Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I’ve had this bunch of bananas on my counter for a while now, and the prospects of them getting eaten looked bleak.  Normally, I would just chop them up and freeze them for future smoothies, but then I came across another blogger’s zucchini bread recipe and that immediately sparked a craving for banana bread. 

I did a little research for some healthy banana bread recipes and was a little disappointed that while some of them used whole wheat flour in place of white, and applesauce or yogurt instead of butter and oil, most still called for an entire cup of sugar.  Sorry, but that’s just not really my thing.  Sometimes, there’s definitely a place for it, of course, but with all of the natural sweetness of bananas and applesauce, I just don’t really see it as necessary. 

Not one to give up, I found a couple recipes that I did like, including this one and this one, but decided to create my own using those as baselines. 

Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 overripe bananas
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• Cinnamon sugar (for sprinkling on top)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9×5 inch loaf pan
3. In large bowl, mix yogurt, honey, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla
4. Mix in bananas (batter may be a little chunky)
5. Add in flour, flax, chia seeds, and baking soda and mix until well blended
6. Stir in chocolate chips
7. Pour batter into loaf pan
8. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top
9. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
10. Let cool in pan for several minutes before transferring to a wire  rack to cool completely
11. Enjoy!

You may have noticed by now that I pretty much add dark chocolate to any and every recipe I possibly can, but feel free to leave those out if you’re crazy you wish.  You can also add in any other mix-ins you enjoy, like nuts or dried fruit. 

This thing is as heavy as a brick and darker than traditional banana breads, but don’t be fooled: it’s super tasty. 

I hope you like it!  I know I sure do.