No Sugar Added Whole Wheat Banana Bread
Sweetened with nothing but bananas, apple sauce and dates, this wholesome No Sugar Added Whole Wheat Banana Bread might very well become your new go to recipe! I know it’s become mine!
I know I’ve already shared quite a few banana bread recipes with you in the past… but I don’t recall ever sharing one that was totally healthy AND crazy simple to make at the same time.
Well, this new one it flat out fits the bill! Indeed, this bad boy is perfectly healthy, in that it contains nothing but wholesome ingredients — most of which you’ll have no trouble finding in your cupboards, I’m sure — and not one single grain of sugar was added to it. The only ingredients responsible for bringing sweetness to this banana bread are the actual bananas, a little bit of unsweetened apple sauce as well as a cup of chopped dates. That’s it, that’s all!
And as far as the actual prep goes, making this won’t require much more than 10 minutes of your time. Well, of active prep time, that is… Then there’s the matter of actually baking the bread and letting it cool for a bit, while patiently waiting for that moment when you finally get to enjoy the first slice… Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can do about this.
But I trust that you’ll find it was well worth the wait!
First, preheat your oven to 375°F, then grease and flour a one pound loaf pan. Me personally, I like to use ghee or coconut oil to grease my pans, but feel free to use your own favorite fat.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the ripe bananas, eggs, melted coconut oil, apple sauce and vanilla extract and mash/mix the whole thing with a whisk, until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
Don’t go crazy here, though; a few small lumps of bananas in the mixture are very much acceptable, and even desirable.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well with a whisk until fully combined; add this to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until well combined, no more.
Now time to stir in the dates and walnuts…
Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan and bake your banana bread for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is nice and brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a cooling rack to cool for about 30 minutes, or at least until the pan and cake can be safely handled with your bare hands.
Finally (I know you’ve been dying to do this!) remove the warm banana bread from the pan, then slice and serve.
Since this banana bread has no sugar to help preserve it, I suggest that you keep any leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for about a week.
And once it’s completely chilled, you can slice it up, put it in the toaster for a few minutes, and then cover it with a thin layer of ghee…
Bliss… pure bliss, I tell you!
No Sugar Added Whole Wheat Banana Bread
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 4 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 3-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
Add-Ins
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup chopped dates
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F; grease and flour a one pound loaf pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ripe bananas, eggs, melted coconut oil, apple sauce and vanilla extract and mash/mix well with a whisk until smooth and well combined; a few small lumps of bananas in the mixture is acceptable.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well with a whisk until fully combined; add this to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until well combined, no more.
- Stir in the dates and walnuts, then transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is nice and brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a cooling rack to cool for about 30 minutes, or at least until the pan and cake can be safely handled with your bare hands.
- Remove the banana bread from the pan, then slice and serve.
Nutrition
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15 Comments on “No Sugar Added Whole Wheat Banana Bread”
That’s an amazing recipe of banana bread, my all time favorite and that too without sugar! Going to give it a shot for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Can this be made with a gluten free all purpose flour? Can something else replace the dates?
I’ve never worked with gluten free flours, so really I wouldn’t be able to say, Susan… as for the dates, you could use raisins if you preferred!
Omg this looks delicious! I love banana bread and feel like I can already smell it. I’ll definitely be making this soon!
Nice!! Never would have thought to make banana bread like this.
I have made your wonderful cake several times. I have made a few changes, though.
1. I use 1 cup of applesauce and no oil.
2. I add ginger as well as cinnamon.
3. I use Wishniak instead of vanilla.
Thanks again for a wonderful 🍌 🍞.
Awesome! Glad to hear that you like the recipe that much, Judy! Love your substitutions, too. Thanks for sharing, and for your great feedback as well!
It looks so yummy and I would love it as the recipe is written but am wondering if something other than dates could be used as dates are so high in calories. I don’t know if raisins would be better. Any ideas are welcome
You can simply leave them out, Judith.
Thank you for this recipe! I have inched into pre diabetic stasis and don’t want it to continue so am committed to eating whole grains and eliminating processed sugar as much as possible. This recipe lets me have a treat that’s totally healthy!!
Thank you for this recipe! I have inched into pre diabetic stasis and don’t want it to continue so am committed to eating whole grains and eliminating processed sugar as much as possible. This recipe lets me have a treat that’s totally healthy!!
Wow! I wasn’t sure how good these could be with no sugar and whole wheat flour but they are absolutely delicious! I adapted the recipe to muffins since I didn’t have a loaf pan and they were ready in about 15 minutes. Highly highly recommend!
This recipe looks great! I’m looking for a healthy cake to bake for my toddler’s birthday – is this more a cake texture or banana bread texture?
I love this recipe. It is deliciously perfect. I have a single question about the confusion I got while going through the recipe- In ingredient section, is it 1/2 tsp Or 1.5 tsp baking soda ??
It’s 1.5 tsp