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.
Does this recipe still work with all purpose flour?
I just made this yesterday and it’s already almost gone! Best recipe EVER. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’ve been searching for a good banana bread recipe since forever. I’m so glad I found this one! I do have one question: my loaf was done in 40 minutes, probably because my oven doesn’t have exact tempreature settings. I think it must have been around 180º C (356º F). Do you think that it could have affected anything (texture, moist, etc.)?
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe, and congratulations from the other far end of the continent – Argentina.
Hi Belen, it would make sense that your loaf was done sooner, since you were baking at a higher temperature. I use a relatively low temperature for this banana bread because honey browns too quickly at higher temps. As long as you enjoyed the bread, I’d say your way is totally fine!
Thank you! I’ll keep that in mind. But it was definitley delicious
Hello. I atempted to make this recepie tonight with my mother. As she is gluten free we used robin hoods gluten free flour and it did not work at all. It cooked within 55minutes, but it was dry , powdery and flavorles. I am thinking the gluten free flour just did not work well with the recepie, so I would not suggest substituting the flour or at least for the robin hood flour.
How many calories does this whole banana bread have? Using coconut oil, almond milk, everything else the same
Hi!
I made this recipe today and it was incredible! Although I tried sorghum flour instead and shredded coconut as my added ingredient. The sorghum flour give a beautiful light nutty taste and the coconut shredded was wonderful. I have happy faces in my home.
Thanks!
Could I use this recipe in a bread maker?
I’m sorry, I don’t have any experience with bread makers, so I’m not sure!
This is my new favourite recipe! I’m not the best of cooks but the instructions were so simple it was impossible to mess this up :) Now to experiment with add ins! Thank you so much for posting this.
Most amazing banana breAd!!! I added 1/2 cup of coconut and an extra 2 bananas and it was amazing! Such a hit was all gone within 24 hours!
Could you use coconut flour instead of whole wheat?
First attempt on vegan banana bread (substituted honey, eggs and milk with maple syrup, flax eggs and almond milk). Making flax eggs I simply put some flax seeds in a jar, add a bit water and blend until the substance turns more massive, sticky and the flax seeds are crushed. Suprising to see an egg-like liquid when putting togother oil (used grapeseed oil), syrup and flax eggs – strong similarity. It is fun to make such kind of a bread. Good luck to everyone!
Really great recipe, I’ve made it twice. Delicious, nutritious and it fills the kitchen with a lovely smell :)
Found your recipe and was eager to try. I have tried many healthy banana bread recipes that were flat, dry and tasteless. Most would end up in the trash. Your banana bread recipe turned out amazing. It was moist, full of flavor and well risen. Thank you! Restores my faith in white whole wheat flour:). Can I substitute zucchini in this recipe?
Easiest and best banana bread I’ve ever made, I’m not much of a baker, bet these were so easy, put some raisins in them, and sprinkled top with unsweetened coconut, thank you.
Made this recipe with spelt flour and it was absolutely delicious. Didnt last very long in our house :)
have been looking for a nice healthy tasty easy to make banana bread. made this last night, love it thanks :)
I’ve just come across your page and baked your lemon raspberry muffins and this banana bread in the same afternoon! The muffins were fab and the bread quick and easy to make…now just waiting for it to cool so I can taste it! Thank you!
Do you think it would work if i added blueberries? Any tips to stop them sinking to the bottom?
I have been making banana bread for years and was looking for a healthy but delicious alternative and, wow!!! You nailed it! I made a batch yesterday and it’s gone. Even my friends picky kids loved it. I am going to try adding a little bit of crushed pineapple next time (now haha!). I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for this amazing and healthy recipe
Just made this and it is wonderful. My first time baking healthier and I’m thrilled with the result. I used coconut oil as suggested and added half a cup of instant oatmeal and half a cup of chopped roasted almonds. Thanks!
I made this exactly as per recipe and it turned out perfect.I used wholemeal flour and it was still very moist and just sweet enough with the honey. My husband also loved it and we have saved this recipe as it’s going to be the only banana bread recipe that we will use from now on.
Thank you so much.
Made your banana bread with applesauce, whole wheat flour and chocolate chips in 5 small loaves for 35 minutes at 325. Oh my, it is so good thanks, Warren and Carol
Hello,
I stumbled upon your recipe while searching and figured I would give it a try, healthy is always good. I did not have the white whole wheat flour so I had to use regular flour and had I thought about it I wish I would have used applesause instead of olive oil. Oh well there is always next time. The bread is super yummy though and next time I make it I am sure it will be better :)
Love banana bread, and will definitely try this recipe, but you’ve mentioned olive oil as a “good for you” oil, but in fact,in this recipe is nothing but BAD for you. Olive oil should never, ever be used for cooking. The only “good for you” fat that can be used for cooking and baking is saturated fat, so yes, coconut, or in other (savoury) cases – lard and goose fat.
Why do you think that olive oil/unsaturated fats are bad for baking? True extra-virgin olive oil can be safely baked up to about 415 degrees, and this recipe is baked at 325. There is a ton of evidence about the health benefits of olive oil out there. I don’t believe that saturated fats are bad like they were once believed, but I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest that only saturated fats are good, and certainly don’t use lard or goose fat, as I’m a vegetarian.
This recipe turned out great! Delicious.
I love this recipe! Do you happen to know about how many calories one 2 inch muffin?
I made the banana bread and it came out delicious. ..i really love the moist. …i use almond flour. ..coconut oil and agave…love your recipe
I am completely new to using coconut oil, honey and whole wheat flour in recipies. I always follow new recipies to a T. No variations or substitutions. My bread, which used very ripe and pungent bananas, doesnt even taste like banana bread. It made me cry. It was dry and all I could taste was the wheat and i used the white wheat. What did i do wrong? Batter was not over mixed. It was lumpy even. Eggs were well whisked. In the oven for exactly 59 minutes when the knife came out clean. It looks beautiful it just tastes terrible. Im so sad about this. I gave 3 stars asduming i was partially to blame.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the bread! It sounds like maybe you used way too much flour. I measure mine using the spoon and swoop measurement, meaning that I spoon flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife. If you scoop the measuring cup into the flour, you could end up with nearly twice the amount of flour.
I’ve always been looking for good banana bread recipes and yours is the best I’ve come across by far! I tripled the batch because I have a huge family and made 2 loafs and some muffins. The only thing I changed was adding golden syrup instead of maple because I didn’t have any, and I added less of it so they wouldn’t turn out too sweet. Also instead of vanilla (which I didn’t have) I added a bit of brown sugar and also some choc chips! But the recipe itself turned out amazing! Thanks sooo much, I look forward to making some more of your recipes! Xx
Best banana bread I’ve ever made! Is it porrible to get a calorie count or no? Thanks!
I tripled this recipe and it came out perfect! I have made my fair share of banana bread recipes but this one is the first that I didn’t have to modify (less sugar less oil and whole wheat) and it was so yummy! Great texture, perfect sweetness. Made it with chocolate chips of course. My 3 loads were gone in about 2 to 3 days. Hubby and kids 7, 5 and 3 devoured it….I did too! And I passed the recipe on to my mom and she also tried it and loved it!
Thank you!
Do you have the nutrition values for this lovely sounding banana bread?
I have made this recipe twice, very delicious but i have a broblem with the texture.. I baked it for 1 hour, but still very moist and not cooked from the insidd.. Why?
Is it because of the honey?
I have baked many banana bread successfully but failed in this one:(
I’m very sorry to hear that! Was it just not cooked through in the center? If so, your oven temperature might be running a little low. It probably just needs 5 to 10 more minutes in the oven.
Thanks, it worked, i have to admit that this recipe is the best, took about 1hour & 15 minute to bake, and disappeared in few minutes..
Thank you Kate for the Amazing healthy recipe. It has become my family favorite. Didn’t know whole wheat flour bread can taste so good. Thank you.
I had never made this before or even heard of this site, but stumbled upon it and was impressed by all of the great comments. My boyfriend’s parents were having a housewarming party and his mom is gluten-free and his son is dairy-free so I was trying to find something they could both eat. Yikes! I found this and was a little worried that it would taste weird without butter and sugar and all the things I love, but it was AMAZING. My boyfriend was even giving me grief that it was going to taste like s***, but he ended up loving it and wants me to make more! Ha!
I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour, coconut milk (for the part where it says “milk of choice or water,” and then used Agave syrup instead of honey. It all came out great.
Thanks for the recipe! I am spreading the word.
I pretty much love all the recipes on this blog, but this one definitely stands out. My husband begs for me to make this banana bread whenever we buy bananas… so pretty much once every two weeks he mentions this bread. I love that it’s so easy to make, relatively healthy, and the perfect sweetness to have with morning coffee. Great Job Cookie and Kate!
Thank you so much! This is a great recipe. :)
Just for those who may be curious I changed it up just a little for myself.
I added coconut oil, however because I love the hint of applesauce I decided to use this instead of milk or water. I also put 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup of rolled oats. I finished by adding dark chocolate chips, walnuts and raspberries. :) The raspberries are quite wet and will most likely make the loaf need to cook a bit longer. I went for approx 1 hour & 10 minutes (however everyones ovens are different so be on standby with toothpicks).
My next creation from this recipe will be to try this with tons of maple syrup like suggested and see if I can really add that flavour in there and leave out the raspberries and chocolate chips.
This was fun! :)
Hello Kate.
This is a great recipe that is currently cooling. I can’t wait to tuck in.
Quick question… Do you have any idea of how many calories there is per 100g?
Thanks
Holly
Would you mind telling where do we get kitchen aid stand mixer in Philippines and for what price??
i have looked everywhere online but can’t find it :( :”(
Hi Kate, I really wanna try out this recipe. Can I use more banana instead of adding honey or maple syrup ?
I’m so excited to have found your blog! I’ve been trying to cut out sugar for a few weeks now and have really been struggling as I have a huge sweet tooth, but I baked this banana bread last week and it’s amazing! I added a dash of nutmeg to the mixture too and it added a nice bit of spice. I’m about to bake it again now and am going to try adding walnuts. Thank you for sharing your recipes! They’ve helped me so much!
Best banana bread recipe I’ve made in a long time. Awesome with chocolate chips added!
I love that you give a bunch of alternative options for dietary needs. SO smart!!! I am sure that this avoids a lot of questions too. ;)
Do you think you could use chia seeds as egg replacement instead of flax seeds??
Are you able to provide the measurements in grams or ounces instead of cup measurements please? Thanks!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I used less oil – and made up the difference with water. Also used only about 1T maple because my bananas were very ripe. Made a flax egg, with a bit extra water. Used your suggestions of walnuts and chocolate chips. It was so good that I need to make another one today!! I’ll be checking out your blog for more awesome recipes!
Made this morning and just tasted it- delish!! Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
This is the best banana bread recipe! I made it twice in one week. I used coconut oil, honey and whole wheat pastry flour. Instead of 1/4 cup of milk, I used 2 tbsp rum and 2 tbsp of almond milk. I added 1/3 cup of chopped pecans and 1/3 cup diced crystallized ginger. So good!!
Hi, this recipe sounded fantastic but unfortnately after following the recipe to every detail, my bannana loaf came out heavy and uncooked throughout with a crusty top.
Hi,
I followed the recipe exactly, used whole meal flour and olive oil but my bread did not rise and it tastes all raw from inside. I cooked for 60 mins at 165degreeC.
My last bread also was not good and tasted raw not sure what wrong am I doing. If you could suggest or let me know my mistake that will be great.