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.
It didn’t say in the recipe when to add the milk. I just added it at the end.
I’ve been making this recipe for years! Recently, I tried it in a blender and it works! After blending, I bake in a square glass pan or cupcake tin and my kiddo loves it.
I loooooove this recipe I make it for my husband super often and we love it. So fast and healthy! Thank you :)
So delicious!
I love this recipe.
Amazing cake! Healthy ingredients for the little ones with amazing taste and a spongy texture.
I baked this today, only needed half an hour! Not sure why but it’s a great recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I love baking but catering with coeliacs and refined sugar free often leaves me with limited recipe options that don’t taste great. This recipe is now my go to banana bread recipe! I have some local honey that has a light floral note that has come through in the baking and is just wonderful. Thank you so much!
hands down the best banana bread recipe i have ever made. i was afraid my husband would complain its not sweet enough but he loves it
Added 1/4c hemp hearts and 1/2 c chocolate chips. Yum!
Anyone try with a bread machine? I’d love to give it a try but want to be sure the measurements don’t require any adjustments.
Hi, can I bake this in an air fryer? How long would it take?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure.
Loved it made it last night and shared some with a friend this morning they said it was delicious!
So dry and I added extra milk and some water
I just made this for my grandson who has terrible dairy allergies! I oven ripened the bananas as they taste sweeter in baking & used the juice rather than nut water. This was a hit, thank you!!
Loved this! It was so easy to make. I didn’t have enough wholewheat flour so used a haphazard mix of homemade oat flour, wholewheat flour and quinoa flour (approx. 1cup, 1 cup, 1/4 cup). I also didn’t have any vanilla essence. It still tasted great! A great, tasty, adaptable recipe!
I love this bread. Made it at least 15 times. To expedite on baking day, on a leisurely day, I pre-measure all the dry ingredients in a pint mason jar, labeled & put in pantry ready to make at anytime. Then, all I have to do is to mix the wet ingredients then dump in the pre-mixed dry ingredients. Using a danish dough whisk mixes the wet & dry super quick. Batter is ready in less than 5 minutes total. Inspired by your cookbook’s yummy Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookie, this time I added 1/2 C each walnuts & carrots for more fiber. Delicious!!
Instead of whole wheat flour, chick pea flour is a nice alternative, just add a 1/4 tsp of white vinegar when using it
I’m glad that worked for you, Kar! I appreciate your feedback.
I’m overseas at the moment and staying at a friends holiday home; the pantry was somewhat lacking lol. I had to use SR white flour, brown sugar, no vanilla, no baking soda…but it turned out great!!
I used this recipe with coconut oil, honey with a tiny bit of maple syrup for flavour, put a bit more of the spices in as I prefer heavier spice, and the ogran baking egg replacer. I also added a few dried cranberries and blueberries. I also put these into a (Lakeland) 12 mini-loaf tin, and it made just enough to fill everything, so it was a good size. Because it was a mini-loaf tin, the cooking time was about 2/3 the time. Only minor complaint is they are slighty soggy on bottom (it’s definitely cooked through), I suspect this is to do with the coconut oil.
Overall, delicious, and quite pleased. Will make this again. Thank you so much for the recipe. Thanks for giving metric and imperial, as I have no idea what ‘cup’ means and prefer grams and mls. thanks!
This recipe is great for a healthy treat, iv currently got one in the oven with raspberries and white chocolate chips mixed in, hope it nice
I made this today and thought the oil ratio seemed really high. I baked it and noticed a bunch of oil surrounding the bread as it baked. I ended up having to drain the excess oil out of the loaf pan when it was done. Not my favorite recipe, don’t see the hype on this one. Sorry!
I’m sorry to hear that. I have made this several times and never had an issue. I appreciate your feedback.
Great bread. I made this bread with cassava flour to make it gluten free. Cutiing down the flour by about 1/2 cup.
I have made this recipe once a week for the past 6-7 months. It turns out great every time! I always use some type of g-free flour and 1/2 honey, 1/2 maple syrup and it’s a hit.
This is my go-to banana bread recipe; I love it for its simplicity and healthiness! I can’t remember if the conversion to grams/metric has always been there but this Brit very much appreciates it, thank you. From my experience, it does get quite burnt on the top at the written time/temp. I’ve not seen others mention this, although I have tried in two different ovens now with similar results. Just a heads up for others to keep an eye on the loaf when baking – I may try 150 Celsius next time.
I used almond milk (unsweetened original) and roughly half honey half maple syrup because I ran out of honey. Threw in an handful of chocolate chips for fun. It came out great – nice texture and not overly sweet.
Great to hear, Liz! Thank you for your review.
I used honey in this recipe. I substituted soy milk for regular milk. I also substituted aquafaba (reserved liquid from canned pinto beans used in the stuffed red peppers recipe). I used a stand mixer with a whisk attachment to mix the honey and olive oil together. After that, I added the aquafaba. The aquafaba did not form the peaks I normally get when baking vegan muffins. The next time I make this recipe, I’ll whisk the aquafaba first for at least 6 to 8 minutes and then add the other ingredients.The banana bread came out a little flat–because I should have whisked the aquafaba first.
This is my first time ever baking successfully the instructions were super easy to follow, and the results were 10/10. It has instantly become a new household staple, thank you Kate!
You’re welcome, Cami! Thank you for your review.
Making this now! It’s in the oven! Wish I knew the nutritional information. Anyone calculate it?
Hi Lacey! The nutritional information is below the notes section. You need to click to expand.
Oh I see it now! Thank you so much! This recipe is DELICIOUS
That’s great to hear, Lacey!
I made this yesterday with my two grandchildren, using all-purpose flour as there was no whole-wheat flour at their house. We also added some choc chips for a treat. Cooked perfectly, in exactly the time you said. It was beautiful! Kiddies loved it and had theirs warm with ice-cream, yummy
Looking forward to making it at home using spelt flour. Thanks for such a great-tasting and easy recipe.
I did the cake and it is delicious, vegan version. I added dried cranberries, next time I will try to reduce the maple syrup, not because it’s too sweet, but it’s for my kid and I prefer as less as possible sweetness. Thank you very much for the recipe ❤️
You’re welcome, Elena!
I love this recipe but I struggle with the baking part. When I make it, it always overcooks on the edges and gets a little burned but it’s still doughy on the inside. Any tips to fix this?
I’m sorry to hear that. What type of bread pan are you using?
I think they’re stone bread pans
That may have something to do with it.
Thank you for so much detail & giving so many healthy options. Your blog is inspiring!
This recipe is fantastic. My fussy 9 year-old son cannot stop eating it. I used GF flour, coconut oil and honey — I simply followed the recipe — adding no extra bits. I baked it in our air fryer, starting at 165 C for 25 minutes, then lowering the heat to 140 C for another 25 – 30 minutes, keeping an eye on the banana bread to make sure it did not overcook. Definitely a recipe I’ll be using in the future.
Excellent recipe! It’s the perfect balance of sweetness, banana, and spices. Perfectly moist as well! Love and will return to it over and over. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Angeli!
So good! Have made this recipe 3 times already! Thank you!
I love that you have already make it a few times. I appreciate your review, Mikala!
I’m genuinely surprised at how good this banana bread turned out, only because of the number of times I’ve tried ‘healthy versions’ which alway turned out awful and cardboard like.
This was beautifully moist, sweet but not too sweet and with the perfect blend of lightness and denseness. 5 stars!
Great to hear, Deborah!
Amazing result. Defo use this one again!
I made the banana bread and followed the recipe… looked beautiful out of the oven, but upon cooling, the loaf sank in the middle. I’m sure it’ll still taste fab. Any ideas where I went wrong?
I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like it may have been over mixed, or the leavening agent was forgotten.
What is the nutritional information?
Hi! The nutritional information is below the notes section of the blog.
I found this recipe years ago (thank you very much!) and it has remainded a beloved treat!
I just made a batch 3 days ago… it was gobbled up by my three kiddos in half a day.. there was no stopping them lol.
I just made a double batch and plan on slicing and freezing half of it so I might be able to enjoy some later
Also, I have to say this recipe is basically fool proof! Just really fantastic so thank you for sharing it with us.
Can I use coconut flour??
Coconut flour isn’t a great substitute. You can try Gluten-Free Banana Bread (Made with Almond Flour).
Hi! I love this bread! Do you know the nutrition facts?
Hi Ali! The nutritional information is below the notes section of the recipe. You will need to click to expand.
Hi,
My family loves it!! Eventhoug I didn’t use honey, instead I used brown sugar. And I didn’t have baking soda so I used baking powder :/
Thank you!
I’m happy to hear it still turned out! Thank you for sharing, Cynthia.
Makes great banana bread! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jelena!
I never write comments but felt I just had to share. My 40 yr old son just had a heart attack and is on a no salt, super low cholesterol diet and this recipe (with a few of your suggested tweaks) proved to him that life can still be delicious. I substituted apple sauce (the no sugar added kind) for the oil, used maple syrup for the sweetener and substituted a tsp of cinnamon for the salt in the batter. I make a mean traditional banana bread with butter but your recipe is just as good, maybe even better!
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m glad you can enjoy this recipe. Thank you for sharing, Mary.
First time baker and this recipe is definitely fool-proof and absolutely delicious
Amazing moist bread! I didn’t have any whole wheat so I made it with all purpose flour and baked in a small rectangle glass pan rather than a loaf pan – included dark chocolate chips. Yum!
Great to hear, Kara!
This is by far the best recipe I’ve used, so tasty and still moist even days later! will be using this recipe everytime from now on!
That’s great to hear, Olivia! Thank you for commenting.
Can I use avocado oil?
I haven’t tried it, but it may work. Let me know how it turns out!
Love,Love,LOVE it!!!
Great to hear, Di!
We love this recipe in our house and my kids and I make the muffin version a couple of times a month. Today I experimented by using the “Cake” program on my Cuisinart bread machine, with no changes to the recipe, because I didn’t want to turn on the oven and heat up the house. It was successful! Just wanted to share in case others were wondering. Thanks for a great recipe!