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 love banana bread but because it normally has so much sugar I don’t eat/make it so often.
I just tried your recipe today and it turned out great! (top was a bit too brown because my oven is very strong… but inside was moist and delicious)
Thanks so much for this delicious but healthy version!
Great to hear, Marie!
Thank you for this recipe ..it’s awesome. And perfect for my pregnant sis. In law who is off refined sugar
Want to upload a pic to show you
You’re welcome! This recipe is special to me because it was one of the first I ever created without sugar. So glad you liked it!
What a great recipe! I have baked this today and it turned out beautifully. This loaf will definitely be a mainstay in our household. Thank you for providing a good alternative for refined sugar-free baking.
You’re welcome! It’s a staple in my house 🙂
Just made two loaves this banana bread and it turned out great! I’ve been looking for a recipe that isn’t so sweet- and this is perfect! Bananas and dates add just the right amount of natural sugar. I added two tablespoons of cinnamon (for two batches) and some fresh garlic that I blended in with the wet ingredients. Will definitely be making this again 🙂
I agree that the sweetness is just right and not like a dessert :). But I am curious about something — did you mean to say you added fresh garlic to the batter?? Not sure about that one!
Thank you so much for this absolutely delicious recipe. My 2yr old just loves it – and I don’t have to feel guilty because it’s genuinely healthy.
No guilt at all! Now that you know you like the recipe, try adding things to the batter like blueberries in the summer and fresh cranberries in the fall. 🙂
Had a few old bananas and was looking for a recipe that included dates and walnuts when I found this. Turned out perfectly! I added 1/2 a cup of choccie chips as well because I like the gooeyness that they add. Just had a warm slice with a cup of tea and am very happy. This is exactly the right level of sweetness for me. Thanks for sharing.
That’s the thing — everyone’s preferred sweetness level is different, but I can’t handle a banana bread with 2 cups of sugar in it. Glad this recipe was pleasing to you!
Great recipe, one of the very few I’ve tried that came out like it was supposed to. I had only 2 bananas, so I used more dates. Didn’t come out sweet enough for my tastes however. Next time I will be sure to use 3 bananas and maybe some jack fruit. I used home ground spelt which worked well, the bread’s texture came out nearly perfect. Thanks for your hard work crafting this recipe. I will do this again.
Thank you for your comment, Johnny. FOr sure try it with the 3rd banana next time and make sure your bananas are quite ripe. How lucky for you that you had freshly ground spelt flour. What a treat!
Omg thank you! I made this last week and just finished off the loaf today. I am not a big fan of “cake bread” as I call most quick bead. I wanted something lighter, less sweet and healthier. This was by far my favorite quick bead recipe and I’ve tried many! I’m gonna try this with pumpkin for thanksgiving.
You are welcome! I agree, so many quick breads contain so much sugar, they’re really just cake. Glad you enjoyed it.
Do you know how many cups of mashed banana you get out of three ‘large’ bananas? I don’t buy large bananas, so I’d like to know how much banana in total I need. thanks.
I think it’s about 1 1/4 cups. Usually 3 medium bananas is around 1 cup. Anywhere between 1 – 1 1/4 cups is fine.
Mine was a disaster.
I tried it with flax meal and wheat flour.
It don’t rise and was not fluffy.
Sorry it didn’t work out for you. WHen you say you tried it with flax meal and wheat flour, do you mean you tried subbing flax meal mixed with warm water in place of the eggs? Of you tried subbing a combo of flax meal and wheat flour for the flour? I’ve made this bread about 100 times, so I know the recipe works. But I’d like to try to help you figure out where you went wrong.