I’m absolutely one of those people who believe that everything happens for a reason.
That tragedy is followed by opportunity and growth. That difficult times will eventually be followed by lovely moments. But I’m also the type of person who loves to plan, think ahead, or heck, just think about everything. My to-do lists are endless. My goals keep getting bigger.
But, I’ve also found that sometimes you have to live in the moment. Enjoy little moments with people who matter to you. Appreciate the messes, forget imperfections, and embrace the present. Still with me?
Remember last week when I told you about my vacation? Well it was the best! I went to the apple orchard, on long fall drives, baked apple crisp, coconut cookies, turkey meatballs, and more. We watched movies, drank wine, and laughed like nothing else mattered. In fact, we even went to the diner and ate pancakes at 2am on a Sunday. Sometimes you just need those moments; that little bit of time with someone special.
Other times you just need banana bread. That sweet aroma to fill your house and create a comforting atmosphere.
It’s obvious I’m in love with banana baked goods. Have you checked out my recipe index lately? It’s full of healthy banana breads.
There’s not much more to say about this. Well except that I think you’ll really love it. The bread is full of good for you ingredients and isn’t overly sweet.
My best advice? Use extra ripe bananas when making it! The riper the banana, the sweeter the bread.
Here’s a little more info on what’s in this delicious, hearty bread:
Whole wheat pastry flour: Keeps the bread moist and light. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, you can use regular whole wheat or white whole wheat, but just know that the bread will be a little denser.
Oatmeal: Bring on those oats! They’re packed with fiber and flavor.
Unsweetened Applesauce: can you substitute applesauce for oil in banana bread? YES. This helps to naturally sweeten the bread, too. I love it!
Honey: I use honey because I love the flavor it brings to bread, but feel free to use maple syrup, agave, or even brown/coconut/maple sugar.
Almond Milk: I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk to keep the bread moist, but you can also use coconut or regular milk.
I love the hearty texture that this bread has and at 133 calories per slice (based on 12), it’s a great option to have with your breakfast or as a snack. If you’d like, you can fold 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts or pecans into the batter for some additional healthy fats to keep you full.
The bread is wonderful served warm but as with all banana breads, it’s better the next day as the sugars from the bananas release. Keep is wrapped tight and the bread should last 3 days!
Enjoy!
If you like this healthy banana bread recipe, you might also like:
Fluffy Whole Wheat Zucchini Banana Bread Pancakes
My Favorite Healthy Banana Bread
Grandma’s Whole Wheat Sunflower Honey Oatmeal Bread
Healthier Carrot Cake Banana Bread with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Healthy Chai Banana Bread with Salted Cashew Butter Vanilla Glaze
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Applesauce Banana Bread {healthy + vegan-friendly}
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 heaping cup mashed banana
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or skim, coconut, etc.)
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick organic cooking spray.
- In large bowl combine mashed banana, applesauce, honey, egg, almond milk and vanilla until well combined and creamy.
- In separate medium bowl whisk together whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don't overmix!).
- Pour into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle oats over top (if desired), and bake for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.
- Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 12 slices and enjoy! Keep bread tightly wrapped to maintain moisture.
Recipe Notes
Use brown sugar, agave, or pure maple syrup instead of honey. Simply omit egg; the banana bread should still hold together just fine. However you can use a flax egg as well. To make gluten free:
Use an all-purpose gluten free flour instead of whole wheat; make sure you also use gluten free oats and that all other ingredients are gluten/alcohol free (such as vanilla).
Nutrition
Turned out very well. I like recipes that don’t use oil. I made this into 15 muffins and they baked about 25 minutes. I added half cup of unsweetened applesauce since my two bananas were not a heaping cup and it seemed to work fine. I also used swerve sugar replacement instead of honey. We really like this recipe and would make again. Will freeze muffins for snacks. I do better with portion control! Flavor perfect. Sweet enough and not too sweet.
YUM! I am happy to hear that you found this recipe and it turned out great for you, Frances. Thank you so much for your review, I appreciate it! 🙂❤️
hi Monique.. I have a query… I live in Australia and ive come across many of your recipes calling for whole wheat pastry flour but I don’t seem to be able to buy it at the supermarket. For this recipe ive been using 3/4 cup all purpose white plain flour and 3/4 cup sprouted wholewheat flour. Is this ok? I came across a flour at the supermarket the other day called biscuit pastry and cake flour made from wheat flour.. is this the whole wheat pastry flour you’re referring to?? im really confused and just want to clarify before I start making any more recipes that call for whole wheat pastry flour.. ( I must sound like a lunatic!)
Hi Vanessa! Great question. I’m not 100% sure what the biscuit pastry and cake flour has in it (i.e. what mix of flours, how much of each, etc.) so I’d recommend sticking with your mix of white flour and whole wheat flour! That combination should work just as well in place of whole wheat pastry flour 🙂 I hope that helps!
Delicious! I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour on hand so used 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup all purpose flour. used sugar free maple syrup instead of honey, used 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1/2 cup desiccated coconut. also threw in a handful of cacao nibs. sprinkled some flaxseed meal over the top and a little cinnamon and baked for 85 minutes… a lovely healthy recipe.. thankyou!
Yay! I am so glad the whole wheat flour worked great for you. happy you are enjoying this recipe. thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it!
II make this loaf all the time so good, if I wanted to make the muffins do you know how long to bake?
I love to make this recipe whenever I have some very ripe bananas to use up before they go bad. I usually sub maple syrup or agave for honey so I can share with my 11 month old. It’s so moist and perfectly sweetened without adding sugar which makes it feel “guilt free.” I’ve also made it with plain Greek yogurt instead of applesauce once whenever I didn’t realize I was out, and it turned out great as well!
So happy to hear that you’re enjoying this one, Allison! Great sub ideas, too 🙂
Easy to make, so moist and perfectly sweet! I absolutely love that my toddlers loved it!
So happy to hear that!
This bread was so good! It tastes especially amazing toasted. Great recipe and a perfect breakfast or snack!
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This banana bread is amazing! Just what I was looking for- something sweet but healthier to use up my ripe bananas. I added a scoop of protein powder, and the bread is still very moist!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
The bread turned out incredibly dense and chewy. We also thought it could use a bit more flavor (more spices?). I have had a similar issue with a couple of other similar recipes on your blog. Would adding another egg or more baking posder help resolve this? You’re often the first place I go when looking for certain recipes, and I would love for that to be the case with more baking, too!
I make this recipe constantly and figured it was time I left a review! This is my go to for banana bread — not too sweet and makes me feel like I’m being healthy even though I always add chocolate chips. It’s literally so versatile so if I’m out of something I can easily substitute. Hot tip: use cinnamon unsweetened applesauce.
So happy you love these! Chocolate chips are always a good idea 🙂
I made this for my husband yesterday because he likes more traditional recipes for baked goods.I usually like recipes with chocolate. This is one of the best banana bread recipes I have made. I used oat flour because I have celiac disease so I can’t use wheat flour. It turned out great. The bananas, applesauce, honey and oats made the bread taste like caramel. I also added a few nuts because he likes it.
Perfect! So happy you both enjoyed!
This is so incredibly delicious. I made this with canned coconut milk, and instead of an egg I just threw in 1 Tbsp of flax into the batter. Added pecans on top. The bread is moist and perfect with some butter on a slice. I’m happy <3
I’m glad that worked out well! Delicious 🙂
I use this recipe all the time and it has always gotten rave reviews from friends, family, and coworkers so I wanted to leave a review. Thank you for this recipe! It’s my favorite! I also use the recipe to make pumpkin muffins.
Amazing! I’m so glad 🙂
I loved the whole wheat banana bread! It was amazing! The first loaf was delicious. I doubled the recipe the same day and made two more. I let the oatmeal soak in the liquid for 5-10 minutes. I added chocolate chips and walnuts as suggested. That took it over there top. On the second batch (double recipe), It should have been 1 1/2 cups of milk. Instead, I only used 1 chi of milk, and for the remaining 1/2 cup of liquid I added 1/4 c of avocado oil and 1/4 of real maple syrup for a little added sweetness.. Delicious! Thank you!
Perfect! Glad those adjustments worked out well!
What does “1 chi of milk” mean? 1 cup?
Can I say, my family and I enjoy this recipe so much! I made 4 loaves of this yesterday and my kids, even my picky 2yr old daughter loves it! I made no changes to the bread recipe, but I did add a very small amount of glaze, made with confectioners sugar and fat free milk, to the top after baking and it is devine! I love how moist the bread is and how simple it was to make. I started my weight loss journey 1 yr ago and have been searching for healthier recipes of what i normally bake and came across many trial and error recipes but none compair to this! Thank you for sharing, it is delicious! I gave a loaf to my parents and individually wrapped and froze the rest for dessert nights.
Amazing! So happy you found this recipe and great idea with a little glaze on top – YUM. I hope your parents love it, too!
this banana bread is amazing
Excellent recipe. I also added 1/2 cup of chopped black walnuts. I also added a sprinkle of chocolate sea salt (sea salt blended with cocao powder) on the top after the top had set (about 15 minutes). This final add gives every few bites a nice salty surprise.
The loaf looks awesome when it is on the counter cooling and sliced ready to be eaten.
Oh, I baked this at the end of a 24 hour fast and then broke the fast by sitting down to a few slices of warm healthy banana walnut bread and a cup of dark roast coffee earlier this afternoon. Not a bad way to end a fast.
Sounds fabulous! I’ll have to make some chocolate sea salt. It sounds delicious. Glad you enjoyed!
I made this yesterday, it was moist and absolutely delicious!!! I also added lots of oats on top and then sprinkled a cinnamon/sugar mix…heaven…it was crunchy on top and amazingly perfectly banana bread.I did sub the apple sauce for more bananas.
Perfect! That sounds amazing. Glad you enjoyed!
This bread looks so delicious! I love honey as well but maple syrup definitely has my heart.
I remember when I discovered that applesauce can be used as a substitute for oil and I was so skeptical! Eventually I gave it a try and I’ve been using it ever since, in all kinds of baked goods.
It is! And yes – applesauce is magic in baking. Love it!
I made this and it was AMAZING.
I used 3 bananas, and substituted coconut oil for applesauce and raw maple syrup for honey. I also added a tablespoon of chia seeds for extra bite 😀
I made this with plain whole wheat flour and organic whole milk and it turned out phenomenal!
This is a nice banana bread! I used oat and gf flours, plus some ground flax, coconut sugar instead of maple syrup, and added a grated apple. Yummy! Our 29 month old gives it a big thumbs up too:-)
I cannot have whole wheat flour. Could I sub it out for oat flour or unbleached white?
Absolutely love this recipe!!! made it couple of times as xmas goodies 🙂
Made this last night (instead of my mom’s decadent (but not-so-heathy) recipe I grew up with). I must say, I am definitely enjoying it! and loving that I don’t feel guilty having a slice. I put some peanut butter on it and it’s great. I also noticed it keeps me full for a long time…just a single slice! Must be the oats, apple sauce, and whole wheat flour. Will be sharing this with friends… thank you!!!
If your loaf is hard on the outside and soft in the middle. I used to have this problem until I bought a
oven thermometer, apparently when I set my older oven to 350 it would heat up to 400 or higher.
Also when the loaf is on the cooling rack I rest a piece of tin foil on top and it helps keep the crust
a little moist !
Oven thermometers are key, thanks for sharing your tip!
Hey Monique! I make a ton of your recipes and just finished with this one- had a slice for dessert and it was awesome!! Preparing for year 2 of veterinary school with 2 marathons left to run this year, so I’ve been making a ton of yours and FFF meals, portioning them out, and freezing them for the school year. You are such an inspiration (total #wellness goals). Thanks for all the recipes and blog posts!!
Typo, I meant substituting maple syrup for honey. plan was to make a smash cake(using this recipe) for my 1 year old birth day party.
Turned out very dense. Tried with substituting maple syrup for sugar.