Over the past month, my family has travelled to Southern California for three different occasions: to say good-bye to Grandpa, to attend his memorial (along with these special cookies!), and to celebrate Easter with Grandma.
With a combination of flying and driving, we’ve practically memorized the airport terminals and the major landmarks (if not every bump in the road!) along I-5. Even our dogs trekked along for the last two trips and seemed to remember their favorite blades of grass at the freeway rest stops!
Although things felt different without Grandpa there, nearly everything still looked the same… Grandma’s two small black terriers yipping at the front gate to greet us, the porch swing and patio furniture in the backyard where we spent most of our afternoons, and even the same blonde cashier at the grocery store when we stopped by to grab snacks for the road.
On our last two visits, just before loading our luggage into the car and giving Grandma big hugs good-bye, I noticed a few extra speckly bananas sitting on her counter, the kind too ripe to eat yet perfect for baking with more brown color than yellow. Knowing how often Grandma bakes (although we share an intense mutual passion for baseball, we’re opposites in the baking department!), I carefully brought them back home…
…and turned the first set into these Chocolate Drizzled Banana Bread Brownies! They have the same fruity flavor as traditional banana bread and the exact fudgy texture of brownies. With no butter, eggs, refined flour or sugar and only 56 calories, they’re perfect for satisfying my sweet tooth cravings!
Or even as a healthier breakfast treat, as my Dad decided one morning! ?
To make this easy recipe, you’ll start with white whole wheat flour. Although it sounds strange (normally white flour and whole wheat flour are two separate things!), white whole wheat flour is actually made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, very similar to all-purpose flour, but it has the same health benefits (like extra fiber!) as regular whole wheat flour.
Note: I included my favorite gluten-free option in the Notes section, if you prefer!
Instead of lots of eggs and butter or oil, like in traditional brownie and banana bread recipes, these healthy treats only contain 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and no eggs. Yes, that’s it! The mashed banana replaces the eggs, and it also provides natural sweetness and extra moisture to the batter. Make sure you use the darkest bananas you can find—the ones with more brown than yellow color are perfect!
Greek yogurt also helps keep these treats extra tender and fudgy, just like in all of my brownie recipes, and it provides extra protein too! To boost the sweetness, you’ll also mix in a little vanilla crème stevia. It’s one of my favorite ingredients! Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and because it’s so concentrated, you only need ¾ teaspoon. This is the kind I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertastes. You can find it in many health-oriented grocery stores, but I buy mine online here because it’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
After baking your banana bread brownies and letting them cool, it’s time to add the drizzle! It’s extremely simple to make. Just stir together a little cocoa powder (just my favorite regular unsweetened!), maple syrup (the real kind, like this!), and milk. Add that to a small zip-topped bag, snip off the corner with scissors, and start drizzling!
With how much we enjoyed these, I think my family might be part monkey! ?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your banana bread brownies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Chocolate Drizzled Banana Bread Brownies | Print |
- for the brownies
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup (195g) mashed banana (about 2 large)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- 2 tbsp (30mL) nonfat milk
- for the drizzle
- 1 ½ tbsp (7g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp nonfat milk
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat a 9”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the brownies, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut oil, mashed banana, and vanilla. Mix in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain.* Mix in the stevia and milk. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 300°F for 17-20 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan, and let the brownies rest for an additional 3 hours before slicing for the fudgiest texture.
- Just before serving the brownies, prepare the drizzle by stirring together the cocoa powder, maple syrup, and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a zip-topped bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle on top of the sliced brownies.
Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. In a pinch, regular whole wheat flour will work, but the brownies will have a slightly more wheat-y flavor that may mask some of the banana flavor.
The combined amount of mashed banana and Greek yogurt should equal ¾ cup. If you have slightly more than ¾ cup mashed banana, you can substitute some of the extra for some of the Greek yogurt, and vice versa.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
For a vegan version, substitute mashed banana for the Greek yogurt, and substitute any non-dairy milk in place of the nonfat milk.
I highly recommend using the vanilla crème stevia! It's one of my favorite ingredients, and you'll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too. (I buy mine online here because it's the cheapest price I've found!) The best substitute I can recommend in place of the vanilla crème stevia is 2 ¼ teaspoons of this powdered stevia. If substituting a different sweetener (i.e. coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.), you’ll need 5-6 tablespoons, and the baking time and texture will be different.
In the drizzle, honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
*If the coconut oil or butter re-solidifies upon adding the Greek yogurt, microwave the mixture for 10-14 seconds to re-melt it (ONLY if your bowl is microwave safe!).
*If the drizzle is too thick, add additional milk, ¼ teaspoon at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.
{gluten-free, clean eating, vegan option, low fat, low calorie, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Brownies
♥ Peanut Butter Banana Bread Brownies
♥ Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Brownies
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Muffins
♥ Mini Dark Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Anything to use instead of greek yogurt? I am dairy free.
Thanks!
I actually answered that in the Notes section already! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these Amy!
Amy, your drizzling is a work of art! And I can’t believe you traveled with over-ripe bananas and got them to your destination intact. Cool, though, that you now have the precious memories of time at your Grandma’s house intertwined with your recipe.
Thank you so much Mary! The bananas ended up with the safest seat in our car for the road trip. 😉
Amy, Is 300 degrees correct? When I baked the brownies for 20 minutes, they were still raw. 🙁
Yes, 300°F is correct! The brownies will look underdone when you initially pull them from the oven. As long as the edges of the brownies begin pulling away from the sides of the pan within 10 minutes after removing them from the oven, you’ve baked them long enough. They’ll continue to cook through and set while they rest in the pan, which is why they’re supposed to sit for at least 3 hours once they’ve reached room temperature (typically about 5+ hours in total, but letting them rest longer won’t hurt!) 🙂
Can i substitute coconut flour for your blend here? I am in a foreign country and that is my only gluten free option!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Rosie! Unfortunately, coconut flour won’t work in this recipe. It’ll make the banana bread brownies really dry and crumbly! 🙁 I’d love to hear what you think if you’re able to try them!