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Breakfast · British

Healthy Banana Bread with Wholemeal Flour

A lighter banana bread made with wholemeal flour, yogurt and a little agave or maple syrup. Moist, not too sweet, and good toasted for breakfast.

Prep
15 min
Cook
1 hr 10 min
Total
1 hr 40 min
Serves
10
Jump to recipeIngredientsMethod
Wholemeal banana bread on baking paper with two slices cut, next to the empty loaf tin

This banana bread uses less sugar and fat than a standard loaf but stays moist because of the bananas and yogurt. Wholemeal flour gives it a slightly nutty flavour, and mixing it with some self-raising flour keeps the crumb from turning heavy.

The bananas do most of the work, so they need to be very ripe, with skins that are mostly black. Ripe bananas are sweeter and mash to a smooth puree. Weigh them after peeling if you can. Too little banana makes a dry loaf, and too much makes it dense and gummy.

Mix the batter only until no dry flour is visible. Overmixing develops the gluten and makes the loaf tough and rubbery. A few lumps are fine.

It bakes at a fairly low oven temperature for over an hour, so the middle cooks through before the top gets too dark. Slice it thickly and eat it plain, or toast it and spread with butter or nut butter for breakfast.

Recipe

Healthy Banana Bread with Wholemeal Flour

Prep
15 min
Cook
1 hr 10 min
Total
1 hr 40 min
Serves
10

Ingredients

10 Servings

Method

  1. Step 1: Heat the oven to 320°F (160°C), or 140°C fan. Grease a 2 lb (900 g) loaf tin and line it with baking paper that comes 2 cm above the sides.

  2. Step 2: Whisk the wholemeal flour, self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

  3. Step 3: In another bowl, stir together the mashed banana, syrup, eggs and yogurt until evenly mixed.

  4. Step 4: Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold together with a spatula until no dry flour is visible. Stop as soon as it comes together.

    Tip: A lumpy batter bakes into a tender loaf. Smooth batter usually means it has been overmixed.

  5. Step 5: Scrape into the tin, level the top and scatter with the nuts, if using. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until risen, deep golden and a skewer in the centre comes out clean.

  6. Step 6: Cool in the tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then lift out using the paper and let it cool further before slicing.

Tips

  • If the top is browning too quickly after 45 minutes, cover it loosely with foil.
  • No self-raising flour? Use 100 g plain flour plus an extra 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Variations

  • Stir 75 g dark chocolate chips into the batter in place of the nuts.
  • Use honey instead of agave syrup. The loaf will brown a little faster.

Storage and make-ahead

Keeps wrapped at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Freeze individual slices for up to 3 months and toast them straight from frozen.

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