Recipe: Low-Fat Banana Pumpkin Spice Bread

I have a serious love for banana bread, but when I’m on a diet, it’s pretty much a joy that I choose to live without.  Not now, though!  I have finally perfected my healthy banana bread recipe that is low-fat, healthy, and my kids love it!

You’ll like this recipe if you like banana bread that is hearty and moist.  If you like it dry and light, then it’s not for you (and I don’t understand you). 

Let me give a brief disclaimer, however.  Anyone can make banana bread (or anything for that matter) taste good by throwing in a ton of sugar, butter, and white flour.  I mean, really.  It’s not hard.  I think there’s a special art to making something taste amazing while keeping it really healthy, too.

So here goes my recipe (another disclaimer – it was inspired by a Weight Watchers recipe that I changed up quite a bit):

 

Low-Fat Banana Pumpkin Spice Bread

Yields 2 loaves (using 9” pans)

Each loaf yields 10 slices of bread.

Ingredients (it seems like a lot, but I bet you already have them all on hand):

• 4 large Ripe Bananas
• 1 ½ cups Canned Pumpkin (or freshly steamed if you have it)
• ½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs (beaten)
• 4 Egg Whites
• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (I’ll show you how I grind my own some day!)
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Turbinado Sugar (granulated or brown will work, too)
• 1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (not instant or quick)
• (You can also add some nuts or raisins, but both will add to the fat and calorie content.)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Mash the bananas up.  I put them in my mixer and just let the bread paddle mash them.  Add the pumpkin, applesauce, and vanilla and mix well.

Beat the eggs and egg whites in a small bowl then add them to the banana mixture and mix well.

In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients, except oats.  Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture about a half-cup at a time.  Then stir in the oats.

Spray two 9” loaf pans with cooking spray and add half of your batter to each pan.  Bake for about an hour or until a knife inserted comes out mostly clean.  (Since the bread has so much fruit in it, making it so moist, the knife will never come out completely clean, but try to differentiate between moistness from the fruit and raw batter.)

Let it cool for a few minutes before flipping it out and letting it cool on a wire rack.  You’ll be tempted to eat it right away because it looks so delicious and smells even better, but just know that it’s so incredibly delicious after you refrigerate it.

I hope you enjoy it!  Let me know what you think!

Happy, Healthful Eating!

More Healthy Recipes on TodaysMama:

Healthy Granola – The Great Granola Recipe

Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Waffles

Make Your Own Kid Friendly Yogurt

Tags: banana bread, DFW, DFW Food, health, healthy recipe, household, low-fat, whole wheat