Earlier this month, a friend of mine drove her three young boys all the way from Idaho to California to take them to Disneyland for their spring break vacation. When she asked if I would be interested in meeting up for dinner on the first night of their trip, I immediately said yes.
That afternoon, I hopped in my car for the 90-minute trip north to Anaheim. To avoid driving back late at night, I booked a room at one of my favorite hotels in the area, and after checking in at the front desk and receiving the keys, I headed upstairs and discovered a surprising view out of the window: the entire atrium down below, plus neighboring hotels through the lobby’s 16-story glass windows. I definitely didn’t mind one bit—much better than overlooking the parking lot!
After our incredibly fun dinner where I met her family and joined them in wandering around Downtown Disney, I returned back to my hotel feeling so happy and relaxed. Right before crawling between the sheets, I decided to let myself sleep in as part of my mini vacation… Which would mean I’d also miss all of rush hour traffic on my drive back home!
Yet the next morning, the hotel’s alarm clock on the nightstand right next to my head had different ideas. It blared a loud buzzing sound, almost like a fire alarm, at 6 am! Completely confused, I blearily reached over and hit the button on top to quiet it. Unfortunately…
That was only the snooze button, so ten minutes later, that little alarm clock greeted me with another buzz attack. I finally found the knob to turn it off for good, and somehow, despite feeling almost completely wide awake, I managed to fall back asleep until my phone’s alarm quietly and gently nudged me awake a while later.
Not quite the surprise greeting I wanted that morning…
But this Healthy Blueberry Almond Banana Bread would’ve been a much more pleasant morning greeting! It’s supremely moist with lots of naturally sweet fruit flavors, and the hint of almond extract makes it taste so classy and elegant, just like something you’d serve to company or at a fancy brunch.
Yet this banana bread is easy to make (no mixer required), and it also has no refined flour or sugar and just 116 calories!
And unlike sleeping in to avoid rush hour… I’d totally wake up early for a slice of two of this!
So let’s go over how to make this healthy blueberry almond banana bread!
You’ll start by measuring out white whole wheat flour. I know, I know… That sounds a little contradictory, doesn’t it? However, white whole wheat flour actually exists—and it’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour!
Instead, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They have the same health benefits (like extra fiber!), but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture. That lets the moist texture and sweet fruit flavor of your healthy blueberry almond banana bread truly shine!
Whereas traditional banana bread recipes often call for ¼ to ½ cup of butter or oil (or more!), you only need ½ tablespoon for this recipe. That really helps keep your healthy blueberry almond banana bread low fat and low calorie!
Then it gets the rest of its tender texture from two other ingredients… Any guesses?
If you said Greek yogurt and mashed banana, you’d be right! Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients in healthy baking (I’ve used it in everything from banana bread and muffins to brownies and frosting!). Here, it adds the same moisture to your batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories, and it also gives your healthy blueberry almond banana bread a protein boost!
While the mashed banana also provides a lot of moisture to your batter, it also plays two other roles: flavor (probably pretty obvious!) and natural sweetness. This is why I recommend using the ripest bananas you can find. Bananas that are pure brown or black are perfect!
Those overripe bananas contain more natural sweetness than the pure yellow ones. This makes your healthy blueberry almond banana bread taste sweeter, but it also gives it a more moist and tender texture. I promise it’s worth letting your bananas fully overripen before baking this quick bread!
Then to boost the natural sweetness, you’ll also stir in a bit of liquid stevia. It’s another one of my favorite ingredients! Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!). It’s also really concentrated. You just need 1 teaspoon for this entire loaf!
This is the liquid stevia that I use because I love its flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Nerd Alert!
This recipe has a slightly surprising ingredient not found in many traditional banana bread recipes… And that’s plain white vinegar. Yes, I know it sounds really strange—but it’s a key component!
The vinegar (an acid) reacts with the baking soda (a base) to create air bubbles. When your quick bread is in the oven, those air bubbles make it rise, and they also create a more tender texture in your healthy blueberry almond banana bread. The vinegar flavor completely bakes out, so you can’t taste it at all in your finished loaf!
I love nerdy baking chemistry like that!
Time for the two most important ingredients in the entire recipe! And those would be the fresh blueberries and almond extract. Almond extract is actually my favorite baking extract! I love its naturally sweet and sophisticated flavor. It elevates just about any baked treat to make it taste elegant and fancy, including this healthy blueberry almond banana bread!
In my quick breads, I always try to use fresh blueberries whenever possible. Frozen ones tend to dye the batter a funky gray color, and every once in a while, they taste a little less sweet or juicy. But as long as you don’t mind that gray color, frozen ones will work in this healthy blueberry almond banana bread too!
One last thing! Before sliding your loaf pan into the oven, you must cover the top with foil. Partway through baking, you’ll remove the foil to let the top of your quick bread finish baking and turn a beautiful golden color.
However, by placing the foil over your loaf pan and tightly crimping it to seal air inside to start, that allows the center of your banana bread to cook through at the same rate as the top. This gives your healthy blueberry almond banana bread a gorgeous domed top without any splits or cracks!
Hint: When the top of your quick bread bakes faster than the inside, it creates a rigid crust on the outside. As the center continues to bake through and rise, it pushes up on that rigid top crust, which causes the cracks and splits!
Whew! Are you still with me? I hope so! Because now all that’s left to do is…
Slice and devour your banana bread! 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 blueberry almond banana bread!
| Healthy Blueberry Almond Banana Bread | | Print |
- 2 ¼ cups (270g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 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 ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp liquid stevia
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup (260g) mashed banana (about 2 medium; see Notes!)
- 2 tbsp (30mL) plain white vinegar
- 6 tbsp (90mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ cups (210g) fresh blueberries, 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, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, almond extract, and liquid stevia. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in the mashed banana. Stir in the vinegar. 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 1 cup + 5 tablespoons of blueberries.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Gently press the remaining blueberries into the top. Cover the top with foil, crimping the edges around the pan’s rim to seal, 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 30-35 minutes (for a total of 65-70 minutes) or until the top feels firm to the touch and looks golden or 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.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
I do not recommend substituting for the liquid stevia, if at all possible. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too! I buy it online here.) However, if you really prefer to omit the liquid stevia from the banana bread, substitute 6 tablespoons (72g) of granulated sugar and reduce the milk to 3 tablespoons (45mL), but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. You may 6 tablespoons (72g) of coconut sugar and reduce the milk to 3 tablespoons (45mL) to keep the cake clean eating friendly. Alternatively, substitute 6 tablespoons (90mL) of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave and omit the milk. The baking time may vary with any of these substitutions.
For best results, use the ripest, darkest, most spottiest bananas you can find! The ones that are purely brown or have 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.
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!)
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Frozen blueberries may be substituted for the fresh, but they’ll most likely dye your batter a funky gray color, and the baking time will most likely increase as well.
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}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Quick Bread
♡ Healthy Blueberry Buttermilk Banana Bread
♡ Healthy Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Banana Buttermilk Scones
♡ Healthy Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy banana bread recipes!
As I was reading your post my mouth was watering. I couldn’t wait to try it until I looked at the whole recipe and saw three egg whites. I’m allergic to eggs and haven’t found a good substitute for egg whites. Do you have any suggestions? I love your recipes and the explanations of all the ingredients.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Babs! My brother is actually allergic to eggs, and Ener-G is my favorite substitute. Ener-G is a shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! For my 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 in this particular recipe!). I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread!
Made this recipe but added lemon zest and lemon juice as we love lemon and blueberries togeather.
What a fun idea Joanne! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed your banana bread!
Can we use frozen blueberries for this recipe? Thanks!!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Janice! I’ve actually covered this exact question in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread!
Can you substitute vanilla for almond extract?
Yes, that’s fine! I can’t wait to hear what you think of this banana bread Susan! 🙂