Lighter Banana Bread

At a glance

What stands out: With only 2 tablespoons of oil, this banana bread recipe is much lower in fat than most banana breads. It’s moist and flavorful, and guilt-free!
How long it takes: 1 hour from start to finish.
Equipment you’ll need: a pair of bowls, and a loaf pan.
Servings: 12 slices.

From-scratch Banana Bread

This lighter banana bread was one of the first banana bread recipes to hit this blog, and it holds a special place in our heart.

Even though this recipe is lower in fat than your traditional banana bread, it’s still unbelievably moist, rich, and above all, straightforward to mix! It’s a healthier version of our mom’s recipe, without the copious amounts of butter. Instead, this recipe uses applesauce and just a touch of oil to bring irresistible moisture to the bread.

Low-fat Banana Bread Recipe

Who doesn’t love sinking their teeth into a slice of soft, tender from-scratch banana bread? Here’s why this recipe is a keeper:

Healthier. With applesauce standing in for much of the oil and using whole wheat flour (or a combination of whole wheat and regular flour), you can make better-for-you banana bread that’s totally moist and flavorful while keeping things low-fat.

Straightforward to mix. We think just about every family has a cherished banana bread recipe, and it’s no wonder because it’s so straightforward to mix! This recipe uses simple ingredients and because it’s a speedy bread, it doesn’t require any rising time like yeast breads do.

Freezer-friendly. Make one loaf to enjoy fresh, and another to freeze. From-scratch banana bread freezes like a champ!

What goes in

You probably have the ingredients for this straightforward banana bread in your pantry already.

• Flour: You can make this recipe using all-purpose flour or whole wheat, or a combination of the two. Whole wheat is a bit healthier and tastes great, though the loaf will be slightly more dense.
• Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt: We use a combination of both baking powder and baking soda as leavening ingredients, plus a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor.
• Sugar: Regular granulated sugar works evenly, or you can use light brown sugar.
• Applesauce: The individual servings of applesauce that you can buy for kids’ lunches are reliable (and straightforward), because they are exactly ½ cup.
• Vegetable Oil: We just use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, or another mild-flavored oil like canola oil.
• Vanilla: For a standby flavor, stick with real vanilla extract.
• Eggs: Eggs bind the ingredients together while adding richness to the bread.
• Bananas: You’ll need about 4 large bananas or enough to make 1 ½ cups when mashed. A standby bananas for banana bread are extra-ripe ones. See below for details.

Ripe Bananas

Bananas to use for banana bread should be overripe, with lots of brown freckles. A banana that you may consider too ripe for eating is reliable for banana bread. Sometimes, when we have a bevy of overripe bananas, we'll freeze them specifically to make banana bread. We even have a post dedicated to freezing bananas.

If you have bananas that aren’t quite ripe enough, the easiest way to ripen them quickly is to place the unripe bananas in a brown paper bag overnight. To speed up the process even more, add another ethylene-producing fruit, like a ripe banana, apple, or avocado to the bag.

How it comes together

Prepare the pan. While you preheat the oven to 350ºF, lightly coat a metal loaf pan with nonstick spray.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients separately. First, whisk the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together the sugar and wet ingredients, followed by the eggs. Lastly, stir in the mashed banana, and finally the dry ingredients. Be careful to not over-mix the batter.

Bake. Transfer the batter to your greased loaf pan, then bake at 350ºF for 50 to 60 minutes. Once your banana bread is out of the oven, leave it to cool in the pan for a few minutes. After, run a knife around the edge to help loosen it from the pan, then invert the bread and leave it to finish cooling right side up on a wire rack.

How Do we Know When Banana Bread Is Done?

To check if your banana bread is ready to come out of the oven, stick a toothpick into the center of the loaf. The toothpick should come out clean, or with a couple of crumbs, indicating it’s done. If it comes out streaked with batter, your bread needs to stay in a little longer.

Tips for Success

• Use ripe bananas. See the ingredients section for details, but make sure you’re using the elderly bananas of the bunch to make banana bread.
• Measure the flour correctly. The number one culprit for banana bread that comes out dry is too much flour in the mix. Use a kitchen scale if you have one, otherwise, the “spoon and sweep” method is best. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level it off with the back of a knife.
• Don’t overmix the batter. Over-mixing the banana bread batter can result in bread that’s rubbery and tough, rather than soft and tender. Only mix the ingredients until they’re just combined.
• Let the banana bread cool in the pan first. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before removing it. Removing the bread from the pan right away might cause it to crumble, and letting it cool completely in the pan can result in sticking.

Ways to change it

• Add nuts. We’re a nut-free family, but you can turn this into banana nut bread and add chopped toasted pecans or walnuts to the batter.
• Make it chocolate. Make chocolate banana bread by adding unsweetened cocoa powder. Stir chocolate chips into the batter for chocolate chip banana bread.
• Try spiced banana bread. A teaspoon of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, or a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice mixed in with the dry ingredients adds another layer of cozy flavor to this banana bread.
• Add a glaze. If you’re feeling extra indulgent, borrow the brown sugar glaze from these baked banana donuts and drizzle it over the finished banana bread.
• Make it gluten-free. Swap all-purpose flour for your preferred gluten-free baking flour to make gluten-free banana bread.
• No bananas? Try our lemon bread (or lemon poppy seed bread!), applesauce bread, or snickerdoodle bread. Be sure to look at the speedy bread recipes below, too.

How to Store From-scratch Banana Bread

We love doubling this recipe to have an extra loaf of banana bread for later! Here’s how to keep your banana bread moist and fresh whether you’re storing it or freezing it:

Storage: Once your banana bread has cooled completely, store it on the counter for up to 4 days, either wrapped in foil or in an airtight container. To help keep the bread fresh, line the bottom of the container with a paper towel.

Freeze: Banana bread freezes well. Wrap the cooled loaf in foil, then place it into a zip-top bag and store it frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw the bread in the fridge before serving. We like to slice the bread first. Then we can remove just one or two slices as needed and they thaw out quickly.

Straightforward Speedy Bread Recipes

• Yield: 10
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 50 minutes
• Total: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or a combination of the two
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup applesauce (or 1 snack size container)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (we use canola)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 bananas, depending on size)

Method

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare 9 by 5 loaf pan by lightly spraying with nonstick spray, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, applesauce, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk in eggs until combined. Using a large spoon, stir in banana.
4. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Evenly pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove bread from the oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of bread to loosen from pan. Invert onto rack and turn bread topside up.
6. Cool the bread completely before cutting into 10 slices.

Notes

To freeze: we almost always double the recipe and wrap one loaf in foil, then put it in a freezer zip-top bag and freeze. You can also slice the bread first, wrap the slices individually, and freeze for a speedy lunchbox treat. The sliced bread thaws quickly.

Nutrition note: Bread in images is made with 100% whole wheat flour and the nutrition information below is calculated using whole wheat flour.