Recipe: (The Best!) Healthy Banana Bread (2024)

FAQs

Is banana bread healthy or unhealthy? ›

Even though some banana breads are high in sugar, fat, and overall calories, most banana breads serve as a good source of key vitamins and minerals. For example, bananas are rich in potassium and vitamin B6. Banana bread made with these fruits contains a good amount of these nutrients.

Ripe bananas are not only softer and easier to mash and blend into a batter, but they are also sweeter, which is why baking recipes specifically call for ripe bananas in ingredient lists. As the bananas ripen, the fruit converts starches to sugars, making them sweeter and more flavorful.

Banana bread offers healthy monounsaturated fats with ingredients such as nuts and olive oil. The Healthy Chef's Teresa Cutter states that healthy fats help to stabilize blood sugar levels as well as lower cholesterol levels.

What happens if I don't add baking soda to banana bread? Without baking soda or a replacement, your bread will be dense and will not rise very much. A small amount of rising can occur naturally, but it's likely that the loaf will be very flat.

Whole-wheat bread.

Here's the secret: overripe bananas don't necessarily mean too-ripe bananas for banana bread. It really comes down to personal preference. Those brown-speckled, mostly yellow bananas are still ripe and will bake into a great loaf.

If you're curious about how to keep bananas fresh for longer, you should know about how to store bananas in your refrigerator. If you place them in the refrigerator, fully ripe bananas will last 5 to 7 days.

But in most cases, the overripe fruit is still perfectly safe to eat, and there are many other ways to use brown bananas that you may find delicious and enjoyable. Next time you have a couple of brown bananas on your hands, try one of the creative suggestions we shared here.

The best bread for those with high cholesterol is 100% whole grain bread. Bread made from whole grains is high in soluble fiber which is key to lowering cholesterol levels.

The British Heart Foundation recommends consuming bananas as part of a heart-healthy diet. This can help a person manage their cholesterol and blood pressure.

What is the best bread for diabetics and high cholesterol? ›

As with Type 1 diabetics, 100% whole grain bread without added sugars is the best bread to help keep blood sugars stable. To take it to the next level, there is some evidence that bread made with whole grain oats may be even healthier for Type 2 diabetics than other whole grain bread.

Too much baking powder can cause the batter to be bitter tasting. It can also cause the batter to rise rapidly and then collapse. (i.e. The air bubbles in the batter grow too large and break causing the batter to fall.)

– Overnight Rest: Resting the banana bread batter overnight significantly changed its texture for the better. The rest allowed the flour to completely hydrate and the starches to begin gelling, which helps retain moisture during and after baking.

Baking powder is a good substitute for baking soda in banana bread. A good rule of thumb is to use at least 5 mL (1 teaspoon) of baking powder for every cup of flour.

Banana Bread Nutrition

One slice of banana-nut bread may contain as many as 543 calories and 25 grams of fat. If you're trying to eat between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day -- an often recommended number for weight loss -- this slice amounts to between 36 and 45 percent of your total daily calories.

Banana bread tends to have a high rate of protein which is beneficial to health. Protein is an essential nutrient needed for the growth, repair, and recovery of muscle. It also helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, satisfying a hungry appetite to prevent you from eating the full loaf of bread.

There is little that is healthy about commercially produced banana breads, which contain a lot of sugar and processed vegetable oil – and only about 20 to 30 per cent actual banana. It's the extra oils, raising agents, colours and flavours that bump most commercially baked products into the ultra-processed category.

The highly processed flour and additives in white, packaged bread can make it unhealthful. Consuming too much white bread can contribute to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. However, buying bread with the word “whole” as the first ingredient still does not guarantee a healthful product. It is only the first step.