Healthier Banana Bread
I love making banana bread, and I’ve tried quite a few different recipes (like cream cheese banana bread and nutella swirl banana bread!) over the years. Overall though, my favorite recipe continues to be this best ever banana bread. It’s just so good! I had a bunch of over-ripe bananas a few weeks ago and decided to mix up my favorite bread. Although, as I thought about sharing some with Zeke, I started thinking that maybe I should try to make it a little healthier. So I played around with the recipe, cutting down the sugar and adding in some whole wheat flour, and came up with this version. It’s definitely better for you, but still tastes just as good as the previous version. If anything, it has a more pronounced banana flavor, which we love! I actually have some more bananas on my counter right now, and I’m just waiting for them to turn brown so I can bake some more of this banana bread. Enjoy! 🙂
Healthier Banana Bread
Yield: Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 5 overripe bananas
- 1 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 Tbsp wheat germ
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 2 loaf pans (I used 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 size pans) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the bananas and mix until thoroughly mashed. Beat in the eggs until well blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and wheat germ. Mix the dry ingredients into the banana mixture until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans, dividing it evenly. Bake for 40-50 minutes. The bread is done when the top springs back after being pressed in the center with fingertips.
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
Hi Megan- Your banana bread looks very good. What size banana’s did you use in this recipe?
I would say they were medium sized
Another way to make this healthier would be to substitute unsweetened applesauce (equal amount) for the oil or butter. I do this in every bread recipe and it always turns out well and saves a lot of calories.
I’ve done this before as well, thanks for the suggestion!
I have another great idea for substituting for butter or oil besides Musselmans applesauce, it”s pureed pumpkin-not the pie filling. It leaves no taste in whatever you are baking. Try it-use the same amount as for the amount of butter.
Good suggestion, thanks!
This looks great! I’m always looking for lightened up versions of my favorites and I’m definitely going to try this one!