For all the times in my life that I’ve made banana bread, it’s about time I have a recipe on this website for it! This is my go-to, simple and wholesome One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread recipe.
Banana bread is one of my comfort foods.
There is nothing better than a warm slice of it with a cup of tea. I’ve tinkered with this recipe on and off for years, finally settling with the lightly-sweetened version you see below.
This banana bread is heavy on the ripe mashed banana, which allows us to use just a scant amount of added sugar (my favorite, maple syrup!) and oil. Make sure your bananas look like the photo above, with plenty of brown spots! The flavor comes through beautifully with the warming spices of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Whether plain, or packed with nuts or chocolate chips, you can’t go wrong with this one bowl whole wheat banana bread recipe. In these photos, I’ve used unsalted pecan pieces, which are one of my favorite add-ins.
- 1 and ¼ cups mashed banana (about 3 medium ripe bananas)
- ¼ cup milk of choice
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup neutral-flavored oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 and ¾ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of nutmeg, optional
- ½ cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips, if desired
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line an 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add in milk, maple syrup, oil, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Stir well to combine.
- Overtop of the wet mixture, sprinkle flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Use a fork to whisk the dry ingredients together on top, which spreads out the leavening agent and spices, and then incorporate it fully into the wet mixture until combined.
- Stir in chopped nuts or chocolate chips, if desired. Transfer the batter into the lined loaf pan and sprinkle additional nuts or chocolate overtop.
- Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a knife poked through the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Allow the loaf to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.
Do you have a go-to quick bread recipe like this? I also love my Whole Wheat Yogurt Quick Bread.
Be well,
Marisa
Emily says
This is my FAVORITE banana bread recipe! So simple and delicious. So far I’ve made this 5+ times and all have turned out to be incredible. Love the addition of chocolate chips for a sweeter treat 🙂
Marisa says
Thank you, Emily! That means so much!
Andrew says
I’ve made this recipe a bunch of times and every time it has been delicious. This recipe works amazingly as muffins as long as you adjust the bake time accordingly. I’ve also subbed white flour for whole wheat in a pinch and the bread is still delicious.
I tend to always load this bread full of chocolate chips because I’m a chocolate fiend and the bread lasts maybe a day or so before I eat it all. Best banana bread ever!!!
Marisa says
Thanks for the comment, Andrew! I make this with white flour sometimes as well. Maybe it’s time to make some double loaves so that you can have leftovers 🙂