One of my pet peeves is when people label a dessert as “healthy,” and not because that is grammatically incorrect, but rather because desserts have sugar of some form and that will never be “good” for you no matter how much whole wheat flour you throw in there. Of course, you could say one dessert is more healthful than another or that it will lead to the demise of your health less quickly than its traditional counterpart. But to call a dessert healthful because we use yogurt instead of butter, but then add in 3 cups of sugar, is just plain delusional.
Would you call me a hypocrite if I told you I have a recipe for a healthful dessert? I don’t blame you, but stay with me here. I know of a sweet something that calls for no sugar of any kind — not even my favorite, maple syrup. Don’t be silly, I am not going artificial on you! It is a delicious banana bread sweetened only with ripe bananas and pureed dates. Dates grow locally in Southern California, so we have access to some fantastic varieties here, my favorite being the Medjool. If you are ever craving something sweet, but don’t want to give in to processed junk, take a pitted date or two and stick a pecan in the middle. Amazing. I digress. The dates do double duty as sweetener and add moistness so we cut back on some of the butter, too. The key, though, with any banana bread is using super ripe bananas, well-speckled with lots of black dots (the kind many people toss in the garbage — arrgh!).
Banana bread freezes beautifully and makes a terrific muffin, as well. I adapt this recipe according to the season, adding blueberries in the summer, fresh cranberries in the fall and walnuts or pecans in the winter. This banana bread is not as sweet as the ones you may be used to, so yes, you can add chocolate chips or a drop of maple syrup if you must. Just don’t call it healthy!
Date-Sweetened Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried dates, about 7 ounces, pitted
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 4 Tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter or unrefined coconut oil, , at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour, spelt flour or sprouted spelt flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- 3 large ripe bananas,, mashed
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (or fresh blueberries or cranberries)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. (Can be lined with parchment if it is aluminum.)
- Place the dates in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the hot water and allow the dates to soften for at least 10 minutes. (I usually get the rest of my ingredients ready while the dates are softening.)
- Turn the mixer on low speed and blend until the water has incorporated with the dates. Turn the mixer to medium low speed and beat the dates until a smooth puree forms.
- Add the butter or coconut oil and beat until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter-date mixture and mix until just combined.
- Fold in the mashed bananas and walnuts.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes (I made it in many different ovens with this range of time), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out barely clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
This is my #1 favorite banana bread recipe and I have been on the hunt for a good recipe for some time. MUCH yummier, richer and moister than any other whole wheat version I’ve tried. My kids love it too!
Just what I want to hear! Gotta love those dates 🙂
Hello Pamela,
I made these last night & divided the “wet” mixture into 2 parts – the first I completed using wheat flour as per your recipe; the second I completed using a combination of rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch (I am gluten intolerant, but the rest of my family is not). Everyone loved it! Also, we celebrate lent by forgoing sugar, so this recipe was perfect for this time of year. We had the muffins for breakfast, and I packed what was left in the kids’ lunches. Thanks so much!
Thanks for your feedback, Justine! So glad it was a nice treat for everyone. Mashed ripe bananas and pureed dates are two of my favorite sugar-free tricks.
If I am glluten intolerant and allergic to tapioca starch, what can I subsitute for tapioca in this banana bread recipe and other recipes that call for tapioca?
Hi Jo Elen, That’s tough since all the GF flour blends I have used contain tapioca. But I think the way you go is with blanched almond flour. I haven’t tested it with this recipe, but Elana Amsterdam at elanaspantry.com uses almond meal in all her baked goods. She has a very popular blog. Check out her recipe: http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-banana-bread/
Thanks for posting this. My loaf is currently in the oven, but the batter tasted great. I may have used more dates than called for, but it seemed plenty sweet. I can’t wait to eat it.
Mmmmmmm…….i wish i had a loaf of banana bread in the oven right now. Enjoy!
I just made your date-sweetened banana bread. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. I brought to work for a school breakfast. It was quite delicious and very big hit at the breakfast!
ok seriously these are amazing. i had this for breakfast today and then i couldnt resist and had it for snack after lunch and some for dessert. this is my new fave food. and the best part is…theres almost no sugar!!!!!
I love this bread, too! Actually, there’s NO sugar, except the naturally-occurring sugar in the dates and bananas. I should adjust the pumpkin muffin recipe to include an option for date puree in lieu of some of the maple syrup. You can soak the dates in hot water in the blender and cut half the maple syrup and it’s amazing — I like it even better as a loaf than muffins. Yum!
Hi Pamela,
This sounds amazing! I was wondering if you knew the nutritional value specifically how many grams of protein?
Thanks,
Meg
I don’t, but there are many websites that provide nutritional calculators and you can plug in the ingredients pretty easily.
I baked this batter in a muffin tin for 17 minutes. My only mistake was that I didn’t double the recipe!!! My family really enjoyed having banana muffins for breakfast.
If you make extra, they freeze great. You can take them out of the freezer, put directly into the lunch box and they are defrosted in time for snack or lunch!
So I’ve made this banana bread a few times and it’s great, but I would highly recommend using really ripe bananas, even black ones. Because there’s no sugar or maple syrup, it won’t be sweet enough unless you use the ripest bananas. My kids like this a lot with chocolate chips or dried cherries or fresh blueberries. If I make it with just nuts, I add 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup and it’s just right for us. It’s one of the only really wholesome desserts I’ve found!
I agree about the bananas. I would say “just-before-fruit-flies-black.” Thanks for sharing how you adjusted the recipe to suit you. Love that!
This is my kind of “comfort food”! A cup of herb tea and banana bread are a perfect treat!
Wow Pam: I Know what I’ll be baking next!!!!!!