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This oatmeal banana bread is a healthy twist on the classic quick bread! No flour and no refined sugar needed, it’s made with just 5 ingredients and uses just a blender!
Healthy Oatmeal Banana Bread
When it comes to healthy recipes using oats, my favorites to make are pancakes, muffins, and this oatmeal banana bread.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making significantly healthier choices. I’ve noticed over the past couple of months that my energy levels have been fluctuating considerably each day. When analyzing my food intake, I’ve noticed that my intake of refined sugars and flour had been higher than normal.
I tend to have a very clean and balanced diet. My breakfasts are often a smoothie or overnight oats, and both my lunches and dinners always contain some form of vegetables (unless I’m enjoying some lasagna). As a snacker, I always have either some homemade protein bars on hand or some energy balls. However, with all the baking I’ve been doing recently, I’ve found myself switching my usual breakfasts for something of the sweeter variety.
My usual breakfasts had been replaced with either some banana bread or zucchini bread. Both wholesome and healthy in my books but upon closer inspection, considerably more wheat and sugar than I’d typically have. No wonder I’d been suffering from mid-morning crashes. As a way to rectify this, I’ve made some smart swaps, and recently, been loving this super healthy banana bread.
I’ve been meaning to share this healthy oatmeal banana bread recipe for quite some time. It uses wholesome and healthy ingredients and uses just 5 ingredients. No refined sugar and no flour needed, but you’d never tell. The texture is dense, slightly moist, and with a tender crumb. It’s naturally sweet but not too sweet, making it perfect for a healthy dessert or even for breakfast.
While this bread isn’t like your traditional moist and fluffy banana bread, it’s hearty and sweet enough to satisfy your baked good cravings, minus the sugar crash!
How do you make oatmeal banana bread?
The Ingredients
- Rolled oats– Either original rolled oats or gluten free oats.
- Banana– Overripe bananas are best, as they blend much easier and have a sweeter flavor.
- Maple syrup– Adds sweetness to the bread, and also gives it some moisture. You can also use honey or agave nectar.
- Eggs– Room temperature eggs.
- Baking soda- Gives the bread some rise and fluffiness.
- Chocolate chips– optional, but highly recommended.
The Instructions
In a high speed blender or food processor, add all your ingredients and blend until a smooth and pourable batter remains. If your batter is too thick, you can add some almond or oat milk to loosen it. Next, fold through your chocolate chips, if using them.
Now, transfer into a greased loaf pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean. Let the bread cool in the pan completely, before slicing it up.
Tips to make the best 5 ingredient banana bread
- Do not overbake the bread. As this recipe uses oatmeal instead of flour, it is prone to drying out very easily.
- While milk isn’t included in the ingredient list, you may need to add some of it if your batter is too thick (this is due to not using enough banana). Alternatively, you can add an extra banana or two.
- This bread is not overly sweet, relying on the banana and maple syrup for sweetness. If you’d like a sweeter bread, add 1/4 cup of your favorite granulated sweetener or sugar.
Storing and freezing healthy banana oat bread
- To store: Oatmeal banana bread should always be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.
- To freeze: Place slices of the bread in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More healthy recipes to try
Healthy Oatmeal Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats gluten free, if needed
- 4 large bananas approximately 1 1/2 cups banana
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoon maple syrup can use honey or agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.
- In a high speed blender or food processor, add all your ingredients and blend until a smooth batter remains. Fold through the chocolate chips, if using them.
- Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let cool completely, before slicing.
I was really surprised by how good this recipe turned out! Actually even better than my usual go to banana bread recipe AND it’s healthier. I followed the instructions and blended everything. Since I have a small blender I blended the oats seperately and then the rest of the ingredients, and then just mixed everything together in a bowl.
I used a 9×6 pan and kept it in the oven at 350 degrees for 42 min.
I used honey instead of maple syrup (a suggested substitute) as I did not have maple syrup on hand.
I also added chopped walnuts. It turned out amazing!
Next time I might sub the chocolate chips for blueberries, hopefully that turns out well too.
It turned out so good I sent this recipe to everyone I know LOL!
Definitely worth a try. Trust the process, you’ll be happy with the results.
Love it . Not too sweet just perfect . I sometimes make it without the chocolate chips and it’s just as amazing
Oh my goodness! I’m rubbish at baking but this was so easy and delicious. Very moist, and rose well. I made it for my son who also spread some peanut butter on it for a wholesome, delicious snack. I followed the recipe to the letter and I had no problems. I used a small loaf tin, and it all fitted in perfectly. I wish I could have uploaded a picture as it looks so yummy.
Great recipe, if you substitute zucchini for the bananas just increase syrup from 6 Tablespoons to 1 1/4 cup. Bananas bring their sweetness unlike zucchini.
I love how simple this recipe is! 🤩 And actually very tasty 🙌 I used 4tbsp of honey, which was totally enough. Thank you!
It’s the best banana is banana 🥖 I have ever eaten 👍🏻❤️
Blooming lovely, I added a few chopped walnuts and dates to my second one and wow!!
Love this recipe – I make it about once a week to satisfy my pregnancy cravings in a healthier way. I like adding lots of walnuts, a dash of vanilla, dash of salt, and two big dollops of Greek yogurt. I add a little more than 2c oatmeal to compensate for the extra wet ingredients. I definitely prefer moist “eat with a fork” bread like this compared to the drier recipes that use flour!
This is quite literally the best banana bread I’ve ever made. My mom even asked for the recipe a few weeks ago when I first made it. It is now a staple at our house.
I just made this recipe and it was suuuper easy to make and my family loved it my mom who is diabetic was finally able to enjoy this treat without feeling guilty about it. So thank you sooo much for this recipe we truly appreciate it.
Let me start by saying the bread is delicious! I made some tweaks based on comments here and I’m wondering if, in doing so, I may have created the results I wrought. I used 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and added 1/4 cup of sour cream to provide the acid to help the baking soda. I did use three thawed frozen bananas and 1 fresh banana. It puffed up beautifully in the oven, but when it came out and cooled, it lost half of its height. Is that to be expected? What did I do wrong? Again, it tastes wonderful, but the consistency is more like a thick fudgy brownie than a bread. By the way, a slice in the microwave for 20 seconds is the best! Can’t wait to make French Toast with it.
This was such a delightful addition to the breakfast rotation. I can honestly say, this is my FAVORITE recipe that I’ve tried, to date.
YUM!!!! Pro tip: I used semi-sweet dark chocolate chips and this came out perfectly.
I don’t know what I was expecting, I this came out better than I could have imagined. It’s so SOFT and moist. I blended the oats before hand and the result was a fluffy, cake like masterpiece. Thanks for the recipe!
I forgot the b soda. It was fine more like a muesli bar I added walnuts an sultanas an cinnamon it was great thanks
Yup. Super nummy. Made this for my 1 year old who is too small and dropped some weight percentiles. I am anxiously trying to find dense foods that she likes, but that aren’t just processed crap. This recipe came together super easy in my blender. I was a little shy a banana, so I added an unsweetened applesauce cup. I didn’t have maple syrup(but I’ll get some so I can make this properly)so I added a 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I used a cake pan to bake rather than a loaf pan, and so found 30 minutes to do the trick. Awesome simple recipe. She took the cake right out of my hand and started putting it in her mouth, so I would say that’s a good review.