For the President’s Day holiday weekend, my parents drove down to visit, along with their two golden retrievers. They arrived shortly before dinnertime, so while Grandma and Dad opted to stay home and order pizza, Mom and I drove to Panera for a healthier meal.
After ordering a salad for me and a half-sandwich for her, with a cup of black bean soup on the side, we found a little booth away from most of the other patrons. We chatted while waiting for our food to arrive, and when Mom realized that Target and Marshalls shared the same parking lot as Panera, her eyes lit up… And she asked if we could stop by both before heading home.
I laughed and immediately agreed!
We walked to Target first, and as soon as we entered the store, we slowly wandered through their “Dollar Aisle” section at the front, just past the shopping carts and baskets. Since Valentine’s Day had already passed, we found plenty of Easter-themed items: candy, plastic eggs, straw baskets, egg decorating kits, and even clip-on bowties for little boys to wear on Easter morning!
The same thing happened at Marshalls. Although we intended to go straight to the dog section for toys, we paused at their Easter display just inside the front door. I snagged a cute pastel orange ceramic egg carton, and Mom found adorable dishtowels covered in tiny Peeps!
When we arrived back at home with our purchases, we were both in the Easter spirit… Even though it was over a month and a half away! And since I associate all things carrot cake with Easter, I ended up baking this healthy carrot cake banana bread soon after.
It has the same flavors as the iconic dessert — cozy cinnamon, a hint of nutmeg, and plenty of sweet carrots! — but with a fun fruity twist. Yet unlike traditional carrot cake, this easy recipe is healthy enough for breakfast!
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY CARROT CAKE BANANA BREAD
To make this healthy carrot banana bread, you’ll start with whole wheat flour, along with cinnamon and a touch of nutmeg. The nutmeg adds a wonderful richness and depth to the spice flavor. As for the cinnamon, I’m currently obsessed with this one because it tastes brighter, bolder, and sweeter than “regular” cinnamon. It’s basically the only kind I now use in my baking!
Tip: If you’d like to make your carrot cake banana bread gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve included my recommendations on how to do that there!
To keep this carrot banana bread on the healthy side, you’ll use a mere ½ tablespoon of butter or oil. Yes, that’s it! The rest of this low-calorie banana bread’s tender texture comes from two other ingredients: Greek yogurt and mashed banana. If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you know how much I love baking with Greek yogurt! It adds the same moisture to your batter as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your treats a protein boost too!
The mashed banana not only provides tenderness… It also adds natural sweetness! See those bananas? That’s the minimum amount of brown spots I recommend. I actually prefer bananas that are almost entirely brown for my baking recipes!
This is because the brown bananas contain more natural sweetness than their pure yellow friends… So if you use extra ripe bananas, you’ll only need to mix a small amount of pure maple syrup (like this!) into the batter to boost your loaf’s natural sweetness.
Just before spreading the batter into your loaf pan, you’ll gently stir in freshly grated carrots. Do not use the pre-shredded store-bought ones! They’re also called “matchstick” carrots. Those are much thicker and drier than freshly grated carrots, and they don’t soften as much while baking. I promise it’s worth the small amount of extra effort to grate your own carrots!
Tip: If your food processor has a grater attachment, that makes the grating step go even faster!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY CARROT CAKE BANANA BREAD
This healthy carrot cake banana bread is easy to make — I promise! I just have a few tips for you, starting with…
Use alternating additions. This is a simple trick I like to use when mixing together batters: cake, cupcake, muffin, and — yup! — banana bread too. It’s a shorthand way of saying, “Alternate between adding a bit of the flour mixture, gently stirring it in, switching to a splash of milk, gently stirring it in, sprinkling in more of the flour mixture, gently stirring it in… And continuing going until you run out of flour and milk!”
Alternating additions help guard against overmixing. Overmixing yields a tough, gummy, rubbery, or dense texture… Not good! But if you use alternating additions, and a light hand when stirring them in, you’ll end up with a beautifully moist and tender carrot cake banana bread. Oh! And that reminds me…
Mix by hand. Put away your stand mixer and hand-held mixer! Those tend to overmix low fat and low calorie batters (like this one!). Instead, use a whisk where explicitly instructed and a fork for everything else. Yup, a fork! The open space between the fork’s tines allow the ingredients to pass through and blend together more efficiently, compared to the flat wide side of a spatula or wooden spoon.
Cool completely. As tempting as it may be to slice into your loaf while it’s still warm, please promise me that you’ll wait until your carrot cake banana bread has cooled completely. A loaf’s (or cake’s!) structure doesn’t finish setting until it reaches room temperature, so you’ll disrupt that process if you cut into it too soon. I know it’s incredibly hard to wait, especially with that sweet and cozy aroma wafting around your kitchen, but it’s totally worth it!
How yummy does this banana bread look? It definitely put me in a permanent Easter mood… So I have plenty more fun carrot cake recipes coming your way soon! 😉
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 carrot cake banana bread!
Healthy Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 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 – and see Notes!)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ cups (160g) freshly grated carrot (about 2 medium – peeled first!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the 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.) Gently fold in the carrots.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Classic Carrot Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Muffins
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Scones
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Zucchini Banana Bread
♡ Healthy Cinnamon Apple Banana Bread
♡ Healthy Peach Pie Banana Bread
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s carrot cake-themed recipes and healthy banana bread recipes!
What can I use instead of yogurt in this recipe?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Abbey! For the best results, I’d recommend non-dairy yogurt (ie soy-based, almond-based, coconut-based, etc!) because that’ll yield the closest taste and texture. You can also substitute additional mashed banana, but the loaf will be somewhat denser with that substitution.
I’d love to hear what you think of this banana bread if you try making it!
I made this recipe yesterday. Didn’t work for me or my husband. Not enough flavor. Not enough sweetness. I won’t be making it again. I love to bake & try new recipes. Sorry, Linda V.
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Linda! It seems like you and your husband might possibly enjoy carrot cake? I remember your email about my Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies!
That sounds disappointing and not like how this banana bread is supposed to turn out, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. In order to do so, I have some questions for you! 🙂
How was the texture of your banana bread? Was that okay, and it was just the flavor that didn’t meet your expectations?
Would you elaborate a bit more about “not enough flavor?” For example, were you unable to taste the banana, the spices, the carrots, or all of the above? Or was the flavor issue related to something else?
I also understand it wasn’t sweet enough for you! Did you happen to read both the “Important Banana Notes – Read Before Beginning” and “Important Flavor Note – Read Before Beginning” headers in the Notes section of the recipe before you made your loaf? (I know it can be really easy to miss those bits though! 😉 ) If not, I’d recommend doing that! They address how to make sure this quick bread has plenty of banana flavor and sweetness.
If you did read those sections, then did you use the modification to make your banana bread sweeter? If so, how much extra pure maple syrup did you add?
How spotty were your bananas? Were they more yellow than brown? Or did they match the bananas in my photo in the blog post?
Did you use cups or grams to measure the mashed banana?
Did you use the exact amount of mashed banana and Greek yogurt provided in the Ingredients, or did you modify the amount of either one as directed in the Notes section?
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? (Other than the ones I just covered in my questions above! 🙂 )
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit once I know your answers to all of them!
This is an outstanding recipe! 1/2 tablespoon of butter apparently goes a long way. I substituted agave rather than maple syrup and used regular flour, and cashew milk. The super ripe bananas added enough sweetness, although I did sprinkle a bit of Swerve over the top before baking. I love recipes with Greek Yogurt, it’s moist and a great combination of flavors!
Thanks for creating this winner!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this banana bread, Karen! It’s a huge compliment that you’d call this recipe a winner. Thank you for taking the time to let me know — you just put the biggest smile on my face!! 🙂
Impressive. A tasty carrot cake so low in calories. Thanks for sharing !!
My pleasure! I’d love to hear what you think of this carrot cake banana bread if you try making it, Vicky!
I love this nutritious recipe! Do you have the nutrition information?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this banana bread, Lilia! The full nutrition information is actually included directly underneath the recipe box. I know it can be really easy to miss though! 😉
This is divine Amy!! My son who is not easy to please, especially with his food restrictions being on a dragon boat team is having this bread generously. Thanks a bunch for this recipe, this way I’m able to get him some healthy calories. I just have a question around some ingredient to make it rise a bit more. I know it wont rise much because of all the dense ingredients, yet any suggestions??
dee
You are so sweet, Dee! We’re happy to hear you like this carrot cake banana bread! I’m not sure what to add to make this specific recipe rise more. It is intended to be more of a dense bread. However, you might like to try our Ultimate Healthy Banana Bread or Banana Pound Cake recipes. You can add carrots to either one of those like you did in this recipe. Both of those recipes have more batter, so will rise a little bit higher. We’d love to hear what you think if you try it out! 😉
We do not eat eggs so could I use flax or chia eggs? Recipe sounds great using Greek yogurt..
Thank you.
Carol
We really appreciate your interest in our recipe, Carol! Amy actually has a family member who is allergic to eggs, and Ener-G is her favorite egg replacement substitute. If you haven’t heard of it before, Ener-G is a flavorless and shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of our recipes, including this one! For our recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white (and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk, although that doesn’t apply to this particular recipe!). I’d love to hear what you think if you decide making this banana bread! 😉
It was so delicious!!! Thanks so much for this recipe 🙏
I’m so happy you enjoyed this banana bread, Nina! Thanks for taking the time to let us know and rate the recipe, it really means a lot! 🙂
I am trying to find a way to make my mother’s carrot banana nut bread recipe healthier. The fat and sweetness from hers is a 1/2 C butter, and 1 C brown sugar and there are 2 whole eggs. Otherwise they are similar. Can I add nuts to this recipe without an issue?
Thank you,
Heidi
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Heidi! Between the flavors and nostalgia, recreating family recipes can be so comforting. I’m honored that you’d want to try making mine — and I think you should be able to add nuts to it! If you fold in up to ¼ cup with the carrots, you shouldn’t need to make any adjustments. (There’s a good chance that it could be safe to add up to ½ cup, but I’m not 100% sure and don’t want to accidentally lead you astray!)
I really hope you enjoy this banana bread if you end up making it — and that it hopefully brings back lots of sweet and special memories too! ♡
Thank you, so much, for your reply. I truly appreciate it!
Best wishes,
Heidi
It’s my pleasure, Heidi! I’m really happy to help. 🙂 Happy baking!