt and almond flour but was in a rush to bake something between meetings. I followed this recipe exactly EXCEPT I used 1¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour (about 155 g) and ½ cup almond flour (about 50–55 g). It was perfect!!! Look forward to making it again, with applesauce.
My husband’s love language is banana bread and he loves this recipe. Every time I make it, it’s gone within a day and a half! Thank you for creating this recipe xoxo
Made this and it was good. Not too sweet, good texture. Thanks for sharing.
I love this banana bread but I did tweet it for health reasons. I added 1/2 crushed cranberries and substituted date syrup for honey. I use 4 medium bananas and that’s the only changes. My grandchildren and husband love this and I make it all the time.
I made this today! The middle took forever to bake though. Very moist!
Came out perfect! Tastes brilliant, Used white flour and not sure wether it’s that or not but I’d bake for closer to 50/52 mins if I were to make again
Excellent recipe – I will note that if using all purpose flour, it absorbs quite a bit less liquid than the initially recommended flour. This being the case (and also honey caramelizes quite a bit faster than granulated sugar) I had to put foil over it and leave it in about thirty minutes longer because at the hour mark the middle was still quite wet
I love this recipe as with all your recipes! One note that I find you do need to mix the batter gently but well, I had a few lumps that were pockets of flour even after baking.
It was still delicious and a beautiful texture, not too sweet and keeps well.
Thank you
Yummy, but doesn’t last long…just disappears in hours.
I add shredded coconut, a dash of ginger, substitute the sweetener and liquid with crushed pineapple, and add raisins soaked in light rum (or frozen blueberries).
Great at home, or on multi day river trips using the Dutch oven.
Thanks for another delicious recipe.
Looking forward to making this. Just wondering if it’s better to bake on convection setting or doesn’t really make a difference. Thanks!
Hi Sonia, I don’t use the convection mode.
Can you bake this as muffins? Would I just bake for a shorter time?
Hi T, you can find the method for making banana muffins in this recipe.
Just made this and followed recipe exactly. I was a little doubtful at first but the banana bread is delicious!!
I will definitely make it again.
Wow I am truly blown away by how good this came out. My family of 3 demolished the loaf in 2 days! I have always said I don’t really care for banana bread, I just made this recipe to do something productive with our brown bananas. Now I’m wondering if I’ve just never had well made banana bread, lol! Thanks for the recipe, Kate!!
Hi, may I add sourdough with this recipe? If yes, how? Thank you!!
Hi Rose, if you want to use sourdough, I recommend finding a recipe for banana bread made with sourdough discard. If I was going to start experimenting with sourdough discard, I would use this King’s Arthur recipe as a base and test with substituting more honey and eliminating the sugar and using coconut oil instead of the butter, which would make more like my recipe. I hope this helps!