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!
For the sugar-free banana bread recipe version,
Can we sub or replace the melted coconut or canola oil,
If we don’t have those ingredient?
Can we sub or replace the melted coconut or canola oil with applesauce or is there anymore opinion to sub or replace the melted coconut or canola oil with?
Also do we need to add egg in the sugar-free version?
This look so good, I just have to make it for myself
My went hard and stift?
I don’t really know why, but I use the sugar free recipe and measure everything is mL instead other.
I use 5 banana, 1 banana that I bough 2week ago and the 4 banana I bough 3 day ago, I don’t think that the 4 banana I use are ripe at all.
I sub the dates with prunes, but I
Don’t think I put half cup, maybe just one or two dates not enough, the coconut oil with 25ml of applesauce , 14ml of milk and a 12ml of Olive oil.
I also sub the floor by using 300ml of whole wheat floor from Woolworth the home brand with 100ml of self-rasing floor.
Didn’t use salt because I think it will be to salty, also I don’t really like salt but I did add the rest ingredient such as the cinnamon but use the sugar type.
The 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 2 teaspoons baking powder was add as told.
But what do you think could have cause the bread to be very hard and stift like it terrible, also very hard to slice and cut up, it has to be heat u to be a little soft or it will be rock hard.
Do you know what I did could have cause this to happen and can you please tell me what could I have added to make it very soft like your, or could you tell
Me what I could or needed to put or add in it, but maybe fat free at the same time
Are you really serious with this comment? So you went and completely changed the recipe then wondered why your results didn’t turn out well? And then you want to know what you could have done differently? At the risk of sounding obvious, what you could have done differently is to actually follow the recipe!
haha this made my day
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?