Fat free banana bread that does not taste fat-free.
It is so soft and buttery.
I’m trying really hard not to say “moist” because I know everyone hates that word!
This bread actually wasn’t supposed to be fat-free. In fact, I was quite upset upon discovering—midway through preparing the recipe—only about a teaspoon’s worth of coconut oil lingered in my sad little jar. (Note to self: gather all ingredients before starting to cook a recipe. Will I ever learn?)
Since I’d already begun, I wasn’t going to put the recipe on hold; my heart stomach was set on banana bread! Option one was to use olive oil. However, I worried the oil’s strong flavor might affect the taste of my not-yet-tested banana bread recipe.
Option two was to make a Single-Serving Banana Bread.
But I really wanted a whole loaf. And I also wanted a new recipe so I could post about it, which is always more exciting than when I post about a recipe I’ve already published. Many lovely bloggers and readers assured me on twitter that fat-free would be fine. So I made a few changes and hoped for the best… I never imagined the results would be so good!
For maximum enjoyment: Eat this for breakfast, while still in your pjs!
Fat Free Banana Bread
(Makes 10-12 slices)
- 2 c spelt, white, or arrowhead mills gf flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 c milk of choice OR oil
- 1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, agave, or honey (Or, here’s a Sugar-Free Version.)
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch uncut stevia OR 1 tbsp additional agave/maple syrup
- 1 and 2/3 c tightly-packed, mashed banana (measured after mashing)
- 1/3 cup berries of choice, or more banana (I actually used 1 full cup of sliced strawberries. The resulting bread was extremely gooey, but I loved it that way!)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix into dry. (Mix by hand, and don’t overmix.) Pour into a greased loaf pan and cook for 35-50 minutes, depending on how gooey you want it. (Tip: If the top is cooked but the inside is still gooey, put tin foil over the top and continue to cook.) After removing from the oven, let cool for ten minutes before slicing. After the first day, this bread is best stored in the fridge. Or cut into slices and freeze for later.
Nutrition Information at a Glance:
- 130 calories
- 0 grams of fat
- 0 mg cholesterol
- Fiber depends on the flour you use
Add around 20 extra calories for the Polka-Dot Banana Bread.
Question of the Day:
Do you ever lower the fat in a recipe or substitute applesauce for the oil?
I know many people are conscious of fat, so I try to offer lower-fat options whenever possible in my recipes. Yet, my own diet is actually pretty high in fat. I think “fat” has gotten a bad name. It sounds so negative, and society likens it to the devil. But, especially if you’re young and healthy, cutting out healthy fats (such as oils and nuts) can wreak havoc on your organs, skin, and hair.
As for this particular banana bread? It really does taste wonderful on its own. However, my slice didn’t stay fat-free for long. I painted that baby in a nice, thick coat of peanut butter. It was delicious!
I frequently sub 1/4 cup of applesauce for an egg- it works really well and keeps breads and muffins especially moist (the word is sometimes unavoidable…).
LOL I actually like the word! Not as much as the word “gooey” though. That’s my favorite food word :).
Hmm I ALWAYS reduce or substitute fat in a recipe because of 2 reasons:
1. I really dislike the smell of oil and the trouble of washing oily dishes! (tons of soap needed!)
2. My diet outside of meals self-cooked (mostly dessert-meals) are very high in fat (the food prepared outside are really oily and unhealthy) so having lower-fat/fat-free homemade goodies kind of balances up everything!
On a side note, can the 1/3 cup berries/bananas extra be eliminated? (I have neither berries nor enough bananas!) Thanks.
It *might* be a little drier, but yes, they can definitely be omitted.
I sometimes sub applesauce for all or half of the oil, but I most certantly don’t have a low fat diet! I eat loads of peanut butter, always put oil on my salad and eat avocados whenever I can!
The reason why I try to healthify and lower the amounts of fats and sugar in baked goods is that I love them so much i know I’ll eat big amounts so I might as well try and make them less heavy! Plus, they make me less too-much-sugar-and-fat-kind-of-sick…does that make any sense?
Yes!! Haha I totally feel the same way! I love desserts so much so I want to make them healthy as possible so I can eat TONS of them!! 😛 Haha!!
I often substitue applesauce for oil but it depends on what. For cakes, usually that’s a special occasion and I like the consistency of oil better. Muffins, breads – those are fine with applesauce. I also like making brownies with yogurt.
Yummy!!!!!! I bet this tastes amazing!! Even if I do eat or make reduced fat food, I usually make up for it later w/ peanut butter! hahaha
Have you tried PB2? Lots less fat!
Yum, girl! This looks awesome! I love the name, especially :).
“Pajama Banana Bread”, hahaha 😀
I pretty much always substitute applesauce for oil or just reduce the amount of fat, but not because I hate fat (I love it!!!!!! Gives so much flavour, protects our organs, helps keep hair shiny and skin soft…), but simply because I don´t believe all that fat in baked good is necessary and I´d rather “save” some fat in baked goods, so I can have more pb in my oatmeal 😉
To me, though, taste is king, and I was baking some pancakes this morning that just tasted bland without any fat, so I added coconut butter and they were so much better.
I absolutely HATE the word “moist!” My fiance teases me about it incessantly. And I always try to lower the fat in recipes. I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian, but I try to eat as healthy as possible, and that includes low-fat or fat-free chesses, yogurts, milks, etc., as well as low-fat cooking and baking. It doesn’t make sense NOT to!
i admit i am pretty afraid of fat, still. your blog has done wonders to help me in getting over this fear, but i still have a long way to go. katie, there was a time when i wouldn’t touch peanut butter AT ALL! now i can at least allow myself a little, and it’s all thanks to you. really, your blog has helped me so much!
Ditto this. I’m currently battling an eating disorder, and Katie’s blog has helped me to see food as something to be enjoyed, whereas previously I viewed it as the enemy. For the first time in a long while, I actually want to get healthy!
I used to completely be this way (would make sure I ate 10g or less a day) and now I realized for me it had a lot more to do with total calories than anything else. Now I focus on eating healthy, and if that means gobs of peanut butter and hoardes of avocados…I do it!! I’ve even recently started using butter and oils again. 🙂 You can get over it, I promise. I’m losing weight and eating as much fat as I want.
Same with me!! Katie is such a role model to me and she is really the one who helped me out of struggling with an eating disorder too! I hope she sees these posts so she can know, because I really cannot thank you enough Katie!!! 🙂
Thank you… your comments really made me happy. Life is short, and it’s unfair that the media or other outside influences have the power to make people feel guilty for enjoying good food, spinning things like chocolate and dessert as something negative. Chocolate is NOT negative ;). And if you eat dessert every day, you are not a bad person. And if you eat a healthy diet with lots of healthy fat, it will not make you fat and should definitely not make anyone feel guilty.
Haha can’t believe it’s taken you this long to get a banana bread recipe on your site! 😉