Healthy Banana Bread with Dates and Walnuts
Hold on to your whisks my friends, I’m about to rock your kitchen with this Healthy Banana Bread recipe made with whole-grain flour and no refined sugar. It is sweetened with dates and maple syrup.
I originally shared this healthy banana bread with dates and walnuts here on March 16th, 2016. I have updated some of the text and photography.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe
I love how easy quick bread recipes are. I mean the name says it all… quick bread! Right?? But ironically, as was the case with this zucchini bread, perfecting the recipe for this healthy banana bread recipe didn’t come easy. In fact this is the e7 version of the recipe. {Yeah, it has been through its paces! And it has come out the other side moister than I could have hoped for in a whole-grain and refined sugar-free recipe.}
I’m convinced that it’s in part because I used chopped Medjool dates to sweeten it and add extra moisture. Plus I used some of our own homemade maple syrup. Maple is hygroscopic (which means it attracts and holds moisture), so it makes it even moister than white refined sugar would have.
You all will love this healthy and moist banana date bread with walnuts and it is so simple to put together! It’s great all on its own for a snack or serve it on a brunch buffet with cultured butter or Whipped Maple Cream Cheese.
How to Make Banana Date Bread
This is such a simple banana bread recipe, and it’s packed with good-for-you ingredients. Get your oven hot and then you are ready to get going on mixing it together. Here’s how I make this healthy banana bread:
- The Dry Mix — As with most baking recipes, you first need to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls. I used mostly white whole wheat flour. It’s fine to use plain whole-wheat flour. I prefer the white variety because it is milder in flavor. I also have some all-purpose flour in there to help give the bread a little bit more soft structure and keep it from becoming too dense.
- The Wet Mix- Mashed bananas act as one of the wet ingredients. You can mash them with a mashed potato masher or simply a fork. Then you’ll want to measure out what you have. You need a cup of banana. I got a cup from two large bananas. This recipe also has avocado oil, or organic canola oil. You can also use sunflower oil or walnut oil if you have that on hand. Also in the wet mix is the maple syrup (only 1/4 cup needed) and two eggs (they help the bread rise and hold together.)
- Combine the ingredients — Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. I use a silicone spatula to do this. It may seem like the batter is slightly moister than some quick bread batters, but remember this one has whole-wheat flour in it. The bran in whole-wheat flour will absorb some of that moisture, so it would dry out too much if you didn’t have a slightly loose batter.
- Add the Walnuts and Dates– Next, fold in the chopped walnuts and pitted and chopped dates, saving some nuts to sprinkle on top of the banana bread.
- Pour Into The Pan — By this point, your oven should be hot. Scrape the batter into your prepare glass loaf pan smooth it out and sprinkle the remaining nuts on top before it goes into the oven.
- Bake the bread — You’ll know when the healthy banana bread is finished baking when it’s a deep golden brown on top and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out with only moist crumbs on it.
How to Store or Freeze Banana Date Bread
You can keep this banana date bread on your countertop in a sealed bag or wrapped with foil for a few days, or you can freeze it for later. To freeze the entire loaf of banana bread, wrap it two or three times in plastic wrap, making sure no parts of the bread are left uncovered. Then wrap it a final time in aluminum foil and freeze.
When you’re ready to eat the loaf of banana bread, set it out on your counter to thaw. To freeze slices of banana bread, lay them out on a baking sheet and freeze for 45 minutes to an hour. This will allow the tender slices to firm up enough so that they won’t stick together when they’re frozen. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe ziplock bag.
More Healthy Bread Recipes:
- In the fall you’ll have to make this Apple Cinnamon Bread. The smell as it bakes is so cozy!
- This one is great around the holidays and uses fresh cranberries: Cranberry Almond Quick Bread
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, one of my most popular breads!
- Healthy Blueberry Lemon Bread, you have to try this one!
- Healthy Zucchini Oat Bread, lower in sugar- but still kid approved!
- Gluten Free Banana Bread, here’s a classic banana bread but without gluten!
Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!
Happy Cooking! ~Katie
PrintHealthy Banana Bread with Dates and Walnuts
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
Description
This whole-grain healthy banana bread is naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup and dates. Bonus: it’s refined sugar-free!
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting pan
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas
- 1 cup chopped pitted soft dates
- 1/2 cup organic canola oil or avocado oil
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, dark or amber
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8 ½-inch Pyrex or ceramic loaf pan with cooking spray and dust with flour. Tap out excess flour and set aside.
- Whisk white whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
- Stir eggs, bananas, dates, oil, maple syrup and vanilla in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add ½ cup walnuts and stir to combine. Spread batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup walnuts over the top.
- Bake bread until domed and deeply browned and a wooden skewer comes out with moist crumbs attached, 48 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Turn out of pan and let cool on wire rack until slightly warm or room temp before slicing and serving. Store wrapped at room temperature.
Notes
Once it is cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to keep it moist.
This bread will be good stored at room temperature up to 3 days.
The bread can be frozen whole up to 3 months. Slices can be frozen for one month.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10th loaf
- Calories: 301
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 180 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 5 g
Banana bread is one of my families favorites and love the addition of dates.
We love it too. Especially at this time of year when there isn’t a lot of other seasonal fruit available.
So much healthy goodness going on in this banana bread! I absolutely love that it is refined sugar-free! I bet the house smells like a dream when it’s baking!
It does smell great. That is one of the best perks of home-baked bread isn’t it?
Banana bread is one of my favorites. Love how this one is healthier!
Thank you Matt! I am so glad you like this idea!
This looks and sounds so dreamy. I will definitely be making it soon. Thanks for sharing.
This recipe looks amazing! My granny always put walnuts in banana bread and I love the texture it adds. Do you think dried dates would work in this? Maybe if I soak them? Thanks!
Hello ! I have tried this recipe several times before and always comes out great! This time unfortunately I’ve run out of maple syrup. Can I substitute with honey?
TIA!
That should work just fine. You’ll probably notice a slight difference in the flavor, but I think it will be yummy!
Love this so much!! Making it for a friend but she is gluten free. What are the best substitutes? Thank you!
I like the King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Measure For Measure. I haven’t tested it, but my guess is that would work just fine. Please let me know if you try it for her.
The recipe sounds amazing I was wondering if I can use a combination of oat and whole wheat flour.
Thanks
I love oat flour. I think that would be a lovely idea. Please let me know if you try it!
I’m always looking for recipes without refined sugar so my little bubba can eat it too. I was expecting it to be a little dense but this was really moist and light. I only used half the stated maple syrup amount and blitzed the dates into a paste. I might try omitting maple syrup the next time. Thank you for the recipe!
Oh I love that you did that with the dates. Great idea! I will try that next time we make this (which I do regularly.)
Baked perfectly and tastes amazing. Great recipe to add to my repertoire. Thank you
Yay! That is awesome to hear! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
Just made this banana bread & it is heavenly! So moist and fluffy. Thank you.
I am so glad you found the recipe, and I really appreciate that you came back to leave a comment saying so. It really means a lot. Happy cooking!
I made this banana loaf today and it is quite simply the best banana loaf that I have ever made or eaten. The family love it. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your labour in this recipe. I love the fact that it has no butter or refined sugar. Unfortunately I had no maple syrup so I substituted it for golden syrup. Seemed to work well but I will definitely try the real thing next time.
I am so glad to hear you liked it Simon, and thank you so much for coming back to let us know how it went. I really appreciate it!
Made this today, it’s amazing! Thx for the recipe!
That’s awesome Pauli. I really appreciate your coming back to report on it too. That is great!
I saw your recipe on Healthy Aperture and I had to stop by to say that I love the photos! And yes, dates are a must in a banana bread for me. 🙂
Thanks so much Mira! Have a great day.
I thought I had tried every banana bread combination possible – but I’ve never used dates before! Something I must try. Xx
We snacked on some of this yesterday, and because of the dates, it is even more moist on the second day. Definitely worth a try!