There are probably a million different banana bread recipes floating around the internet that all claim to be “THE BEST” banana bread. This is my own recipe, so obviously I am partial to this one. It contains a lot of healthy ingredients and substitutions, but it doesn’t taste like “healthy” banana bread. Sometimes if a quick bread recipe is too healthy, meaning if it doesn’t have enough fat, it can be really dense and chewy. This bread is moist and soft with a nicely browned crust. It’s filled with healthy ingredients like bananas (duh), applesauce, Greek yogurt, and flax. The applesauce and Greek yogurt provide moisture and stand in for half of the butter in a traditional recipe. There are only 4 tablespoons of butter in this entire recipe, and there is no oil. This bread smells amazing while it’s baking in the oven, and it tastes even better!
Active Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 1 hour
Serves: 12
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons butter, melted (I used Earth Balance) ¼ cup applesauce ½ cup coconut sugar (or white sugar) ½ cup turbinado sugar (or brown sugar) 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax mixed with 6 tablespoons water) OR 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1½ cups whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour) 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup plain Greek yogurt ½ cup chopped walnuts
2 medium bananas, mashed
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, applesauce, and sugars. Add the flax eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Fold in the greek yogurt, walnuts, and mashed bananas. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 175 Fat: 6g Carbs: 29g Protein: 3g Sodium: 235mg Sugar: 20g
*Nutrition information is based on the products I used personally in this recipe. Different products may yield slightly different information.
