Recipe revamp: Healthier banana bread

A slice of banana bread is always a great choice for a quick breakfast or an easy snack, but this healthier loaf makes it even better. Sweet, moist and bursting with banana and apple flavours, it’s hard to believe this revamped breakfast bread is basically guilt-free!

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To keep it on the healthier side, we’ve added the good, such as bran, applesauce and yogourt, and taken out the bad, such as refined sugar, white flour and added fat.

Honey-bran banana bread

Serving size 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup stone-ground whole-wheat flour

• 1 cup bran

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2/3 cup honey

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup plain yogourt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup mashed or puréed overripe bananas (about 2–3 medium size)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, bran, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, use a mixer to beat the eggs. Add the yogourt, mashed bananas, vanilla, honey and applesauce. Continue to mix on low speed until all the liquid ingredients are combined.

5. Stir the flour and liquid mixtures together, and mix until well blended.

6. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan, and bake for approximately 55–60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

7. Remove the bread from the oven, and let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan.

8. Turn the loaf onto a wire rack, and continue to let cool.

Note

This recipe results in a dense, very moist loaf with a strong banana and mild apple flavour, but you can easily modify it to suit your tastes. For the best banana flavour, be sure to use overripe bananas that have turned brown or brownish black. If you prefer a stronger apple taste, substitute pure apple butter for the applesauce (but reduce the honey to 1/2 a cup), and if you’d rather have something a bit lighter, use 1/2 a cup of enriched white flour in place of half the bran.

Learn more about healthy baking substitutions >> 

More healthy baking ideas

Morning millet muffins
Top 5 healthy muffin recipes
Homemade granola

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