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!
Do you think you could use pumpkin instead of the extra fruit?
Sounds like a good idea to me! If you try it, do report back :).
Is that the calorie count for one slice or the whole loaf?
Too gooey. Cooked longer than 35 mins and still goo. Like eating dough. Not a fan of dough. Prefer moist. Still baking it right now.
I would just like to say that I made this today, and .. OH MY GOODNESS. This was seriously the best banana bread that I’ve had in my life. I did make a few tweaks to it however:
– instead of the agave and stevia — 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
– I omitted the salt
– I used fat free, skimmed milk
– I made it gluten free. I used 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill GF All-Purpose flour; it turned out beautifully
Also, instead of butter, I topped mine with a little bit of organic almond butter.
This is seriously the best thing in the world! Thank you so much for creating such unique, guilt free recipes that I can have (because they are GF, sugar free or fat free!) Thank you soo much.
I made this today for breakfast for my family with GF flour (Pamela’s Mix and coconut milk. It came out awesome! I omitted the salt and baking powder since the mix contained both and that was good enough. For berries, I used blueberries. Yum, yum, yum! There is only a tiny square left of the banana bread! 🙂
This was absolutely the BEST banana bread I have ever made!!! I cut back a little on the agave – only used 1/4 cup, used 3 1/2 bananas and it was so moist, and had a perfect texture. The best is when you leave a few chunks of banana in the batter:) Thank you Katie for coming up with such a delicious recipe. This is a keeper whether I’m wearing pajamas or not!
Glad I found your blog! My family and I are getting on a more healthy kick and I needed a new recipe for our over ripe bananas. I’m really excited for this fat free recipe, I have a loaf baking now:) Please keep posting!
I’ve made this several times now, and it’s fantastic! This last time, I used half oat flour and half spelt flour, and the results were not as good — it did not rise half as much as it does with just spelt flour. Just wanted to let anyone know in case they were thinking of making that sub. Also, one batch I decided to use half coconut oil and half milk, and I actually like the taste better when I just used milk!
In short, make this exactly as written and you won’t be sorry!
I’ll use applesauce in a muffin if I want to top it with peanut butter, but no, I don’t shun fat, I think it’s pretty necessary, and has many health benefits.
You’re right, fat does have a bad name and I believe it happened when a scientist named Ancel Keys conducted a survey that correlated fat consumption to mortality rates, out of the six countries he studied, Japan, with the lowest fat intake and consequently the lowest death rates, and the US which had the highest fat intake and highest death rates. There was a very direct correlation between fat intake and death rate.
But correlation is not causation
Turns out, Ancel actually surveyed 22 countries. And when those countries were put on the graph, it totally threw off the curve, and fat intake was not so correlated to death. Still, the United states was in the upper right hand corner of the graph. So convinced us that fat was the enemy and we should run from it screaming.
I can actually think of many reasons we avoid fat like the plague.
The media profits off of our innate fear of fat. They are always searching to make lower fat foods, even peanut buter!
The aphorism, “You are what you eat”, so what happens if you eat fat?
Some fatty foods are really unhealthy, ahem, McDonalds. Since McDonalds is high in fat, and so are macadamia nuts, then macadamia nuts must be also as artery clogging.
Fat has a buttload of calories, more than twice of carbs and protein.
But seriously, we need it in our diets, and fat should not be eaten with a side of guilt
I’ve been looking for a healthy peach bread recipe, and haven’t been able to find one where I can successfully sub ingredients. I think I’ll try subbing the peaches into this and see how it goes.