Weight Watchers Banana Bread 

What you’ll love about this moist banana bread recipe

• It’s a pretty easy recipe made with basic ingredients. 
• This is a healthier version of a classic that your whole family is sure to love.
• It is a great option for a quick snack or dessert.
• This recipe is made with whole wheat flour and bananas, and both are a great source of fiber.  Medical News Today has a great infographic with the nutritional info on a banana, if you want to check that out. According to Matthews Cotswold Flour “Whole wheat flour is also rich in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, riboflavin and folate. Whole wheat flour also contains more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutritional elements than white flour. If you want to consume a well-balanced nutritious diet, you can eat more food that uses whole wheat flour”.

Ingredients

See recipe card for exact amounts. 

Ingredient Notes

Overripe bananas and simple ingredients are all you need to make this healthy banana bread recipe. 

Bananas – over-ripe bananas are the most important ingredient to make moist and delicious banana bread. We use a combination of chopped and mashed bananas. 

Flour –  we use half all purpose flour and half whole-wheat flour. A typical banana bread recipe is made with only all purpose flour. I have not made this recipe using self-rising flour.

Brown Sugar – this ingredient provides moisture and flavor to our banana bread. I have not tried this using regular white sugar or a sugar substitute. 

Egg – one large egg. 

Skim Milk – if you don’t have skim you can use half whole milk and half water. 

Walnuts – nuts contain healthy fats and you can’t have banana nut bread without them 😉. If you aren’t a fan you can leave them out. 

Butter – I always buy unsalted butter, unless I need salted butter for something specific. 

How to makes this easy banana bread recipe

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350°. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. Then mash bananas (4 small or 3 large) in a medium bowl. Peel and chop the other 2 bananas into small pieces.
3. Sift the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl. 
4. In a large bowl beat the brown sugar and butter together, add the egg and beat until combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients, the mashed banana and the milk to the butter mixture in batches, alternating between them and mixing in between each addition. Mix it until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and chopped bananas. 
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the top of the loaf begins to brown and a toothpick, or tester, inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. 
7. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack and allow to cool.

Recipe notes 

• I sift my flour using a mesh strainer and can’t get the last little bit to go through it so I just dump it in the bowl after I have gotten as much through it as possible. 
• The Weight Watchers recipe says to beat the butter and sugar together “until light and fluffy”, as you can see in photos 5 and 6 mine didn’t get light or fluffy. Not sure why, but the banana bread still tastes delicious!
• I add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the mashed banana, then 1/2 the milk, then another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the other half of the mashed banana, the other 1/2 of the milk, then the last 1/3 of the flour mixture.
• For best results make sure the eggs, milk, and especially the butter are room temperature before you start to make this recipe.  
• The loaf of bread in the pictures was cut into about 10 slices, not 18.

Storage

Store the banana bread in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days, in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer for a couple of months. You can also wrap individual slices in plastic wrap or aluminum foil for a quick grab-and-go snack. 

Can you eat banana bread and still lose weight?

You can! Now you can’t eat the entire loaf, or even half the loaf, in one sitting and not expect to gain a few pounds. But you can eat a serving or two of it and be okay.

Also, when trying to lose weight you need to be mindful of all you are eating in one day and try to keep calories, carb, and fat intake to a level that will allow you to still lose weight (this is different for different people).

So if you eat this banana bread instead of a different snack of about the same nutritional value then you should be alright. 

What make this banana bread better for you than traditional banana bread?

Normal banana bread recipes use only white flour, and typically have more fat and sugar. For example, the banana bread recipe over at Food Network has 4 times as much butter and twice as much sugar and eggs as this recipe.

Obviously less sugar and butter is helpful to keep calories and fat to a minimum. And, while eggs can be part of a healthy diet, to have half as many as traditional banana bread means there are overall less calories and fat.

It is the little tweaks here and there to make a healthier version of your favorite foods that will also help you eat better overall. 

Other recipes we have lightened up

Baked Chicken Spaghetti

Beef Enchiladas with Avocado Sauce

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Light & Creamy Potato Soup

Weight Watcher Pumpkin Fluff

Kodiak Cakes Muffins

Chocolate Cake 

Potato Salad

Yogurt Drop Biscuits