This whole wheat banana bread is a big family favorite. It has tremendous banana flavor because I use frozen bananas. Plus my banana bread is baked with olive oil and has just enough sugar to sweeten it.
Many families think following a healthy diet is difficult. In reality, with a little planning and awareness of diverse healthy food products, families would be able to follow a very balanced and healthy diet at home, enjoyable to all! So often times, I sneak in the healthy in the foods they already eat.
When the kids were young I would sneak veggies in their dinner, like my veggie packed pasta sauce or my cauliflower macaroni and cheese sauce. They eventually grew up to love their vegetables and eat them up in their chicken noodle soup with lemon and chicken tortilla soup.
And now when I bake muffins and quick breads, I sneak in whole wheat flour and bran, plus I reduce the sugar. Do they notice? Nope, not at all.
Jump to:
Recipe highlights
- Family friendly: Whole wheat flour does not have to be a turn off for family. The best way to hide brown food, is out in the open. They seriously won’t notice it in this whole wheat banana nut bread.
- Simple: Most recipes call for over ripe bananas for their banana recipe. I tried it. I didn’t think the extra step really made the flavor more banana-y. I collect bananas in my freezer! The flavor does intensify when thawed and it is the perfect texture for mixing.
- Texture: This banana is also baked with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. Ever since I wrote my olive oil cookbook, I almost exclusively bake with olive oil. You still end up with a very moist and tender quick bread.
- Flavor: This recipe produces a moist and not sugary sweet banana bread. One loaf only uses half a cup of sugar versus a whole cup in most recipes. I want to taste the sweet bananas and not the sugar, so I cut the sugar in half. It is a quick bread and not a cake.
Ingredients you need
- Blueberries: I prefer to use fresh blueberries because frozen ones turn to mush when thawed and baked. You can also use blackberries, or if you want some crunch, add walnuts. And of course, you can omit them all together.
- Extra virgin olive oil: If you’ve read my blog before, then you learned your lesson on how to bake with olive oil. Your baked goods are only as good as the ingredients you put into it. Choose a mild tasting olive oil for this quick bread recipe, not a peppery one.
- Over-ripe bananas: As I explained above, I like to store my ripe bananas in the freezer. Their flavor intensifies. Once thawed, add them and the juices to your banana bread.
- Plain Greek yogurt: Whole wheat flour needs lots of moisture and yogurt makes your banana moist and tender.
- Whole wheat flour: I like both Bob’s Red Mill and King’s Flour brands of whole wheat flour. Both are excellent choices and bake beautifully.
- Wheat bran: I love adding wheat bran to my baked goods for extra flavor and fiber.
- Eggs: Large eggs are the standard in baking.
- Pantry staples: Granulated sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda and salt.
Step-by-step directions
- Prep the blueberries. In a small bowl combine blueberries with a little whole wheat flour. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together remaining flour, wheat bran, baking soda and salt.
- Blend the sugar. Using a hand or stand mixer, whisk together sugar and olive oil until creamy and whipped.
- Add wet ingredients. Mix in mashed bananas, yogurt, vanilla and egg.
- Add dry ingredients. Add flour mixture into the banana mixture and whisk until combined.
- Add blueberries. Using a rubber scraper, stir in blueberry mixture by hand.
- Bake the bread. Apply non-stick spray to a 9″x 5″ loaf pan and pour batter in. Bake bread at 350ºF for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Let the bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQs
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
I have been baking with whole wheat flour for over 20 years. It started as an experiment and now it is second nature to me. If you are unsure if your family will like their muffins with whole flour, try this little experiment. Swap out half of the regular flour with whole grain flour. Easy peasy.
Whole wheat flour requires a bit more moisture than regular flour, so by swapping all purpose flour for whole wheat is not recommended without adding a little more moisture. This recipe for whole wheat banana bread uses whole wheat flour and wheat bran – and it is moist and delicious.
I also like adding nuts to banana bread. It naturally works beautifully with the nutty undertones of the whole wheat flour and wheat bran in the recipe. The best nuts for banana bread, in my opinion, are walnuts, pecans and almonds. You can also add macadamia nuts, too.
I have used this recipe for my kids cooking camp and everyone went home with their own mini loaf of blueberry banana bread.
Quick breads are really a great snack cake, lower in sugar than typical cakes. Go beyond banana bread with some of my more unique quick bread recipes:
- Whole Wheat Pomegranate Banana Bread with Pistachios
- Olive Oil Beet Bread with Walnuts
- Chocolate Olive Oil Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
- Mango Bread with Whole Wheat Flour and Protein Powder
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: I usually store it in foil and keep it on the kitchen counter for up to 4 days, as long as it is not hot. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze slices or a whole loaf. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Whole wheat flour needs more moisture than regular flour so an equal swap is not always recommended. You can swap out half of a recipe’s regular flour with whole wheat flour without affecting the texture much.
Whole wheat flour has more of the wheat shell than regular all purpose flour. This husk offers you fiber, which is great for your digestive system. But whole wheat flour has a lot of the husk removed, which is why I like to add a little wheat bran to my recipes for a little nuttiness and the extra fiber.
If you are enjoying my recipes, please sign up for my newsletter and get my free 28-day meal plan! You can also follow me on Instagram or Facebook.
Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Olive Oil and Blueberries
Ingredients
- 1 cup blueberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed over-ripe bananas
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 1 TBS whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup wheat bran
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a small bowl combine blueberries with 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together remaining flour, wheat bran, baking soda and salt.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, whisk together sugar and olive oil until creamy and whipped.
- Mix in mashed bananas, yogurt, vanilla and egg.
- Add flour mixture into the banana mixture and whisk until combined.
- Using a rubber scraper, stir in blueberry mixture by hand.
- Apply non-stick spray to a 9"x 5" loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
- Bake bread in oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Let the bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my eMail list, too!
Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
This post was originally published July 22, 2009. It was been updated with more content, new photographs and video.
This site is wonderful— I get the impression you are a real chef’s chef. Thank you.
To make this banana bread vegan, should I replace eggs with flax eggs? Or would applesauce work? Thank you again!
Hi Jeanne-
Thank you for your kind words. I have used flax eggs in my baked goods before with success, but not so much with applesauce. You should be fine with the flax substitution.
Laura