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 simply adore this recipe! I’ve made it at least four times and it never disappoints! And I especially love that it makes a nice, tall loaf! I always get disappointed when a quickbread loaf is only like an inch and a half tall, though I know that that’s really just the nature of quick breads! Anyway, this is nice and tall/fat… And I love it! 🙂
Just put this bread in the oven! Hope it turns out good.
I was looking for a fat free banana bread recipe and you came through. I am baking it right now! Ever since going vegan a year and a half ago, I have been using your recipes and loving every one of them!
I made this on the weekend and it was amazing. I only had half the required maple syrup so I used honey to make up the quantity. It was so good I ate the whole batch over two days.
Hello! This banana bread looks really amazing (and will would probably be even more amazing eaten in pajamas, at breakfast, personally my favorite meal of the day!) I am definitely NOT afraid of fat (the healthy ones of course) and do enjoy eating avocadoes and peanut butter (the most addicting food on the planet!). But when baking desserts I usually sub oil for something like apple sauce, just to save a few extra calories for other things. But sometimes I use extra virgin olive oil in baking just to make it extra delicous and moist (I love the word moist because I always associate it with soft scrumptious banana bread:)). I love having desserts for breakfast because I feel like it is the only meal you are really allowed to have them as the main dish. I love banana bread so I will hopefully be trying this soon, just maybe after your black bean brownies!
I’m a little late to this thread, but oh well 🙂 This bread looks awesome! I might toss in some cacao nibs. Bought those for one recipe at some point, now I’m always looking for ways to use them up!
About fat–I find that excess calories make me gain weight, no matter what form they take. I’ll usually calculate the calories per serving in a recipe and, based on that, decide whether or not to sub something for the fat. I tried the Paleo diet for about a year because I was so tired of counting calories, because the thing about Paleo is that you’re not SUPPOSED to have to count calories… well. I gained 10 pounds. And I stuck to it 24/7. My only cheat was an occasional glass of wine. So, I’m back to a more varied diet, counting calories like a maniac. I think Paleo and other diets where fats don’t “count” are for young people with faster metabolisms. I’m nearly 49, and in order to remain a size 2, I have to work HARD. When I was in my 20s, I had pizza once a week, ice cream now and then, etc. As long as I didn’t lie around on the couch all day, I never gained weight. Rarely even thought about weighing myself. Now, though–it’s been years since I had a slice of pizza. I have real cake maybe once a year. Real ice cream? Maybe once a summer, and only when I’m out–so there’s no carton sitting in my freezer. And I STILL struggle. In addition to cutting every non-essential out of my diet, I run about 18 miles a week and walk my dog 4 miles a day 7x per week. I stick with about 1700 to 1800 high-quality calories per day, and this works. But I look at a Kind bar the way I used to look at a slice of cake! I’m trying to work some Katie recipes into my world, but man, it is still tough. All of you folks who say, “Oh, I can eat all the fat I want and I never gain weight!” call me when you’re 40 and let me know how that’s working out for ya 😉
I wish you had put this recipe in your cookbook. I have to make this regularly. My husband loves it, and now, since he shared some at work with his co-workers, they love it. I bought your cookbook hoping this would be in it. This banana bread is so yummy!!!!!
How much is a serving?
I have made this today! I added some prunes and some chopped nuts. I used a combination of almond milk and semi skimmed milk. The result, surprisingly, is delicious.
I have indulged in 2 slices with a generous layer of vitalife dairy free spread.
I cannot wait to share this with my family.
Love, love, love this recipe! I used 3 pureed bananas, omitted the vanilla, cinnamon and extra sweetener (only added the 1/2 cup maple syrup), threw in some grated coconut, 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 1/4 cup cocoa nibs. Increased the (soy) milk from 1/3 to 1/2 cup.
The result, after 40-45 mins of baking in my combination oven, was still really moist and airy!
Thank you for this versatile recipe, next time I’ll do a berry version 🙂
Made this banana bread last night, using whole grain spelt, and it came out incredible! Seriously, this is probably the best and most fool-proof banana bread I’ve made and one of the best I’ve eaten. I didn’t add berries and didn’t see that I was supposed to use more banana if omitting the berries, but didn’t have a problem. I did add 1/4c chopped walnuts + 1/4c raisins into the batter and sprinkled 1/4c pecans on top. Baked 46 min. Scrumptious! This is definitely my new go-to recipe.
Can I use oat flour instead of spelt, white etc?
What about Cassava flour – or tapioca starch or arrowroot? Would those work?
I made it yesterday! It’s delicious, everyone loved it, even my colleagues who don’t eat healthy stuff 🙂 Love your site! Greetings from Greece 🙂
I made this delicious Banana bread last night. It was after 9pm when I started making it so I cooked it in a bundt pan so I didn’t have to bake it as long. I left out the extra berries. It was a plain banana bread.. So yummy!! I cooked it in the bundt for 30 minutes.. It was perfectly done. Thanks for another delicious recipe… BTW I made the fat free version.. no oil, just almond milk.
I just made these but replaced the banana with pumpkin! SOOOO GOOD 🙂 Thanks for the recipe! I also used GF oat flour instead and instead of plant milk or oil I added a flax egg!