This sugar free banana bread is sweetened only with bananas and has no sugar added! It’s moist, whole grain and perfect for a healthy breakfast or snack!
PIN Sugar free banana bread
Honestly? It’s pretty unusual for me to crave banana bread.
We’ve had banana bread in all forms here on Food Faith Fitness. Paleo coconut flour banana bread, caramel stuffed paleo banana bread muffins, paleo banana bread with chocolate and almond butter and even whole wheat banana bread with Greek yogurt. Once we even nixed the greek yogurt and used protein powder to make high protein banana bread.
There was even that time that I was too lazy to make a full bread and we ate a banana bread in a mug cake. And that crazy time where there was Instant Pot banana bread!
Truth be told, those recipes were MOSTLY for Mr. FFF because he LOVES banana bread with a passion. Me on the other hand? I enjoyed all those recipes, but I didn’t OBSESS over them.
Until this SUGAR FREE banana bread recipe! If you’re looking for a dessert that’s a bit more indulgent, you might also enjoy our keto chocolate cake .
Can you make banana bread without sugar?
YES. You can. I never would have thought that sugarless banana bread would actually be tasty. BUT, it turns out that I actually prefer it since the banana flavor is a little less intense and the sweetness isn’t overpowering. It’s just a nice, slightly sweet breakfast bread that tastes amazing warmed up with almond butter on top! *Swoon* You could even get crazy and totally ELIMINATE the banana and make low carb keto banana bread!
To make up for the lack of sugar, we’re using EXTRA bananas. Make sure they are REALLY ripe before you make this banana bread, so it has enough sweetness. For other sugar-free options, check out our sugar-free peanut butter cookies.
How to Ripen Bananas Quickly
Have you ever wanted to make banana bread, but you didn’t have any ripe bananas and couldn’t find them in the store? Well, you are in LUCK because there is a super easy cheat that you can do so you can have some no sugar banana bread TODAY.
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F
- Line a rimmed baking pan with tinfoil
- Place the bananas onto the pan and bake for 15-30 minutes until black, flipping halfway
- Let them cool and use!
Magic right?
Sugar Free Banana Bread Healthy Swaps
Flour: Most banana breads are made with white all-purpose flour. To add some whole grain nutrition and fiber, I’m using my favorite baking flour: white whole wheat. You could probably use a cup for cup gluten free flour to make this gluten free banana bread, but I have not tried it, so I can’t confirm!
You cannot swap a grain free flour to like almond or coconut flour here.
Sugar: This is banana bread without sugar! Yep, the only sweetness comes naturally from bananas!
Oil: To give this bread some heart healthy nutrition, we’re using coconut oil instead of the typical canola oil. It also adds a nice subtle coconut flavor and is KEY in making this bread flavorful and moist. DO NOT SKIP THIS!
How to Freeze Banana Bread
This banana bread will stay in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you can’t eat it before then, I recommend freezing it to keep it fresh.
- Place all the slices on a cookie sheet and freeze overnight
- Place the frozen slices in an air-tight Tupperware container. I always recommend writing what it is on the outside!
- Freeze for 3-6 months and eat as you want!
The perfect little snack, breakfast or even dinner when it’s late and you don’t want to cook anything.
Not that I know anything about that ?
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Pecans
- 1 3/4 Cup White whole wheat flour (210g)
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 1/3 Cup Mashed ripe banana, (610g or 7 medium/large bananas)
- 1/4 Cup Coconut oil, melted
- 1 Large egg
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a small baking sheet and bake until lightly golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Additionally, line the bottom of an 8 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray the sides with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Place the mashed bananas into a large bowl and whisk in the oil, egg and vanilla until well mixed.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. Roughly chop the toasted pecans and stir them in.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hr 10 minutes. Let cool COMPLETELY in the pan!
- Once cool, slice and DEVOUR!
Video
Nutrition
This is one of our favorite recipes. We avoid sugar in concentrated form (white, brown, honey, syrups etc) so I usually look for sugar free recipes. We have been making this banana bread every week since we discovered this page 2 years ago, and never get bored! The genius idea here is that instead of adding sugar or any other sweetener, you use more bananas to sweeten it up. I tried to make all sorts of variations but realized that the proportions described in this recipe are perfectly measured.
The only alteration I made was to add walnuts only on top of the bread, and not inside. I find that having them in the middle doesn’t add any benefit, but rather makes them soft, and un-appealing, while the ones on top are delicious and crispy. Also, I noticed that pecans get burned (hence I use walnuts).
My latest addition was an addition of 70% – cocoa chocolate pieces in the dough batter. I think it gives it an X factor to this recipe especially if you want to make it more like a cake. If you decide to add chocolate, and you want to also toast the slices later, you will need to place the chocolate in the oven grill, rather than toaster. Chocolate will melt in the toaster (messy!). My partner though doesn’t agree with adding the chocolate. She prefers to keep it simple.
I also tried to make it with whole bananas (together with banana skins), although you need organic bananas for that. The result is very similar, and you get a lot of extra nutrients from the skins.
Overall, the recipe is 10/10!
My guess is that those who dislike this recipe might be used to a lot of sugar in their deserts. They might be desensitized to more natural flavors.
Thanks so much for your kind message Paulo, I am SO glad you like it and love to see you making some changes, it is one of my favorite recipes on the site!