Banana bread – eggless & whole wheat with no butter – a delicious yet healthier treat 🙂

I always end up with too many ripe bananas in my basket – intention to shop healthy when buying grocery never fully translates to us finishing them on time. So what do you do with them? Bake a banana bread of course!

I am not sure why it’s called banana bread, it’s more of a loaf-shaped cake than bread for me. Whatever you call it, you cannot deny that it’s delicious with the bananas adding a natural sweetness and moisture while the chopped walnuts add to the crunch. Using whole wheat definitely makes it healthier, and I feel the taste is not at all compromised. You can use all-purpose flour, or go half-and-half if you prefer. Oil adds to the moisture and makes it vegan as well 🙂

And of course, add some chopped dark chocolate instead of walnuts to make it more scrumptious! (bananas n chocolates do go well together, trust me 🙂 )

Ingredients –

Ripe bananas – 4 medium sized (approx 300 grams)
Whole-wheat flour – 180 grams (1½ cups)
Granulated white sugar – 100 grams (½ cup)
Baking powder – 1 ½ teaspoon
Baking Soda – ½ teaspoon
Salt – a pinch
Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
Vegetable oil – 125 ml (1/2 cup) (I use sunflower oil)
Chopped walnuts – about 10-12 kernels or 1/2 cup

Procedure –

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray/parchment paper/oil.
2. In a bowl, sift all the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. I would recommend sifting 2-3 times to add lightness since it’s whole-wheat based.
3. In a separate bowl, mash all the bananas using a fork or a blender. Once mashed well, add oil, sugar, vanilla extract and mix well until the sugar is dissolved.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until combined. Add the chopped walnuts (or chocolate if adding) and mix. Make sure you don’t over-mix it.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

6. Bake the bread for around 45-50 minutes at 180 deg C. A skewer inserted will come out clean.
7. Take out of the oven and let it cool completely before removing from pan and cutting slices. (if you cut a slice while it’s still warm, the bread will get crumbly – I know its tough to resist 🙂 )

Notes –

1. This makes about 710-715 grams of batter. You can divide it into 3 small disposable loaf pans (15 x 6.5 cm at the base) and baked them. They’ll take lesser time to bake (about 30 min).
2. If you have too many ripe bananas on hand, freeze them and use them for bread or smoothies later.