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!
I want to make this, but I don’t have a ‘paddle attachement’. I have an electric hand mixer, a food processor, and a vitamix. Would any of these work as an alternative? Thanks!
I haven’t tried this with an electric hand mixer, but to get the dates into a paste you’ll need something stronger. I’m sure the food processor would work great. Process all the wet ingredients including the dates in there and mix the dry in a separate bowl. Then add the wet to the dry, fold in bananas and you should be good!
does this recipe absolutely need the eggs. I want to make a vegan version so i would like to know if it would work without the eggs. also can i use any other flour like oat or almond.
a good substitute for eggs in this recipe would be 2 Tbs. ground flax meal mixed with 6 Tbs. warm water. Allow the mixture to sit on the counter for 15 minutes before adding to the batter. Use coconut oil or Earth Balance instead of butter. I haven’t tried this with oat flour, but it’s heavier than wheat, so maybe use a touch less. You can sub spelt very well for wheat, although it’s not gluten-free. Almond flour is a whole different thing — different fat profile, etc. Are you also trying to make this GF?
Hi, my daughter was a vegetarian and became Vegan for a number of years and there is an egg substitute that you can use. It can be purchased at most Health/Organic style supermarkets. It works wonders and I used it for all my baking, muffins, scaones, bisuits, cakes, and cookies. It worked beautifully and there was nothing in it that should be a problem reading healthy ingredients/or vegan/vegetarian individuals. Hope this helps!
Has anyone ever tried this recipe with coconut oil instead of butter? I use a coconut oil that retains a strong coconut flavor, and it might give this recipe a slightly tropical feel/taste.
I don’t normally do this, but when I was reading your question, I was in the mood to bake something and I had ripe bananas on the countertop so I gave the banana bread a go with coconut oil. I used dates to make a puree and 1/4 cup or room temperature coconut oil and it was just as delicious and moist as with butter. BUT, I didn’t taste any coconut flavor. Perhaps adding a handful of shredded coconut would get you closer to a more tropical flavor. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion since now I know the recipe works well dairy-free!
Thanks for the recipe! I made the loaf with pecans for my family and they loved it! I have muffins with blueberries in the oven now 🙂
You’re on a roll! Sounds yummy!
I just made a batch of muffins from this recipe. Amazing! So moist and the perfect amount of sweetness. I followed the advice from one of the previous comments and added chocolate chips to the recipe so that my kids would eat them. This will be a keeper!
That’s great, Sheri! In the summer try adding fresh blueberries to the bread — sooooo good!
I just baked this cake yesterday. It’s wonderful and moist and to me just as sweet as a cake full og sugar. Thank you for this recipie. It’s incredible that it’s baked with whole wheat flour. It really just tastes like the regular all refined ingredients and suger bomb and usually bake 🙂
Happy to hear that, Jade! Thank you~
so if you’re substituting dates for sugar in other recipes, would you just use the same amount of dates that it calls for of sugar?
it’s a good question, but the substitution is not that straightforward. To start, it takes more dates than sugar in this recipe. I would sub 1/2 cup maple syrup or sugar for the 1 cup dates here. But also, dates add moisture which you may or may not want. I find that date puree works really well in quick breads and muffins, smoothies and other blended drinks, puddings, brownies, but not cookies, for example. If you have a specific recipe in mind, I am happy to offer my opinion for what it’s worth. =)
Hi Pamela- I’m planning to make this after school tonight. Would this be a good use for the pulp leftover from my first batch of homemade almond milk? My kids won’t eat anything with visible nuts. Thanks!
Hmmmm, you got me there. I’ve never used leftover almond pulp in this recipe so I couldn’t advise you how much to add. I think it’s a great idea, though! If I were going to try it, I think I would start with 1/4 cup. Let me know if you try it — very curious!
My loaf is in the oven as we speak. So excited to try this date sweetened loaf as we’ve recently removed sugar from our son’s diet and I was struggling to find “treats” without sugars of any kind. Dates have come to the rescue in a no-bake peanut butter “truffle” and now this banana bread. Thanks for the inspiration!
It’s definitely a challenge to come up with treats without sugars, but dates can be a great alternative. I very often use this date puree in other quick breads in place of 1/2 cup sugar and if the recipe calls for more, I sometimes add an extra spoonful of maple syrup. See the pumpkin bread recipe as an example. Hope you enjoy!
I made these with flax meal/water for my egg free son into muffins for his birthday breakfast. They were so hearty and delicious. They really held up well without the egg and were a perfect treat with a couple chocolate chips tossed in. I can’t wait to make these again!
Thanks for sharing your egg-free experience! My son’s favorite is with chocolate chips, but I just made this bread this weekend with blueberries and I thought it was great :).