My healthy moist banana bread is the perfect quick breakfast or a great stand-alone snack! We cannot keep this bread in our house for longer than a day or two. Feel free to add nuts, chocolate chips or berries to jazz it up!
I’ve been eating banana bread for most of my life and have tried virtually every recipe out there in my quest for the perfect slice. I’ve learned that I like a very moist quick bread.
Once my kids came along, I began further tinkering with recipes in order to make a healthy moist banana bread. I learned a few things along the way.
Tips for Healthy Moist Banana Bread
1) Coconut oil is a great alternative to butter for baked goods. I also find it much easier to digest.
2) Natural sugars are a great way to add flavor while avoiding processed ingredients. Fruits, honey and other natural nectars are your friend!
3) I am of the opinion, the riper the banana the better. The ripest bananas add the right level of moisture and sweetness.
3) Don’t tinker too much with a good thing. Have you heard of the “KISS method”? Keep It Simple Stupid. Not calling anyone stupid, but a good reminder to not overly complicate everything!
The recipe for this healthy moist banana bread was born from these rules. We often add toasted walnuts or pecans to our banana bread, but I am leaving them out for simplicity here. You can easily transform this healthy banana bread bread into muffins by lowering the cook time.
Extra Health Benefits
As I mentioned, I find coconut oil much easier to digest than butter. I choose to cook with an organic, refined coconut oil for this reason, as well as for the taste. Refined coconut oil is neutral in flavor and thus does not affect the overall flavor of your dish.
I love to add ground flax seeds to my banana bread too. Did you know that you should eat ground flax every day?
Flaxseeds have been proven to help lower high blood pressure, as well as lower the risk and trajectory of breast and prostate cancer. I learned this when reading the book How Not to Die by Michael Greger, MD. We now add ground flaxseed to all of our baked goods, as well as mix into all of our smoothies and oatmeal.
I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you try my healthy moist banana bread and rate it in the comments below. If you post to social media, please tag your creation with @restandrelish.
A healthy moist banana bread packed with nutrients and free of refined sugar and butter! You will love this delicious and nutritious recipe for breakfast, brunch or snacktime!
- 3 large bananas ripe
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t. salt
- 3/4 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- 3 T. ground flax seeds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the rack in the middle.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas until smooth with a fork. Add the egg, coconut oil, honey and buttermilk and stir to combine. Gently fold in the remaining ingredients with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan greased with a thin coat of coconut oil spray. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Carefully remove the bread from the pan by sliding a knife along the edges and inverting on a wire cooling rack. Cool for ~ 15-20 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
If you don't have buttermilk, you can simply add ~ 1-2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk. Let mixture sit for five minutes before using in recipe.
Be sure not to overmix the batter or the bread will not rise as well.
Nita Sparkman says
Great tips, especially about the coconut oil!
Marisa says
Thanks! Definitely a great substitute for butter!
Dexter says
Wanted you to know we made this last night and everyone ate it! My kids are the true test, I was skeptical with no butter (my recipe has a stick of butter 😉 Yum yum. Thanks for sharing these great recipes!
Marisa says
So great to hear everyone enjoyed….especially the kids! Thanks so much for trying the recipe Dexter!