Banana bread is one of those classic comfort foods that fill your home with warmth and delicious smells and somehow makes everything seem better. This recipe has all the features of classic banana bread—it’s moist, delicious, full of sweet banana flavor, and loved by children and adults alike. But unlike so many banana bread recipes, this one doesn’t have whole sticks of butter or cups of vegetable oil. It is also naturally sweetened with just enough maple syrup and healthy dark chocolate instead of a cup or more of refined white sugar. The recipe is oil-free, low in sugar, vegan, and can easily be made gluten-free by replacing the flour with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour
½ cup old fashioned oats
¼ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
⅓ cup unsweetened non-dairy yogurt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, walnuts, chocolate chips, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mash bananas.
Add the yogurt and maple syrup to the mashed bananas.
Mix the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not overmix.
If the mixture seems too thick, add a little bit of non-dairy milk as needed.
Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about 50 min – 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes:
My family loves walnuts and chocolate chips in our banana bread, but you can skip them or choose other mix-ins, like pecans, raisins, and dried cranberries.
If you are lucky enough to have some left at the end of the day, you can store the banana bread covered for a few days on the counter or in the refrigerator for about a week.
Any non-dairy yogurt should work. I used plain, unsweetened almond milk yogurt. If you use sweetened or flavored yogurt, you may want to adjust your ingredients accordingly. Also, depending on how thick your yogurt is, you may need to add some non-dairy milk to thin and moisten your batter.
If you are not dairy-free, you can use dairy yogurt instead of non-dairy.
If you are not vegan, you can use any kind of chocolate chips.