Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread
A Delicious and Nutritious Way to Start Your Day
When the temperature drops and that crisp cold morning air of Autumn appears, it’s time to start baking! 🍰 There are many autumnal things that I love brewing up, one of my favourites is this Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread!
First of all, it’s in the title, really simple. Blend some ingredients together and slide it in the oven. Then, it really does taste delicious without even adding that much sugar as mature bananas are very sweet! And lastly, we all suffer from the sun slowly disappearing from our mornings. It makes us tired and it’s really hard to start the day in a positive light. So this Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread is really my personal way to lift my spirit up with a morning treat!
Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread: the great breakfast option
I never really encountered Banana Bread before moving to the UK. It’s not something we make in Italy and I think it’s because Banan Bread is an “I’m gonna survive this cold and rainy season” kind of cake. And yes, I made up a whole category for cakes and breads like this one. Which we don’t really need in Italy as our autumns and winters are milder and much much sunnier!
So when I learnt of it, I thought it was a weird interesting kind of concoction. It’s called bread but it’s not really bread. It’s a cake, but not really a cake. It uses mature cooked Bananas which are not the fruits I was used to seeing in a cake. But most of all, one single slice could keep me happily energized for hours on end. I loved it!
I researched some recipes and came up with this Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread which quickly became a breakfast favourite. This is why:
It’s full of goodies. Bananas make it a really good source of potassium, vitamins B6 and C and together with whole wheat flour create a highly fibres-filled cake. This Whole Wheat Banana Bread is carbs galore which means that it’s a great boost of slow-releasing energy in the morning. It’ll keep you full and satisfied until lunchtime. Because of the sweetness of the mature Bananas, you can have very little added sugar, which helps avoid sugar spikes and crushes. Then, I wanted to add a type of nuts – not only because they’re delicious with bananas – but also to complete the nutrition chart with a bit of antioxidants and proteins!
Are you sold yet?
A GERD-friendly alternative
I made this Whole Wheat Banana Bread as nutritious and GERD-friendly as possible. Cutting down on unhealthy fats and processed ingredients, in favour of whole wheat grains and natural sugars. However, as with every cake-like food, this Whole Wheat Banana Bread is fairly chunky and should be consumed in moderation. I would suggest no more than a slice per day, especially for you all with acid reflux! After all, one slice is more than enough to satisfy your taste buds!
Toppings for your Whole Wheat Banana Bread
There are many ways you can eat this Banana Bread. It’s lovely cold with a dust of icing sugar on top or warm with a drizzle of maple syrup. However, my favourite combination is:
Unless it’s straight out of the oven, warm one big slice of the Whole Wheat Banana Bread in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until piping hot. Then drizzle with Greek yoghurt and a teaspoon of clear runny honey. Trust me, it’s the real deal!
Cheeky ingredients swaps
- Vegan: Simply replace the butter (if you haven’t already) with vegetable butter. Then, Instead of eggs, you can either get rid of them altogether – the bread will still come out fantastic 😊, just slightly less springy. Or you can replace them with acquafaba.
- Nutless: If you don’t like nuts or you’re allergic, you can easily take them out of this recipe. However, if you like the taste, you can add figs or sultanas instead. They go wonderfully with Banana Bread!
So grab your oven mitts and get ready for a lovely baking session.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please share your own banana bread recipes or tips in the comments section below ❤️
Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 Oven
- 1 Medium Loaf tin or a 20cm cake tin
- Non-stick baking paper
- 1 Medium mixin bowl
- 1 Electric mixer or hand whisk
- 1 Silicon or wooden spoon
- 1 Fine sieve or colander
Ingredients
- 250 gr Wholewheat flour
- 3 Mature Bananas 1 extra for toppings if you have it!
- 80 gr Cane sugar You can add a bit more up to 120gr if you prefer a sweeter Banana Bread.
- 70 gr Butter I prefer vegetable butter
- 16 gr Baking powder
- 3 Eggs
- 100 gr Roughly crushed Walnuts
- pinch salt
- dust Autumn Spiced Blend or just cinnamon if you want a lighter taste
Instructions
- In your mixing bowl add the eggs and the sugar with a pinch of salt. Give it all a good whisk, until a light foam appears on the surface. I prefer to do this with an electric whisker but doing it by hand works just fine 🙂
- Cut the 3 bananas into small pieces and add them to the mix. Give it a good stir and with a fork press the banana flesh to ensure they are fully incorporated into the batter.
- Add the melted butter and a dusting of the Autumn Spice Blend or your chosen autumnal spices. You can add as much or as little spices as you wish according to your taste, but be careful not to exaggerate!
- Whisk well again and then sieve the flour into the mixing bowl. This is to avoid any lump and help the flour better incorporate with the batter. Since this is whole wheat flour, some of the bigger fibres from grains and such may be trapped behind on your sieve so once the flour is all through, tip your sieve to add the leftover flour fibres.
- Incorporate the flour and then add the crushed walnuts. I like the crunch so I left the walnuts fairly chunky but you can break them down as much as you'd like or leave them in halves. Mix well!At this point, you should have a firmer batter/dough that you can easily pick up with a fork but still liquid enough to allow you to pour it.
- Line your tin with baking paper and bake for 45 minutes at 170℃ with fan settings. Every oven is slightly different so I would recommend keeping an eye on your banana bread and checking every now and then that's not burning. Once the time is up, check with a reusable cake tester or a wooden pick that the banana bread is fully cooked. It's normal to have a bit of residue on the pick but if the dough is too creamy still, put it back in the oven and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
- Once it's fully cooked, leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy with a little drizzle of yoghurt and honey or maple syrup!Store in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3 days or freeze it for up to 2 months.
Cheeky tips
Use The Cheeky Green Bean Autumn Spice Blend to enhance your Simple Whole Wheat Banana Bread taste!
Check out more autumnal recipes from our archives.
Explore whole grains and their benefits in this 5 Whole Grains to include in your GERD-free Diet post.
