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Healthy meal prep ideas Elizabeth Rider

Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

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  • Author: Elizabeth Rider
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 55
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Pieces 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake, Mix
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This banana bread is so easy to make and equal parts rich, simple, AND tasty. Bonus points: it can be made gluten-free as well!


Ingredients

Scale

Wet:

  • 1 1/2 cups mashed banana (from 3 large or 4 small ripe bananas)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2/3 cup real maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice, if you happen to have any)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs

Dry:

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup oat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or other nuts

Optional pre-step: Make your own oat flour by processing 1 cup of whole rolled oats in a food processor for about 2 minutes, pausing every 30 seconds to let it settle. Process until milled into a fine flour. OR, buy oat flour in the bulk bins at your store.


Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
  2. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper so it spills over the long sides.
  3. Spray the whole thing with a healthy cooking spray or grease with coconut oil (this ensures your loaf easily comes out of the pan).
  4. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. 
  5. Add the unsalted butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg/spice, and vanilla. 
  6. Mix the wet ingredients together until well incorporated with a hand-mixer, about 60 seconds. 
  7. Add the two eggs and mix again for 30 seconds until the mixture is uniform. Be careful not to whip too much air into the egg whites (that’s why we add them last).
  8. Measure both of the flours by spooning them into measuring cups to not compact them. 
  9. Add the flours to the bowl.
  10. Sprinkle the salt, baking soda, and baking powder all over the top of the flours. 
  11. Mix again for about 30 seconds until the dry ingredients are well incorporated but not over-mixed. The batter will be thick: use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and finish mixing if needed.
  12. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
  13. Bake 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. 
  14. Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then use the parchment paper’s overhang to bring the loaf to a cutting board to cool another 5-10 minutes. 

You can keep your homemade banana bread covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.


Notes

The key way to end up with the yummiest and rich banana flavor is to use very ripe bananas. Overripe bananas are perfect — the more brown spots, the better. If you have to use frozen bananas instead of fresh, make sure they are completely thawed out first.

It is an option to make this unsweetened banana bread by leaving out the maple syrup. Even without an added sweetener, your banana bread will still have sweetness, thanks to those ripe bananas. You also could use brown sugar, agave, or coconut sugar instead of maple syrup. 

If you’re vegan, you can substitute applesauce for eggs (¼ cup of applesauce for each egg), or you can use flax eggs. Check out my tutorial: How to Make a Flax Egg (Vegan Egg Substitute).

However you decide to tweak this recipe or if you follow my recipe as-is, don’t be surprised if this turns out to be the best banana bread you ever tasted in your life.