Healthy Banana Date Bread

Side view of banana date bread with coffee cup and bananas in background.

This banana date bread is deliciously moist, fruity and full of goodness. It's naturally sweetened with bananas, dates and a little maple syrup and does not contain any refined sugar.

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Snack

Cuisine vegetarian

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 18

Servings slices

Calories 293kcal

Author Monika Dabrowski

Equipment

Food processor
23 cm/ 9'' loaf pan

Ingredients

10.58 ounces ripe bananas peeled weight, approx. 3¼ med. bananas
5.64 ounces dates pitted, halved
¼ cup maple syrup
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons Greek/natural yogurt
⅓ cup+2tsp vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose/plain flour
¾ cup whole wheat/wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
⅔ teaspoon baking powder
⅔ teaspoon cinnamon
⅕ teaspoon fine sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C/ gas mark 4. Grease a medium loaf pan and line with baking paper. Set aside.
Whisk together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt.
Place the eggs, banana, dates, oil, yogurt and maple syrup in a food processor and pulse until the dates are finely chopped and you can still clearly see small pieces (they should not be pureed completely).
Combine the dry and wet mixtures and stir only until the dry ingredients are no longer visible.
Pour the mixture into the pan, smooth out the top and bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour 10 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean). If the top starts to brown too much cover loosely with foil (after about 50-55 minutes).
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Lift out of the pan along with the paper and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Use very ripe bananas for maximum natural sweetness. You do not have to mash them.
Pulse the wet mixture until the dates are finely chopped but not pureed completely.
Do not overstir the batter. Stop stirring once the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
I used cinnamon but you can swap it for mixed spice/pumpkin spice or use ground ginger instead.
You can use natural yogurt or Skyr instead of the Greek yogurt.
Runny honey is a good substitute for maple syrup.
Cool this banana date bread completely before slicing (it will cut better).
Storing: Keep wrapped/covered or store in a plastic container for up to 3 days.
Freeze individual slices in an airtight container for up to 3 months (separate the slices with parchment paper). Alternatively freeze the entire loaf in a freezer bag.

Nutrition