Whole Wheat Banana Bread (one bowl!)

At a glance

What stands out: Whole wheat banana bread is a staple in our house. Our kids love it and it’s a reliable way to use ripe bananas. It freezes well and makes a great lunchbox treat! You’ll love the one bowl method we use to make this bread.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to stir up, 1 hour to bake
Equipment you’ll need: large bowl, measuring utensils, masher, loaf tin, oven
Servings: makes 1 loaf

What goes in

• Bananas! It wouldn’t be banana bread without bananas. You’ll need one and a half cups of mashed ripe bananas which is about 4 large bananas. Use nice ripe bananas, the riper the better. Bananas with brown speckles or even completely brown are best for banana bread.
• Applesauce: You’ll need a half cup which happens to be just the amount that’s in the snack sized servings of applesauce. The applesauce replaces much of the oil that’s usually added to speedy breads. We usually use unsweetened applesauce.
• Oil: While most banana bread recipes have up to a cup of butter or oil, this healthier recipe has only 2 tablespoons of oil!
• Whole Wheat Flour: Whole wheat flour adds lots of nutrition and fiber and gives the bread a hearty texture. If you prefer, all-purpose flour can be substituted or even a combination of the two flours.
• Sugar: Use regular granulated white sugar. There’s a lot of natural sweetness from those ripe bananas and the applesauce.
• Eggs: Most speedy breads contain eggs and this bread is no exception.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds a nice sweet flavor. If you like to vary things a bit, try maple extract.
• Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt: Normal speedy bread ingredients, they add leavening and keep the bread from tasting flat.

How it comes together

Our one-bowl method! When we first began making this banana bread, we'd always use three bowls. One bowl for mashing the bananas, one to combine the wet ingredients, and one final bowl for the dry ingredients. However, since we don’t like to do dishes (who does?), we switched to the method we use now for most of our speedy breads and muffins. With this method, you only need one bowl. And guess what? Your bread turns out the same whether you use three bowls or one.

Mix wet ingredients. Start off by mashing the bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. To the bananas, add the sugar and the rest of the wet ingredients: eggs, applesauce, oil, and vanilla.

Give the contents of the bowl a vigorous stir, making sure the eggs are well blended. You shouldn’t be seeing runny whites or yellows.

Add dry ingredients to bowl. Measure out the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt), putting them right on top of the banana mixture. Give those a little toss together – we use our fingertips! – before stirring them into the wet ingredients.

Don’t over-stir. Gently fold the flour mixture into the banana mixture until there’s no dry parts. Try not to overmix the batter. It will look a little lumpy and that’s okay. Overmixing makes the bread tough or have a lot of big holes.

Bake. Scrape the batter into a loaf pan and bake! It will take about an hour. Use the toothpick method to test if it’s done.

Baking Tip

Wondering how to tell when your bread is ready to take out of the oven? Stick a toothpick halfway into the bread, near the center of the loaf. If the toothpick comes out clean or with a crumb or two attached, the bread is ready to take out of the oven. If it comes out with sticky batter, let the bread bake a bit longer.

Cool. Cool the loaf in the pan for 10 minutes or so before removing it from the pan. Finish cooling on a wire rack.

When it’s completely cool, slice the bread into ten rich slices.

Serving suggestions: While this bread is completely rich on its own, to dress it up, try spreading the slices with gingerbread butter, orange honey butter, or just plain butter. Peanut butter is good, too. For fancier brunches, serve it with vanilla bean whipped cream cheese.

We know you guys are going to absolutely love this whole wheat banana bread as much as we do!

Straightforward Recipe Variations

• Add chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips to the batter. Our kids love this variation. If we weren’t a nut-free family, we'd add peanut butter or butterscotch chips for a treat.
• Make banana nut bread. Add chopped toasted pecans or walnuts to the batter.
• Try cinnamon banana bread. If you like warm spices, a teaspoon of cinnamon adds a whole new dimension of flavor. Add it with the dry ingredients.
• Not crazy about bananas? Try lighter pumpkin bread (or pumpkin streusel bread!), applesauce bread, or whole wheat zucchini bread.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Make a double batch. One loaf to eat fresh, and one to freeze! You’ll need six ripe bananas which is a lot of bananas. Whenever we have extra ripe bananas, we peel them and put them into a freezer safe container for later use, like baking that extra loaf of bread. Thaw them slightly before using. They may look a bit juicy and brown but don’t worry, the bread turns out fine. If that sounds like a good plan to you, you can read more about freezing bananas.

Keeping leftovers

Always make sure home-baked breads or muffins are completely cool before storing in an airtight container or resealable bag. Warm bread in an airtight container will produce moisture which promotes spoilage.

This bread will keep on the counter for three days or in the fridge for up to a week. This banana bread freezes well. It will keep at least a month in the freezer. Freeze the loaf whole or cut up into slices so you can easily grab one and go. It makes a great lunchbox treat.

Triple Chocolate Banana Muffins – healthier!

• Yield: 10
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 1 hour
• Total: 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas ( 4 bananas, depending on size)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup applesauce
• 2 tablespoons oil (vegetable, canola, or coconut)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 8- or 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place mashed bananas in a large bowl (we'd mash them right in this bowl to save dishes!). Add eggs, sugar, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Whisk to combine wet ingredients.
3. On top of wet ingredients, add whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gently mix the dry ingredients together before stirring into the wet ingredients. Stir just until combined; a few lumps are okay.
4. Add banana bread batter to prepared loaf tin and smooth out into an even layer.
5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
6. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes in the pan before turning out of the pan onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Storage: Banana bread, wrapped well, will keep at room temperature for a few days. For longer storage, store in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to a month. If desired, slice first before freezing so individual slices can be removed.

Flour note: If desired, replace whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour, or a combination of the two.

Reduced sugar: The amount of sugar can be reduced to ½ cup, if you like. The bananas and applesauce add lots of natural sweetness. We've often made this recipe with less sugar.