Best Ever Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

• servings: 12 servings
• total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

3 very ripe large bananas, mashed (about 1 1/3 cup mashed banana)

2 eggs, at room temperature (very important to be at room temp)

⅓ cup (104g) pure maple syrup (do not use honey)

½ cup (113g) plain or vanilla greek yogurt (whole milk or 2% is best)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ¾ cup (198g) whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (85g) butter, melted and cooled** (you can also use olive oil or melted and cooled coconut oil but I prefer butter)

Optional add-ins:

½ cup (56g) chopped walnuts or pecans

½ cup (90g) chocolate chips, dairy free if desired

2 tablespoons (24g) chocolate chips, for sprinkling on top

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch pan with parchment paper and grease the inside of the pan to prevent sticking.

In a large bowl mix together the mashed banana, eggs, maple syrup, greek yogurt and vanilla extract to a bowl until well combined. (OR if you prefer, you can add all the wet ingredients to a blender to combine -- I prefer to mix in a bowl.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!

Next, mix in the melted and cooled butter (or coconut oil). At this point you can fold in an of the following: ½ cup chopped walnuts or ½ cup chocolate chips (or both!).

Add banana bread batter into prepared pan. Optional but not required: split a banana down the middle vertically then add on top of the batter or just add banana slices on top, side by side. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Once bread is cool, cut into 12 slices. Serve with nut butter spread on top for a healthy snack or breakfast on the go.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 178 kcal
• Total Fat: 5.8 g
• Saturated Fat: 4.2 g
• Total Carbohydrate: 28.4 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.4 g
• Total Sugars: 9.9 g
• Protein: 4 g