Trust me when I tell you this is the tastiest and healthiest banana bread you’ll ever make! Packed with fibre, vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, healthy fats and natural sweetness, this will be your new family favourite. Plus, it’s so simple to prepare that you might just make it for breakfast tomorrow morning.
The recipe holds all the nutrients we need, no matter our family’s dietary restrictions. Please see the cooking notes below for ways to adapt this healthy banana bread to a gluten-free and vegan diet.
I make this banana bread around twice a month. In the fridge, it usually keeps for over a week. Still, you can slice and freeze it to toast whenever needed for a lunchbox or afternoon treat.
Please see the cooking notes at the end of the recipe to find out how to make this healthy banana bread gluten-free and/or vegan.
Banana bread often gets a bad wrap due to the high sugar content and unhealthy fats in traditional recipes. However, it’s pretty easy to enjoy all the health benefits of bananas and the scrumptiousness of their flavour in a cake while cutting down on added sugar and harmful fats. Inspired by Cookie + Kate’s banana bread, I have further healthified the recipe to make it ‘foodamentally’ fit for healthy lunchboxes.
Bananas and their fantastic health benefits
Bananas are a true superfood! They contain all the amino acids our body needs to stay healthy. Plenty of antioxidants help combat cell damage and may even be anti-carcinogenic due to a significant amount of resistant starch. In addition, they are a great source of minerals (phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc and manganese) and vitamins (such as A, B, C, E, and β-carotene). Scientific reviews have shown that bananas contain more antioxidants than some berries, herbs and vegetables. And while the amount of resistant starch decreases with ripening, the antioxidant properties increase during fruit maturity.
Bananas also contain large amounts of dopamine, the so-called ‘happy hormone’, and serotonin, which helps with mood regulation. Some other bioactive compounds in bananas are said to lower cholesterol levels and, owing to their high iron content, may help with anemia. The list goes on! If you’d like to read more about the bioactive compounds in bananas and their associated health benefits, click on this link.
Other health benefits of this simple healthy banana bread
If using eggs (I am using six tiny ones from our bantam chickens instead of four normal-sized eggs), aim to use organic ones or at least from free-range hens. This ensures that the hens would have received no or fewer antibiotics and hormones that can enter our system when we consume their eggs. Personally, I want to know that the hens have a good life rather than being kept in crowded cages and areas. I like to believe that happier hens lay healthier eggs. 🙂 If you are vegan, please see the cooking notes below.
Adding natural sweetness without conventional sugar
For added sweetness (which you should judge based on the ripeness of the bananas), I use honey or maple syrup (if you’d like to make the recipe vegan). I halved the amount of added sweetness from the original recipe. Depending on how sweet you’d like the banana bread, you can reduce the amount or swap over to a natural sweetener. Here I’d recommend 100% Monk Fruit Powder (not the stuff mixed with Erythritol). I buy mine from iHerb; it’s not cheap but will last you for over a year as it’s super powerful and has a much better aftertaste than stevia.
I have doubled the amount of cinnamon and vanilla in my recipe, as these add sweetness without adding sugar. Cinnamon also helps to regulate our blood sugar levels which again avoids spikes and crashes in energy. Plus, both spices contain vital minerals.
When using vanilla, I highly recommend finding ground vanilla. It has a more intense vanilla flavour, no additives whatsoever, and will last you heaps longer than vanilla essence. I buy mine locally (QLD), but you can also get it through Amazon.
Improving gut health by using wholemeal flour
In this blog, you will hear me often talk about the importance of using wholemeal flour and reducing sugars (even natural ones). The bottom line is that we all need more fibre and less simple carbohydrates (e.g. white flour, refined sugar). It helps with the development of healthy bodies and brains. Complex carbohydrates have to be broken down by our bodies into simple sugars. Therefore, their energy is released steadily, avoiding blood sugar spikes and crashes. With the outer shell of grains (=wholegrains) intact, grains have significantly higher amounts of protein and fibre. The latter adds undigestable bulk and helps to improve bowel movements.
Adding the final taste touch (optionally)
Lastly, while I add dark chocolate chips to the cake, you don’t have to. It doesn’t need it. You may want to add nuts (walnuts and pecans are great, but any nut works) instead. I have left them out as we are not allowed to pack anything containing nuts for school in Australia.
This simple banana bread takes around one hour to cook in the oven. Just do the skewer test at approximately 50 minutes. Every oven is different, and weather changes and altitudes may influence baking time.
After the bread is cooked, leave it in the tin for 10 minutes before allowing it to cool on a rack. I slice mine and store it in a container in the fridge or freezer with baking paper between the slices.
If you (and your family!) like this recipe, go on and try my other recipes. I would love for you to leave a comment and give a rating, too. It helps Foodamentally to get the message and our recipes out there.
Please let me know if you have any intolerances, allergies, or questions the recipe does not answer. I am more than happy to answer anything. Plus, it delights me to support you on this journey of healthy eating for your family.
Simple Healthy Banana Bread (vegan & gluten-free options)
Equipment
- 1 Fork for mashing the bananas
- 1 Mixing Bowl
- 1 Spoon for Stiring
- 1 Baking Tin (we use a rectangular bread tin but any shape works e.g. muffin pan. Just watch the baking time as this will vary depending on the size of your baking pan.)
Ingredients
- 550 g ripe bananas (bout 4-6 bananas, depending on size)
- 4 eggs (about 45g each) (see vegan notes below)
- 150 g extra virgin coconut oil (about 2/3 cup) (butter, extra virgin olive or avocado oil work as well)
- 150 g honey or maple syrup (about 1 cup)
- 120 g milk (1/2 cup | 115ml) (swap for plant milk if preferred)
- 440 g wholemeal flour (eg. rye, spelt, wheat) (3.5 cups) (see gluten-free notes below)
- 2 tsp baking soda (not baking powder)
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean powder If using vanilla essence, use 1/2 tbsp
- 1 tsp salt
- 80 g dark chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup; optional)
- 60 g lightly chopped nuts (about 1/2 cup; optional) walnuts, macadamias, pecans work best
Instructions
- Make sure all elements have room temperature. Save yourself some time by getting all ingredients out on the bench top.
- Switch on the oven to 165 degrees C (375 F).
- Peel and mash the bananas with a fork.550 g ripe bananas
- Crack the eggs into the bowl and stir by hand until well combined. If you're using flax egg or egg replacer (see below), add it at this step.4 eggs (about 45g each)
- One after the other, pour in the honey (or maple syrup), the coconut oil (if it is not liquid, heat it up in the microwave or in a hot water bath), and the milk. Stir after each addition until well combined.150 g extra virgin coconut oil (about 2/3 cup), 150 g honey or maple syrup (about 1 cup), 120 g milk (1/2 cup | 115ml)
- Now add one by one, the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.440 g wholemeal flour (eg. rye, spelt, wheat) (3.5 cups), 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean powder, 1 tsp salt
- Lastly, if you choose to use chocolate chips and/or nuts, add them now and stir one more time.60 g lightly chopped nuts (about 1/2 cup; optional), 80 g dark chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup; optional)
- Take a piece of baking paper fitting your bread tin, scrunch it up and soak it in water. Once completely drenched, squeeze it out and line the tin with it. Then pour in the batter. If you need to, smooth the top with your wet fingers.
- Bake in the oven for around 60 minutes (less if using a muffin pan). Check after 50 minutes by inserting a wooden skewer. Once the inserted skewer comes out clean, you can take the banana bread out of the oven.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then let the banana bread cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, slice into 16-20 slices. The slices will keep in the fridge for a week or freeze them with baking paper between slices. To defrost, simply place a slice in the toaster and toast for a minute.