One afternoon last week, my mom arranged to pick up a rental car to drive to the airport for her upcoming business trip, so I offered to take her across town. That’s one of the many things I love about having Amy’s Healthy Baking as my full-time job—the flexibility to take time off midweek without needing to check in with a boss!
As we cruised across town, our drive elongated by hitting at least half of the stoplights red, we chatted about the past few days, like Mom’s exciting new projects at work and trips to the vet for her dog. He’s nearly due for a booster shot, and as someone who strongly dislikes needles, I’m not one bit jealous!
When we started to pass by the Trader Joe’s parking lot, Mom asked what I planned to bake to share with you. I revealed a few recipe ideas, including a couple of banana-themed treats, which made Mom laugh.
“Two of your three grandmas keep sending you home with bananas!” she exclaimed. “You better hope that your last one doesn’t trick me into packing some in my suitcase when I see her on this business trip!”
I chuckled along with her, and as soon as I arrived back home after dropping her off, I turned two of those six bananas into this Healthy Strawberry Pecan Banana Bread! It’s supremely tender and full of sweet fruit flavor, and it’s perfect for quick breakfasts or snacks—especially since it contains no butter, refined flour or sugar and only 117 calories!
And in case you were wondering, I turned the other four bananas into these brownies and these cookies… I feel like a monkey with how many banana treats I’ve been making! 😉
To make this “skinny” banana bread, you’ll need two really ripe, very speckled bananas. I prefer ones with more brown than yellow color because they’re much sweeter with a stronger fruit flavor. They also provide a lot of moisture to the batter, so you only need 1 ½ teaspoons of coconut oil and no egg yolks!
For the rest of this banana bread’s tender texture, you’ll mix in a bit of Greek yogurt. It’s one of my favorite ingredients! It adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and with around 21g of protein per cup, it gives your baked goods a protein boost, too.
Then you’ll just need a few more key healthy ingredients: whole wheat flour, pure maple syrup (like this!) to boost the natural sweetness, fresh strawberries, and pecans. To ensure your banana bread bakes evenly—and that every bite contains berries!—cut both the strawberries and pecans to be about the same size as miniature chocolate chips. I know that takes a little extra time, but I promise it’s worth it!
How yummy does that look?? 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 healthy strawberry pecan banana bread!
Healthy Strawberry Pecan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup (200g) mashed banana (about 2 medium – see Notes!)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk
- 1 cup (140g) whole fresh strawberries, finely diced
- 3 tbsp (21g) finely diced pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x5” baking pan with foil, and lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the mashed Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Mix in the mashed banana and maple syrup. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.) Reserve ½ tablespoon of the diced strawberries, and gently fold in the rest along with the pecans.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and gently press the reserved strawberries into the top of the batter. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully lifting out the loaf by the foil and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Zucchini Banana Bread
♡ Healthy Strawberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Banana Nut Muffins
♡ Healthy Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Brownies
♡ Healthy Strawberry Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Strawberry Banana Poppy Seed Muffins
♡ Strawberry Banana Bread Protein Overnight Oats
♡ Healthy Strawberry Banana Muffins
I love the healthy looking ingredients of this banana bread, but it bothers me you slide the batter in aluminum foil lined pan? Why do you need that? I’ll use my cast iron loaf pan.
I appreciate your interest in my recipe Debbi! I line my pan with foil for easy clean-up — and one less dish to wash! 🙂 You’re welcome to use your cast iron loaf pan instead. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread!
This Strawberry Pecan Banana Bread looks AWESOME! I LOVE banana bread, but have never had this combo. I like strawberries and pecans though so it sounds like a must try! Pinned! I definitely will be baking this up! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sarah! I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread! 🙂
Thanks for these recipes, they look great! If I want to make it non-dairy, can I use 1 cup of banana and no greek yogurt? (I would use non-dairy milk). Thanks!
Yes, that should work Amanda! The other option is to use a non-dairy yogurt (I love Silk’s soy-based yogurts for quick breads like this!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread!
Thanks for these recipes, they look great! If I want to make it non-dairy, can I use 1 cup of banana and no greek yogurt? (I would use non-dairy milk). Thanks!
Yes! I already covered that in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. It can be easy to miss! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread!
Hi Amy,
Can I use Whole Grain Oat Flour in this recipe and can you recommend other breakfast recipes that are suitable for Whole Grain Oat Flour?
Thank you,
Robin
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Robin! I don’t recommend using oat flour in this recipe because the banana bread won’t rise properly and will be quite dense. This brownie recipe of mine uses oat flour! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try that recipe!
Can I use almond flour instead?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Cecilia! I typically don’t recommend that substitution in my quick bread recipes, including this banana bread. This is because gluten is the protein in wheat-based flours that helps baked goods rise and maintain their shape while cooling. Almond flour lacks that, so when you substitute it for wheat-based flours in my recipes that rise (like cupcakes, cakes, muffins, quick breads, etc!), your baked goods will often turn out denser and often collapse while cooling as well.
However, if you don’t mind that texture difference with almond flour (where your banana bread will likely collapse and turn out denser), the flavors should still remain the same. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making this banana bread!
Do you think I could bake this in my bread machine? No more baking for the summer here 😔
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Jennifer! I don’t have a bread machine, so I’m not personally sure and don’t want to lead you astray. I completely understand wanting to avoid baking during the summer though — a hot oven and hot outside temperatures can be a rough combination! 😉
If you do end up making this banana bread, whether soon or later on once summer is over, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Amy,
I made the bread in the breadmaker this morning, using the bake only setting. It turned out beautiful! Tastes fabulous. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this banana bread, Jennifer! Thank you for taking the time to let me know and rate this recipe. It truly means a lot! ♡
PS Did you happen to leave a similar comment on Pinterest too? If so, thank you times two!! You’re such a sweetheart to leave comments in both places!