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 made this with plain flour (all I had at the time), liquified coconut oil, honey, plus dark choc chips and chopped walnuts as mix-ins! It was super easy to make, took a little over an hour to bake and tastes AMAZING, so so moist and not too sweet which I loved!!
This recipe is AMAZING!
Now, I have to say, I made a mistake the first time making it. I didn’t use a true cup of banana, rather just two (what I thought was) large bananas – which left the bread tasting only of coconut oil. But despite the lack of banana, it had come out so moist (especially for whole-wheat flour!) and not crumbly, that I had to give it another try.
This time, I made it with a true 1 cup of banana, in fact, a tad more banana (because I didn’t want to make the same mistake). 3 medium bananas in total. I also added a little less than 1/2 cup of chocolate-chips to make sure I get my sweet fix. I had made it three days ago and although it smelled divine coming out of the oven, I couldn’t dive into it that day – so I refrigerated it for three days. I thought it would lose some of the dryness when I finally got to it – NOPE. It was AMAZING! I couldn’t believe it! I gobbled it up. It didn’t need butter (and I love butter), it was so delicious just as is! This healthy recipe is officially one for my books.
Thanks Kate and Cookie. DE-LICIOUS.
Love this recipe! I may be the only one but my baking soda never dissolves and leaves a bit of the salty taste from it behind or clumps up in the bread. Can I eliminate it or any suggestions?
Hi Danielle! That’s interesting. Can you break up the baking soda with your fingers, in a bowl, before sprinkling it in? Then be sure to whisk very well? Until you add the flour, it’s safe to stir as much as you’d like. (Once you add the flour, over-stirring will activate the gluten too much, which could lead to tough bread.) Hope that helps!
My go to banana bread recipe. Love that it is delicious and healthy!
Hello! Is it possible to substitute the honey with agave syrup? Thanks!
Hi Erica, I haven’t tried it. You could see what others have tried by checking the comments. I believe others have, but I can’t guarantee the results.
My go to. Absolutely love this!
I just made this banana bread but instead of using regular honey I used African Wild Honey. Let me tell you.. The honey has a strong smokey flavour. It doesn’t taste like the honey you can find in western supermarkets at all. And it’s super tasty and changes the banana bread. Just wow!!
That sounds like something! Thank you for sharing, Vanessa.
Well this recipe is great and it came out perfect every time but honey is quite expensive here, so I substitute the honey with a cup and a half granulated sugar and it came out great but thanks for the recipe.
Going to make this tomorrow. The question I have is what weight it is in grams/ ounces for the ingredients. Not sure what cup size to use. Many thanks xxx.
Hi Vivienne! Here is a great resource. I hope this helps!
Hi, My partner and I love this! Making our 3rd in a fortnight.
Hi Kate,
The Banana Bread turned out super. I used Veg Oil, Raw Agave Syrup and Almond Milk.
Is there any subsitute for diabetices??
REgards, Kala
Hi Kala! I’m happy you loved it. I’m not a registered nutritionist, so I can’t provide specifics to dietary needs. Sorry!
Hey. Made the recipe with coconut flour and added dark chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and it was delish! Do u think I can use my version for cookies too?
Hi Anna, I’m happy to hear it turned out for you! I don’t tend to have luck with coconut flour. As for cookies, I’m not confident this will work well for you as cookies.
Hi there, really excited to try this recipe. Can I substitute the flour for rolled oats instead?
Hello, you will need flour in this recipe to work. Rolled oats doesn’t offer the same result. Sorry!
I found this recipe yesterday (search words “healthy banana bread”). It was the first recipe in search results and sounded like what I wanted. I made it today exactly as you wrote it (using grapeseed oil, honey, milk, white whole wheat flour where you gave options, and 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts). I needed 3 bananas to get 1 cup mashed. It is delicious! I think overripe bananas give a richer, deeper, more banana flavor, and mine were right there. I wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks for a more healthy recipe!
This banana bread recipe is the BEST. I really dislike cakey, sweet banana bread recipes, but this one is delicious, moist, and healthy! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Kate! :)
I love this banana bread, so soft but at the same time delicious flavour
So good! Loved it. I used canola oil and spelt flour, which gave the bread a wonderful nuttiness and hearty texture. Thanks!
I’ve made this 3 times now! The first time, I followed the recipe exactly, and mine turned out a little dry. When I made it again, I used extra mashed bananas in place of the water/milk, and I used half molasses, half maple syrup as the sweetener (so 1/4 cup of each). I also used avocado oil instead of coconut oil. That time it came out much more moist for whatever reason. Another loaf is in the oven now! I love that this recipe is healthier than other banana breads without using special ingredients.
I’ve made this many times, and will make many more! Thank you for sharing this no-sugar recipe. Love love it.
Hi Kate,
Can you please indicate the ingredient’s weights in grams instead of cups? Thx!!
Hi Silvia! Here is a great resource.
Hi ! Can I replace with oat flour instead of whole wheat ?
I haven’t tried it, sorry! I would check the comments to see what others have tried.
My whole family loved this recipe!! I only added 1/3 cup of honey and it was the perfect amount of sweetness for us. Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe!
Made this today and it is delicious!! Will definitely be making this again! My 18 month old loves it as well :-) thank you for the recipe!
Thank you so much for this lovely recipe! It’s delicious yet healthy and perfectly walks that line between the two. I only had all-purpose flour kicking around and used that, and did half honey half maple syrup. I also did chopped dark chocolate for add ins. It had 55 minutes in the oven and it was just slightly too long for bake time but still turned out really well. Also, I went on autopilot and did the traditional wet-dry-well mix method rather than as per the instructions and it worked fine.
You’re welcome, Nicole! I’m glad this one was a hit for you. Ovens do vary and the type of bread pan you use, so you may want to try a little less time next time. I appreciate your feedback!
I’ve made this banana bread two times so far (getting ready to make it again). The first time I used honey and the second time I used maple syrup. We prefer the maple syrup as it lends a caramel flavor to the bread. This bread is a great addition to my attempts to make everything with real, whole foods. I hadn’t been making banana bread lately because most recipes have so much processed sugar. Thank you so much! It’s really delicious.
Love this recipe so much!!! My friends and family keep begging me to make it. The honey as the sweetener is SUCH a game changer. Adding chocolate chips makes it even better too.
really good recipe! some modifications I used were two overripe bananas, vegetable oil, pumpkin pie spice, chopped walnuts, & all purpose flour. it came out delicious. next time I’m going to try to make my own even healthier recipe as I want to see if I can get this to be oil and sugar-free without sacrificing taste. hopefully with some experimentation w/ oat flour, applesauce, Greek yogurt, and an extra banana, I’ll be able to mimic just how wonderful this recipe was! thanks for sharing it :)
How did it come out… using applesauce to replace the sugar.. would like to try it.
I didn’t get to try it out yet but I’ve used unsweetened applesauce in other baked goods & it’s always worked very well! I like my desserts not too sweet so applesauce satisfies me but if you like it sweeter, you could just use 1/2 sugar and 1/2 applesauce & I’m sure it would turn out great!
Thank you for getting back to me… will try with Applesauce next time.
Hi! This is my all time fav recipe and i make it all the time. i’ve recently had to go gluten free and saw you had mentioned the bobs red milk flour is a good substitute. I currently only have oat flour on hand, do you think that could work? Thanks!!
Hi Emma! I haven’t used it, but some other readers may have. I don’t always have luck as oat flour as a 1:1 substitute. You could check the comments to see what other readers may have tried.
Hi! Mine did not turn out that great. I followed all the instructions and baked for 55 minutes, yet the inside was still soggy and the loaf fell apart. What do you suspect I could have done wrong? Thanks!
I’m sorry to hear that! You may have needed to leave your loaf in a little longer. Sometimes 60 minutes can be the magic number.
wow this is the best banana bread i’ve tried and cooked myself. so easy to make, my nearly 4 year old daughter loved helping me.
This recipe is amazing! My mom and I had it for breakfast and it just made her day. I used wholemeal spelt instead of whole wheat but it turn out great anyway. Thank you for the great recipe
You’re welcome, Joy!
Hi, would really like to make this gluten free but struggling to get any flour! Can get coconut flour why do you say not to use? Do you have any other suggestions?
Thanks
Katie
Hi,Katie- coconut flour soaks up the moisture, unfortunately. You could try to order online?
Hi Thanks for the reply! Yeah am looking to try the bananas are right there and I want to use them! No other recommendations?!
Hi Katie, do you have old-fashioned oats at home? You could grind them into a fine flour. I have heard from a commenter who successfully used oat flour in place of whole wheat (same amounts), but I haven’t tried it myself yet.
Thank you so much for the recommendation it worked perfect with oat flour.
Such an easy recipe !I added choc chips and chai seeds. Very nice thank you !
I’ve been making your banana bread recipe for a while now and would like to say it’s delicious and very easy to make I use different mix ins each time depending what I have in store cupboard.
Thank you.
Hi Kate,
I absolutely love this recipe.
If I try to use spelt flour would you recommend substituting 1:1 ratio ?
Thank you, Tess.
Hi Tess! I haven’t tried it with spelt, sorry. I would suggest checking the comments to see if others have tried it.
Hi Kate Hi Cookie
I made your Healthy Banana Bread today and OH my! Yum!
The taste was great but I wonder if because I used Rye Wholemeal flour( only flour I had in the cupboard) was why it only rose and inch and a half?
That could be as the grain is larger typically so would require more leavener I assume and/or more liquid. Sorry it didn’t turn out!
Omg! Thank you for the best banana bread recipe!
I make this often with maple syrup but wandered if anyone tried with agave nectar instead? I’ve got a full bottle in the pantry and wandered if it could work as sometimes I don’t have maples syrup on hand.
I haven’t tried it, Amy! Sorry to not be of more help.
Very good banana bread! Nice to eat a big slice and know that it’s actually pretty healthy. A great morning treat❤️ Made it with maple syrup, 2% milk, and pecans.
Thank God I do have some bananas so I will be making this tomorrow! Thanks so much for sharing.
Keen to try this recipe tomorrow with some old bananas but would like to add that there is no such thing as a high quality vegetable oil! It’s all toxic!
Can I add blueberries to your recipe? And could I also use self rising flour instead of plain? If I want to make several pan’s of banana bread can I double or triple this recipe?
I’m not sure blueberries would work well in this recipe without trying it. Also, I’m not sure on self rising either. Sorry!
Delicious recipe! Thank you Kate!
This is my go to all time favorite recipe. I have made this countless times. My friends ask for it all the time. I love that it eats like dessert and is healthy. So, I have been wanting to make this as a double chocolate banana bread. Would you be able to guide me in how I could use cocoa powder with this recipe? Is it possible?
Thanks for your help and your amazing recipes!
Hi Holly! I wouldn’t be able to give you a for sure answer without trying it. You could see what others have tried in the recipe. Baking can be tricky, by changing one or adding one thing can really impact the recipe.
I used chickpea flour and honey/maple syrup to make this banana bread. I also added chocolate chips. The bread was perfectly cooked and looked beautiful. I wish it was a little sweeter, but a fun activity!
I want to try it with butter. Could u plz tell me how much butter do I need to add. Thanks a lot
Excellent banana bread recipe! Delicious right out of the oven and it toasts up well for next-day reheat as well. Thank you for all the work you do to share healthy and satisfying recipes!!
Really interested in trying this recipe out but struggle with the fact that I am a calorie counter… Any idea of the Calorie count per slice for the base recipe??
Hi Susan, The nutrition information is below the notes section of recipe. You just need to click to expand. Let me know if you can’t find it! Here is my nutrition disclaimer for reference: https://capital-balance.pro/nutrition-disclaimer/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I use Teff flour both white and dark. How will this turn out ?? Do you have any recipes for Teff flour ?
Hi Noreen, I don’t sorry!
Made this diary free, using soy milk and Enjoy Life chocolate chips. Turned out delicious.