Bake up healthy comfort food with this super easy and super delicious lower sugar Banana Bread. It’s so easy, so good, and is a perfect breakfast or snack to share with the kids.
Lower Sugar Banana Bread
Whenever we need a steady supply of healthy comfort food, this banana bread is our favorite easy option. Usually we have a few overripe bananas sitting around by the end of the week and this comes together in minutes. I can even make it when I’m a little bleary-eyed in the morning!—and we all love it.
This contains ½ cup of sugar, which is ½ cup less than standard banana bread recipes. This allows the flavor of the bananas to shine through, creates the texture you expect from a banana bread recipe, and reduces the amount of added sugar. I love tweaking classic recipes to be a little less sweet so we can taste all of the flavors, not just overt sweetness.
We love it slightly warmed up or toasted. YUM. This is a great weekday breakfast, it packs well as travel food, and is a perfect addition to a freezer stash or meal train.
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Ingredients You Need
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe so you know what to have on hand and ready to go.
- Unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled: You can melt this first, then gather the rest of the ingredients so it cools a bit.
- Mashed very ripe bananas: The more brown spots the bananas have, the better the flavor and natural sweetness will be.
- Eggs: Large eggs add structure and tenderness to this quick bread recipe.
- All purpose and whole wheat flour: Using half and half of each flour adds some extra nutrition but keeps the bread light and fluffy.
- Sugar: A modest amount of sugar creates the texture you expect from classic banana bread, but allows the banana flavor to shine through.
- Baking soda: Check to make sure your baking soda is fresh as it’s key for the bread cooking through and rising properly.
- Cinnamon, vanilla, and salt: Round out the flavors nicely.
TIP: I like the mix of half all purpose flour and half whole wheat, but you can use just all purpose flour if that’s what you have.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil or plant-based butter in place of the regular butter.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 style of baking mix in place of the wheat flours.
- You can use coconut sugar if you prefer.
- Use all whole wheat flour or all all purpose. If you use whole wheat, it may be done a little earlier. If you use all purpose exclusively, it may take a few more minutes.
- Stir in a handful of chocolate chips or sprinkle some on top if you’d like.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make this easy banana bread so you know what to expect. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full information.
- Gather the ingredients. Melt the butter and mash the bananas.
- Stir together the wet ingredients.
- Stir in the dry ingredients.
- Add to the pan and bake!
TIP: Melt the butter first so it has a chance to cool while you mash the bananas.
How to Store Banana Bread
Store any leftovers, once fully cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the fridge for 5 days, or freeze slices, once cooled, and freeze in a zip top storage bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months.
Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature.
Wrapping the slices in plastic helps retain the moisture, though you can also just store in a container and plan to warm or toast to serve.
Best Tips for Success
- Serve chilled or slightly warmed or toasted. (If it’s been a few days and the bread is getting a little dried out, toast it!)
- Use all all-purpose flour if desired.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter if desired.
- Mash the bananas very smooth with a fork or a potato masher. (This is a good step for the kids to help with!)
- Cut the bread into slices or cubes for younger kids.
- Spread on some all fruit jam, a thin smear of nut butter, or cream cheese if desired.
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If you try this recipe, I’d appreciate it so much if you leave a comment and give it a star rating!
Lower Sugar Banana Bread (SO Good!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled; 1 stick)
- 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. (I use classic Pam.)
- Add the butter, bananas, eggs, and vanilla to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula so it’s even. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan (carefully) and let cool on a wire rack completely.
- Slice and serve.
Video
Notes
- Store any leftovers, once fully cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the fridge for 5 days, or freeze slices, once cooled, and freeze in a zip top storage bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature.
- Serve chilled or slightly warmed or toasted. (If it’s been a few days and the bread is getting a little dried out, toast it!)
- Use all all-purpose flour if desired.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter if desired.
- Mash the bananas very smooth with a fork or a potato masher. (This is a good step for the kids to help with!)
- Spread on some all fruit jam, a thin smear of nut butter, or cream cheese if desired.
Nutrition
This post was first published December 2020.
A few more questions. Could I use oil instead of butter–like avocado oil? If i wanted to use brown sugar instead of white sugar would that still work and would I use 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar? Thanks!
I haven’t made this one that way I am not sure if the flavor of avocado oil would be noticeable or not. I think brown sugar would be fine though.
Hi! This looks like a great recipe. I plan to make it tomorrow. Could I use whole wheat pastry flour instead of whole wheat flour? I use it a lot in pancakes and muffins with good results.
Yes, I think that should work similarly. Enjoy
I subbed applesauce for the sugar for my weaning baby and they turned out amazing 😍 He loved them!
I always come to YTF when I have extra ingredients I need to get rid of. My brown bananas have never tasted so good 😍
Hooray!
We really liked this recipe. We used maple syrup instead of regular sugar and gluten free flour rather than the flour in the recipe (I used 1.5 cups instead of 2).
The crust and sides were a little more cooked and dry whereas the middle was perfect. Any ideas why it may have cooked on the outside a bit more? Thank you.
I haven’t made it with your substitutions, so I can’t say for sure. Hopefully you enjoyed it anyway!
Great recipe! Just the right amount of sweetness and comes out nice and moist. I am at a high altitude so it only had to bake for about 35 minutes and it came out perfect. Thank you!
Been making this regularly – so yummy! Thank you!
Omitted the sugar and put 50g of dark chocolate chips instead and it turned out great! It only took 30mins and in the oven for me.
I made this bread into muffins, and they were so good! I had to modify the recipe based on what I had, but they still turned out great. For reference, I used flax eggs in place of eggs and applesauce instead of butter. I will 100% make these again!
This is what I have been looking for. Only wish I had not over baked it, so, even if yours is a bit wet in the middle after 40-ish minutes, take it out. It will continue to cook as it cools.
– This is so simple.
– Slightly sweetened. I would describe it as already ripe banana being enhanced by a little more sweetness. So if you’re tired of overly sweet things, this is yours.
– Can tell this is the right texture, when baked for the right time. If you’re looking for a banana BREAD that’s not dense but yet doesn’t feel like a loose crumbed CAKE texture, but in real nature of a moist quick bread, this is yours also. Thank you for taking time to share this recipe with me.!!
Love this recipe! Wanted to try this as mini loaves (5×3) . What would you suggest for baking time and temperature?
I would do 375 F for 22-26 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.