Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

Good morning! Our family eats a lot of banana bread, so I thought I would share with you a recipe that I have come up with over the years. I’ve reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe by half, added whole wheat flour and chia seeds* (they add a nice crunch!), as well as vanilla and cinnamon. If you have a favorite bread or muffin recipe, please share it with us in the comments section! There is nothing more satisfying to me than feeding my family a healthy, delicious, and quick breakfast – served with some fruit and a glass of milk, this banana bread makes for a pretty good start to the day.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2-4 Tbsp. chia seeds* (optional)

1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1/4 c. oil

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

3 very ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease one loaf pan and one small loaf pan – I find that if I put the entire recipe in one large loaf pan, the inside takes too long to cook and the outside gets too dark. You could also make this into large or mini-muffins, or split it into 3 small loaf pans.

Whisk together first 7 ingredients in one bowl, and eggs, oil, and vanilla in another bowl. Add the banana to the wet ingredients and incorporate well. Make a well in the dry ingredients’ bowl and add the wet ingredients, stirring gently until combined. Pour into prepared baking pans and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!

*Chia seeds are a new ingredient to me. They have all sorts of great health benefits, don’t need to be ground before consumption, and have a very mild nutty flavor. I’ve also used them in overnight breakfast oatmeal-yogurt-fruit parfaits, and I’ve heard that they can be used in smoothies as well, although these need to be consumed immediately because the chia seeds will puff up in liquid. Just make sure that you are purchasing good-quality, certified, not made-in-China, 100% pure chia seeds.