Guys, this wholewheat banana bread is SO GOOD!! I recently revisited it and I’m so glad I did because sometimes it’s easy to forget all about archived recipes on this blog. It’s light, moist, fluffy and sweetened with honey and bananas of course. Chocolate chunks are optional but…..not really.
This is a Cookie and Kate recipe that I’ve barely changed. This time around I just baked it as a regular loaf as intended (my earlier version here was a mini loaf), swapped the water for milk and simplified the addition of baking soda to the batter along with the other dry ingredients. Oh and I added chocolate of course! Use chips or roughly chopped dark chocolate, whichever you have on hand. It does mean some amount of refined sugar, so it’s optional and the cake will taste amazing without it too!
This is a one-bowl batter, which is my favourite kind of batter! It comes together quickly, and you’ll have a beautiful, fragrant banana bread after about 40 minutes in the oven. Do let it cool though, the banana flavour intensifies as it cools and the bread tastes sweeter. Even so, this is not an overly sweet dessert, it’s a really lovely breakfast cake (is that a thing?) or tea cake.
Make this. You should need no further persuasion š
Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas, medium sized
- 1/3 cup olive oil (80 ml)
- 1/3 cup honey (80 ml)
- 1/4 cup milk (60 ml)
- 2 eggs (see notes)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cups wholewheat flour (200 gms)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- Optional: 70 gms dark chocolate, chopped or 3/4 cup chocolate chips (adding this means the banana bread will have some refined sugar, unless you choose a sugar-free chocolate)
Instructions
- Line a 9x5 loaf tin with non-stick baking paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal. If the paper isn't non-stick, grease the tin and the paper too. Then preheat the oven to 175 C.
- In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas very well, then add the olive oil, honey and milk. Whisk well to combine.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk again until the eggs are properly incorporated.
- Now sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold gently to combine into a smooth, thick-ish batter. If adding the chocolate chunks or chips, fold them in now (save a couple of tablespoons to add on top).
- Spoon the batter into the prepared tin, and smoothen the top. Sprinkle on the reserved chocolate.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. If the top seems to be browning too fast and the center is still raw, lower the temperature to 165 C and cover the top loosely with foil.
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then use the paper overhang to remove it and transfer to wire rack. Peel off the sides of the paper and let the cake cool completely to room temperature before slicing. Banana bread tastes best the next day but it's ok if you can't wait!
- Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, then transfer to the fridge, especially in humid areas, where it will keep for about a week. Happy baking!
Notes
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Hii, I have tried your recipe before as well and it’s turned out amazing. But this time I wanted to make it as a cake for my sister who doesn’t consume sugar, and this would be perfect. So will I have to double the batter to make an 8 inch cake?
Hi! I think as written, this would make a good 8-inch cake without needing to double it because that’s likely to overflow. Let me know how it goes š
Hey is there a substitute to honey. Can I replace it with whote or brown sugar . If yes then how much of it?
Keen on making it tonight š
Hi, Iāve only made this with honey so Iām not sure how much sugar you will need. Try this recipe instead https://thedessertedgirl.com/2016/11/06/banana-bread-eggless/
Hoping to make 2 substitutions :
1. Greek yoghurt instead of olive oil
2. Oat flour instead of wholewheat flour
Do you think this would work?
Not too sure about the yoghurt instead of oil, but thereās an oat banana bread you can experiment with https://thedessertedgirl.com/2018/04/24/banana-oat-bread/
Hi Gayatri,
i made this today, and it’s really good! But I went to Cookie & Kate for the quantities because I have not yet grown up enough to practice portion control and buy small sized baking pans.
Anyway, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Haha, the more cake the better!
Hi! I’ve been following your instagram feed for a while now, trying to muster up the courage to try out one of the recipes (i’m not the greatest cook). I finally did today (had 2 over ripe bananas on the kitchen counter). What a yum recipe. I have a slightly enthusiastic oven that did the job in 35 mins and the bread was slightly burnt. But still super yum. So thanks for this!
Hey Prakriti, thank you, you have no idea how happy that makes me! Hope you will now try out many more recipes from here š This also happens to be one of my favourite cakes and just today I had some overripe bananas that I was wondering what to do with! My oven is pretty over enthusiastic too, so don’t worry, you’ll find a balance with yours š
I hope i do as well š Thanks š
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· I love making everything from scratch, though the process of making bread and I have a love-hate relationship, so I usually buy it for optimal results I love that you make these in the muffin liners so they look like real PB cups! And they are so easy but SO impressive!
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Thats a great idea!!! I love banana bread, and healthier is even better š
Yes, I completely agree!
š
Looks great!
Thanks Lori!