The Ultimate Healthy Banana Bread
This truly is the best banana bread I’ve ever had! It’s so tender and full of bright fruit flavor. It’ll keep for at least four days if stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container or tightly wrapped in plastic wrap (this kind is my favorite!).
Ingredients
- 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 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp distilled white vinegar (see Notes!)
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup (260g) mashed banana (about 2 medium – and see Notes!)
- 3 tbsp (45mL) pure maple syrup
- 6 tbsp (90mL) nonfat milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. 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, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar. 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.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. 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 325°F for 35 minutes. Acting very quickly, remove the pan from the oven, and 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 or with a few crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It's extremely important to measure the flour with this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much will make your banana bread dry and bland.
IMPORTANT BANANA NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: For best results, use the ripest, darkest, most spottiest bananas you have! (See my photo in the blog post above for reference!) The ones that are purely brown are ideal. They have a stronger and sweeter banana flavor than purely yellow bananas. They also yield a moister texture in your banana bread.
Measure the bananas by cups or grams, not by “two medium bananas.” 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 of mashed banana, then reduce the Greek yogurt by the same amount, and vice versa.
IMPORTANT FLAVOR NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: The bananas provide the majority of the sweetness in this banana bread. For a sweeter-tasting banana bread, substitute 1-3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup for an equal amount of milk. (For example, use a total of 6 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, and reduce the milk to 3 tablespoons.)
IMPORTANT STEP 3 NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: 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.
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
EGG WHITE NOTES: This banana bread requires 3 egg whites. The protein in the whites helps prevent it from collapsing while cooling. If you'd prefer to use whole eggs, then use 3 large eggs AND reduce the milk by 1 tablespoon to compensate for the added volume from the yolks.
VINEGAR NOTES + ALTERNATIVE: 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!)
If you don’t have or can’t find distilled white vinegar, try to find another vinegar with a similar pH level of around 2.5 to maintain the same texture. Lemon juice has a pH level around 2-3, so it should also work.
SWEETENER ALTERNATIVES: Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup.
MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour, use as follows: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¾ cup (90g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 2 teaspoons xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will also work, if measured like this.
HOW TO STORE: Store leftover banana bread in the refrigerator tightly wrapped in plastic wrap (I love this one because it seals more tightly than other brands!) or inside of an airtight container. It should keep for at least four days, if not a week or longer.
For more information, read the tips in my blog post above and watch my video directly above the recipe!
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.