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As a new mom who wanted to minimize my son’s exposure to sugar at a young age, I was so glad to find a great banana bread recipe from Cookie and Kate. Honey Whole Wheat Banana Bread – Cookie and Kate. The whole wheat kept me full through the morning and I didn’t miss the fattening butter. It was so tasty and hearty that I didn’t miss the butter and sugar from the other banana breads that I’ve had from restaurants and bakeries.
However, I was still longing for more banana flavor. I also wanted to use up the bananas that were often not eaten in my home. With some modifications, and once I wasn’t busy with a toddler, I developed the hearty whole wheat banana bread recipe below. Try them all and find the recipe that best suits your pantry staples!
What's the Deal with Whole Wheat Flour?
Whether whole wheat is healthy or not really depends on your body and what foods you can tolerate. I love whole wheat flour for the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. See WebMD: Wheat: Is It Good For You? for specific details on this. If you have wheat allergies, celiac disease, or gluten sensitivities, there are other ways to get fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in
your body. Contact me if you want to see recipes for these issues.
Since Hawaii imports about 85% to 90% of the food consumed here, it is much more expensive to buy groceries. I usually just buy the cheapest whole wheat flour I can get. Price aside, Safeway’s organic whole wheat flour seems a lot heavier and denser than King Arthur Baking’s or Bob’s Red Mill’s whole wheat flour. I am still searching for a whole wheat flour that is consistently a reasonable price and tasty in all of our baked goods. Let me know if you want me to post a detailed whole wheat flour review!
Health Benefits: Honey!
One of the local food items that we consistently “splurge” on is local Hawaiian honey. Keeping bee farmers happy means keeping bees happy and (hopefully) pollinating flowers and produce statewide. If you consume raw honey, there are antioxidants, a variety of vitamins and minerals, and may help with digestion and overall brain health. 8 Raw Honey Benefits for Health. If you can score a large jar from
Costco when they have it available, local Hawaii honey helps local business and local agriculture.
Of course, DO NOT give honey to babies 1 years old or younger. Besides the stickiness of honey making it hard for them to swallow, raw honey might have bacteria in it that the baby’s digestive system cannot handle.
Health Benefits: Bananas
Bananas are such an easy fruit to have around. They are easy to prepare and are easy to eat.
Chock full of fiber and potassium, and natural sweetness, bananas are a great breakfast option to help keep you full and give you energy for the morning. Top it on some nut butter toast! Add it to your breakfast yogurt, overnight oats, or chia seed pudding! The options are endless.
Just try to watch your potassium if you have medical conditions such as chronic kidney disease. Too much potassium from any source could worsen your kidney condition.
Looking for other tasty breakfast recipes? Take a look at some of these other approachable recipes.
Hearty Whole Wheat Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 9" x 5" loaf pan
- 1 Medium mixing bowl
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- Canola oil spray or butter
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup banana mashed (about 3 bananas)
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit with the rack in the middle of the pan.
- Grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan with canola oil spray or butter.
- In a medium bowl, beat oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla together until well combined.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon until well combined.
- Add wet ingredients and mashed bananas to the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Spread the batter into the greased loaf pan.
- Bake for 65 to 75 minutes. Check the bread for doneness by inserting a toothpick through the top in several places. The toothpick should come out clean. Make sure you go about ¾ through the bread!
- Let the bread cool in the loaf pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
