Gingerbread Banana Bread – Soft and moist gingerbread combines with sweet homemade banana bread for the ultimate holiday baked good.
Maple Syrup And Agave – Are They Better For You Than Sugar?
Pretty much on a weekly basis, readers ask me what I think of agave, maple syrup, and other alternatives to white sugar.
Are they healthier?
Are they good for you?
Should you replace white sugar with maple syrup?
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While these sweeteners might be a little less unhealthy than table sugar, that doesn’t mean they are good for you.
Sugar is still sugar, and it’s a good idea to cut back no matter what type of sugar you are using, whether it’s maple syrup, agave, honey, coconut sugar, brown sugar, or white table sugar.
I keep this in mind when developing recipes, and most or all of the recipes on my site that call for any type of sugar will have significantly less sugar than traditional versions of the same recipes.
There is, however, one exception: blackstrap molasses.
Blackstrap molasses is by far my favorite sweetener, not just for its gingerbread flavor but also because it offers an incredible number of health benefits packed into one tiny tablespoon, including copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, and 20% of the RDA for both calcium and iron.
If you’re new to molasses, be sure to try my recipe for Vegan Pecan Pie.
Especially around Christmastime, I try to add molasses to as many recipes as I can.
And since I’ve already done regular gingerbread, with my 3 Secret Ingredient Gingerbread Recipe, making banana bread seemed like the logical next step.
If you like gingerbread and bananas, you will love this vegan gingerbread banana bread!
Adapted from my Healthy Banana Bread
Gingerbread Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups mashed banana
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk of choice OR oil
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, agave, or honey
- 1/4 cup molasses – blackstrap or regular
- 1 1/2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp each: baking powder and salt
- 2 cups spelt, white, or bob’s gf flour (260g)
- optional pinch stevia or 3 tbsp sugar for more of a dessert bread
- optional 1/2 cup raisins or crushed walnuts
Instructions
- Grease a 9x5 loaf pan very well, going up the sides. (Or line the pan with parchment.) Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk the first 6 ingredients together in a bowl, then set aside. In a large bowl, stir remaining ingredients together very well. Pour wet over dry, stir just until evenly mixed, and smooth into the loaf pan. Bake on the center rack for 33 minutes – then do not open the oven even to peek, but turn off the heat. Let sit in the closed oven for 10 additional minutes. Remove and let cool completely before going around the sides with a knife and inverting onto a plate or cutting from the pan. Store leftover slices in the fridge for 2-3 days or freeze for up to a month.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
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The chocolate marble swirl banana bread on this website has been my go-to banana bread recipe since I found it. This recipe was even better. The flavor was incredible and not too sweet, and the bread was moist and tender like quick bread should be. For my oven 33 minutes cook time was a little shy and left the top center a bit gooey. Next time I’ll try 45 minutes and see if that cooks it all the way through. Excellent recipe!
Wow, the recipe is too delicious, I will try it definitely at my home.
good one
What would be the bake time if I made half of the recipe in a loaf pan or cupcakes?
Your pictures are so pretty and appetizing that I feel hungry now. I have prepared gingerbread many times with pleasant results. I am surely trying out your recipe this coming weekend.
Does nutrition facts include raisins and sugar?
I omitted raisins but added 2 tbsp of raw cane sugar.
Great recipe thanks!
Impressive！Thanks for the post
I made this today and really like it. Thank you so much for recipe that uses bananas that is *not* strictly a banana bread. I love it!
Good luck! Great info
Mmmmm this is soo good. I was craving something gingerbread-ish for Fall and this recipe was perfect. Moist and perfectly dessert like… I am so grateful for your recipe. I used Spelt flour, used 1/6 cup milk and 1/6 cup oil, lots of toasted pecans and added the 3 TBSP sugar because I wanted it to be a little sweet. It was yummy! . 5 stars all the way!
Thank you!!
The edges were very tasty, but was very under done. I ended up tossing most away.
Why would you toss it? Just leave it in a little longer and it would have been fine. Because of so many different factors, including climate, elevation, calibrated oven, etc, baking times can be off by a lot for different bakers. But just baking longer would have fixed the issue no problem!
Could eggs be added for extra protein for the healy breakfast option? what quantity would you suggest or ingredient replacements?
Sounds like a fun experiment! Be sure to report back if you try!
Katie – we love so many of your recipes. This is a great one! Very happy family this morning. Will make again this season. Thank you!!
Hi Katie,
My friend is allergic to vinegar. Would it be ok to omit it?
Thanks
Helen
Hi Katie, thank you so much for sharing your recipes. When I made this recipe I had to cook much longer than you recommended. When I finally took it out, it still seemed undercooked and very dense. Is this because there are no eggs? What did I do wrong? I used spelt flour and milk instead of oil.
Hi! Because of so many different factors, including climate, elevation, calibrated oven (is yours calibrated?), etc, baking times can be off by a lot for different bakers. But just baking longer would have fixed the issue no problem!
Can I use date paste instead of the sugar?
In this one, yes. In most cases, no because you’d be replacing a solid with a liquid (or not-so-solid), but in this recipe it would work because the extra sugar/stevia is only there for added sweetness, not for bulk.