Description
This healthy banana bread recipe delivers a moist crumb and natural sweetness from ripe bananas, enhanced by a gooey date caramel swirl. It’s an easy-to-make, nourishing loaf perfect for breakfast, snacks, or lunchboxes.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 large (approx. 400g) very ripe bananas, mashed
- 200g (1.5 cups) whole wheat flour
- 50g (0.5 cup) rolled oats
- 7g (1.5 teaspoons) baking soda
- 3g (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- 1g (0.25 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
- 3g (0.5 teaspoon) fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature (or 2 flax eggs for plant-based)
- 80ml (0.33 cup) pure maple syrup
- 60ml (0.25 cup) light vegetable oil (e.g., canola, sunflower)
- 5ml (1 teaspoon) alcohol-free vanilla extract
- 150g pitted Medjool dates (for caramel)
- 60ml hot water (for caramel)
- 2.5ml vanilla extract (for caramel)
- 1g salt (for caramel)
Instructions
- Prep Pan and Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 175 C (350 F). Grease and flour a 23x13cm (9×5-inch) loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper for easy removal.
- Prepare Date Caramel Swirl: In a small blender, combine 150g pitted Medjool dates, 60ml hot water, 2.5ml vanilla extract, and 1g salt. Blend until smooth and thick, adding extra hot water if needed. Reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish.
- Whisk Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, rolled oats, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and 3g fine sea salt until well combined and uniform.
- Whisk Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, eggs, maple syrup, light vegetable oil, and 5ml alcohol-free vanilla extract until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Combine and Swirl Batter: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently until just combined (do not overmix). Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan, dollop half the date caramel swirl, add the remaining batter, then dollop remaining caramel on top and gently swirl with a knife to create ribbons.
- Bake the Loaf: Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. If the top browns too quickly, loosely tent with aluminum foil.
- Cool Completely: Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes before carefully transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
To avoid a tough loaf, do not overmix the batter. Ensure very ripe, spotty bananas are used for natural sweetness and moisture. For plant-based, use flax eggs. For spicier notes, add ginger or allspice. Chocolate chips or chopped walnuts are great family-friendly additions. Store in an airtight container.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (about 90 g)
- Calories: 280 calories
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 230 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
Keywords: healthy banana bread, date caramel, whole wheat, easy breakfast, family recipe, moist, naturally sweet, snack