I really love this version of the classic: Whole Wheat Healthy Banana Bread.
Dried figs, dates, prunes… they aren’t my favorites. You wouldn’t catch me snacking on them, and I’ve rarely used them in recipes. In my quest to cook more healthfully and revise recipes to fit into my new lifestyle, I’ve reluctantly begun to let these ugly little dried fruits make their debut as a sweetener in some of my baking experiments.
Ingredients needed:
- whole wheat pastry flour
- light brown sugar
- baking powder and salt
- ground cinnamon
- dried dates
- dried apricots
- unsweetened applesauce
- egg
- ripe bananas
- vanilla extract
- nonfat milk
How to make Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×4 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
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In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the chopped dates and apricots.
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In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, then add applesauce, egg, vanilla and milk, stirring well. Pour onto the flour mixture and stir gently just until blended (don’t over-mix or it might turn out a tough bread).
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Scrape the dough into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.
Don’t let the ‘healthy’ reference in the title scare you. It doesn’t taste like the dry and flavorless bread that you might imagine a healthier banana bread to be. This one is made with whole wheat pastry flour and only 3 tablespoons of brown sugar.
Besides this small amount of sugar, additional sweetness comes from dried dates, dried apricots and bananas. It’s important to buy the right apricots… the Turkish sort don’t have as much flavor as the California apricots. I always buy the CA kind. And you’ll be happy to find in this recipe that you don’t really taste the dates- they’re chopped up and added in for sweetness.
If you cut the loaf into 12 slices, you can package them in zips individually and throw them in the freezer. Each slice is 115 calories. And, if you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
This turns out to be a great, healthy version of banana bread. No white flour, very little sugar, and ZERO added fat makes it pretty much guilt-free. Amazingly enough, it’s pretty moist. I’m very careful about not over-baking breads because there is nothing worse than dry banana bread. My family gives this one the ‘make it again Mom’ label, and I am always happy to do so!
Favorite Banana Bread Recipes:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Strawberry Oatmeal Banana Bread
- Starbucks Copycat Banana Bread
- Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread
- Pineapple Banana Bread
Whole Wheat Healthy Banana Bread
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 whole dried dates, chopped
- 6 halves dried California apricot chopped
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 2 large very ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup skim milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the chopped dates and apricots.
- In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, then add applesauce, egg, vanilla and milk, stirring well. Pour onto the flour mixture and stir gently just until blended (don't over-mix or it might turn out a tough bread).
- Scrape the dough into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition
There is no oil of any kind. Is this recipe correct?
Yes, there is no oil in the recipe.
I made something very similar to this but in addition to the apricots I added some all-bran cereal.