I’m partnering with Stevia In The Raw® to bring you today’s recipe! Their stevia products are so easy to use and perfect for baking!
The year after I graduated from college, I changed my morning routine. Instead of pouring myself a bowl of cereal or cooking some oatmeal after finishing my workout and showering, I switched to eating fresh fruit, peanut butter, and scrambled egg whites for a protein boost.
Most of the time during my weekly grocery shopping, I picked up bananas as my morning fruit option. I love their flavor and how they’re perfectly portioned, unlike berries or watermelon (two of my other favorites!), and my local grocery store always stocked a gigantic mountain of them in the produce section.
I always tried to select a variety of colors: a couple of bright yellow ones to eat immediately, a few half green ones for later in the week, and two purely green bananas for my breakfast a week later, right before I did my next round of weekly grocery shopping. My strategy ensured I never ended up with any overly ripe and blackened bananas for breakfast!
Quite a few months after I started that new breakfast routine, I stopped by the supermarket on January 2nd for my weekly grocery shopping, but when I got to the produce section…
Only a small handful of bright green bananas remained. The huge mountain of bananas had disappeared the day before when everyone in town on their new “Healthy New Year’s Resolution” kick decided they needed a bunch or two on their kitchen counters to replace their tins of holiday cookies!
So much for my brilliant strategy of buying different shades of yellow bananas!
This year, I’m planning ahead and dropping by the grocery store the day before New Year’s Eve to purchase my produce… But if the same crazy banana thing happens again and I end up with multiple that all turn really spotty and ripe at the same time, then I’ll just use them to bake this Healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread!
It’s really easy to make (no mixer required!) with the most irresistible moist and tender texture. This healthy banana bread also has lots of warm spices and rich pops of flavor from the chocolate chips, yet it contains no refined flour or sugar and just 128 calories!
I’d definitely take a slice of this for breakfast any day—especially New Year’s Day!
Let’s go over how to make this healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread!
You’ll start with white whole wheat flour and a trio of spices: cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Although spices aren’t usually included in banana bread, my grandma always added cinnamon and nutmeg to her prize-worthy zucchini bread, so I decided to whisk them into this healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread too, along with a pinch of allspice. They add such an irresistible warmth and coziness!
And yes, white whole wheat flour actually exists! It’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour. Instead, it’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier type of red wheat. They have the same health benefits (like extra fiber!), but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture… Which lets the moist and tender texture of your healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread truly shine!
Unlike traditional recipes that call for anywhere from ¼ to ½ cup of oil (or more!), you’ll just use a mere ½ tablespoon of butter in this loaf. That shaves off 356-764 calories, if not more! That really helps keep this healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread low fat and low calorie!
Then the rest of your banana bread’s tender texture comes from Greek yogurt and mashed banana. If you’ve browsed through my recipes before, then you probably know how much I love baking with Greek yogurt! It adds the same moisture to your batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread a protein boost, too!
The mashed banana actually plays three roles: texture, flavor, and natural sweetness. For the best healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread, you want to use bananas with more brown spots than yellow!
I always try to wait until my bananas are almost completely black before baking with them. This is because the really ripe and black bananas have a stronger flavor and more natural sweetness than the pure yellow ones, so your healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread will have a stronger and sweeter fruit flavor.
Then to increase the sweetness level, you’ll also use Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag! Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag is a zero-calorie sweetener that contains stevia, a natural extract from the stevia plant, and it sweetens cup-for-cup like regular granulated sugar (while saving up to 700 calories for every cup of sugar you replace!). That makes it so easy and handy to use in baking recipes, like in this healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread!
And speaking of chocolate chips and zucchini… You’ll gently fold those into the batter just before baking! I prefer mini chocolate chips because their small size ensures every bite of your healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread contains at least one morsel of chocolate. That’s very important for a chocoholic like me!
As for the zucchini, I actually have a special trick for you! Before adding it to your batter, you must thoroughly pat the zucchini dry. Freshly grated zucchini is full of water. If you skipped patting it dry, the zucchini would release that moisture into the banana bread as it baked, which would then cause your loaf to collapse while cooling. Not good! But by patting it dry ahead of time, your healthy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread rises properly and has the best moist and tender texture possible!
Good news: patting your zucchini dry is super easy to do. Just place a double-thick layer of paper towels on your cutting board, spread the grated zucchini on top, and set another double-thick layer of paper towels on top. Firmly press down until the top set is completely soaked through, then repeat with a fresh top set. It only takes a minute or two, but I promise it’s worth the extra effort!
Once you’ve spread the batter into your pan, you’ll actually cover the top of your pan with foil. This allows the center to cook through without the top of your loaf turning overly brown or burnt. Then halfway through baking, you’ll quickly (and carefully!) remove the foil to allow the top to turn a lovely golden brown.
Hint: Try to push it up in the center so your healthy chocolate chip zucchini bread doesn’t touch the foil when it rises!
And then, once your timer rings, you’ll have a loaf of healthy chocolate chip zucchini bread to enjoy for breakfast! And snacks… And dessert… And… Well, maybe there’s a reason why my loaves always seem to disappear in the blink of an eye?
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 chocolate chip zucchini banana bread!
| Healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread | | Print |
- 2 ¼ cups (270g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup (260g) mashed banana (about 2 medium)
- ½ cup (12g) Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag
- 6 tbsp (90mL) nonfat milk
- 1 cup (107g) freshly grated zucchini, thoroughly patted dry (see Notes)
- 3 tbsp (42g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla, and vinegar. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in the mashed banana and Stevia In The Raw®. 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 4 equal parts.) Gently fold in the zucchini and 2 ½ tablespoons of miniature chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the top. Cover the top with foil, and try to push up the foil in the center to ensure it doesn’t touch the batter while baking. Bake covered at 350°F for 35 minutes. Acting very quickly, remove the pan from the oven, and carefully remove the foil. Immediately put the pan back in the oven, and continue baking the banana bread for an additional 28-32 minutes (for a total of 63-67 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
For a stronger spice flavor, increase the cinnamon and nutmeg by ¼ teaspoon each.
The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to help the banana bread rise and create a more tender texture. Don’t skip it! (And I promise you can’t taste it!)
For best results, use the ripest, darkest, most spottiest bananas you can find! The ones with more brown color than yellow are ideal. They have a stronger and sweeter banana flavor than pure yellow bananas. Measure the bananas by cups or grams. Not all “medium” bananas are the same size!
The mashed banana and Greek yogurt combined need to measure 1 ¼ cups. If you have slightly more than 1 cup mashed banana, then reduce the Greek yogurt by the same amount, and vice versa.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Measure the zucchini before patting it dry. You must pat it dry to remove the excess moisture because that excess moisture will cause the banana bread to collapse while cooling. To pat the zucchini dry, lay a double-thick layer of paper towels onto a cutting board, and arrange the freshly shredded zucchini on top. Place another double-thick layer of paper towels on the zucchini, and firmly press down until the top towel turns completely wet. Set a fresh double-thick layer of paper towels on top, and firmly press down again. (This second set probably won’t turn completely wet like the first!)
You must cover the batter with foil during the first stage of baking. This allows the center to cook through without the top turning overly brown or burnt. Work very quickly when removing the foil! If you leave the pan out of the oven for too long, the loaf will start to collapse, and it won’t recover to fully rise properly.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
This post was sponsored by Stevia In The Raw®. As always, all texts, opinions, photographs, and recipe are my own.
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Mini Muffins
♡ Healthy Morning Glory Banana Bread
♡ Healthy Chai Spice Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Excellent, used coconut oil instead of butter, made cupcakes, 15 min in oven.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Debra! That means so much to me that you made it the same day I posted the recipe — I’m truly honored! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about the cupcakes and their baking time. I always love hearing what recipe tweaks work!
mine looks just like yours but I didnt really like it. Hubby liked it. I guess I expected it to be sweet but its really more like real bread.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Nikky! This banana bread should have the same sweetness level as muffins, but it’s not as sweet as cake. I’m happy to help figure out what happened with your loaf! How ripe were your bananas? Were they more brown than yellow, as the recipe Notes mention? Did you measure them by cups or grams? Did you use a full ½ cup of Stevia In The Raw Bakers Bag? Once I know all of that information, we should have a better idea of how to make sure your banana bread turns out sweeter if you decide to give this recipe another try! 🙂
would this recipe work the same if i added a scoop or two of protein powder to it? would i need to add more wet ingredients. thanks:) love the recipe and am excited to try it out
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Olivia! Because all protein powder brands and products behave differently in baking recipes, I can’t guarantee the results. If you’d like to try, then I recommend reading over my Protein Powder FAQ Page here first! (Also, you can find all of my recipes that utilize protein powder here, if you’re hesitant to experiment on your own with this recipe!) 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try this banana bread or any of my protein powder recipes!
How would you substitute honey instead of Stevia?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Courtney! If you’d like to substitute honey, then use 6 tablespoons, and reduce the milk to 2 tablespoons to compensate. If you prefer sweeter banana bread, then use ½ cup of honey and completely omit the milk. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread!
To me, this looks like something that should be on the kitchen counter every day of the week, so that every time I walk by, I could take a little slice and feel great about it!
Awww you’re the best, Matt!! And now I know exactly what I’m baking for whenever I get to see you in person next! 😉