This Healthy and Gluten-Free Banana Bread with White Beans is a perfect way to get some delicious nutrition into you first thing in the morning. A moist and tasty banana bread made with simple ingredients found in your pantry and fridge, including - white kidney beans for a protein kick! Make a loaf today and enjoy it all week😄
Got bananas in your freezer?
Then make this banana bread!
This healthy and gluten-free banana bread is easy to make and is so delicious😋
If you're looking for a moist, filling and healthy alternative to "traditional" banana bread, you've gotta check this one out.
The recipe is based on one from this pretty cool cookbook: Spilling the Beans - Cooking and baking with beans and grains every day.
Don't forget to check out the other healthy muffin recipes like: Healthy Chocolate Muffins with Greek Yogurt (Gluten Free), Healthy Zucchini Bread (Delicious and Gluten Free), and this recipe for Healthy Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins too.
There's no shortage of delicious and easy to make gluten-free, healthy muffins and breads on this site!
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📝 Ingredients for this healthy banana bread recipe
- Gluten-free flour - I have been using Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour lately
- Baking soda - helps to give the banana bread a little height
- Salt
- 2 large and very ripe bananas - gives that hint of sweetness, banana taste and some structure
- Sugar - you can use white or brown sugar
- Olive oil
- Eggs
- White kidney beans - aka cannellini beans, give a protein and fibre boost to this bread; plus the beans make the loaf denser (no fluffy loafs here!)
- Vanilla
- Blueberries - fresh or frozen will work
🔪Instructions
Making this gluten-free banana bread is easy peasy!
Check out the web story with full instructions in the recipe card below:
Here's the high level steps:
- Prep your loaf pan by lining with parchment paper or brushing on olive oil to prevent the banana bread from sticking and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine
- Then to your food processor or blender add the bananas, white kidney beans, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Blend until just smooth. Takes about 20 seconds of pulsing on a medium speed
- Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the blueberries and stir one more time
- Pour the banana loaf batter into the prepared pan and bake in a pre-heated oven for 55 minutes.
More instructions and tips within the recipe card below.
🥣Equipment
To make this healthy banana bread, you'll need your food processor or blender; 2 mixing bowls (1 large and 1 smaller mixing bowl); some measuring cups and measuring spoons, an 8x4" loaf pan, a spatula and a cooling rack.
🥡Storage and Freezing
This banana bread will be good for up to 4 days on the counter in an air-tight container. It also freezes beautifully.
Before freezing, slice the banana bread up and wrap individually and store in the freezer in an air tight container.
The bread will store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Take it out the night before you want to eat it and heat gently in the microwave if you'd like.
🍌Tips for making this banana bread
- For the bananas in this recipe, you can use fresh (non-frozen) overripe bananas that are browning. When the bananas are this ripe, they provide a lot a lovely, natural sweetness. I recommend staying away from very firm bananas or bananas with green in the peel because they're just not sweet enough.
- For the blueberries, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If you use frozen blueberries, I recommend stirring them into the batter before the blueberries thaw out or you'll have some pretty blue-tinged batter😄
- Cooking time: I find 55 minutes works really well for me and I've made this recipe a LOT. For your first time making it, to tell if it's done, you can bake the loaf to the 55 minutes and then stick a toothpick into the baked loaf. If it comes out without any goopy batter on it, the banana bread is done.
✅What makes this a healthier banana bread?
It kinda blows my mind when you look at the difference between store-bought banana bread and something like this healthy banana bread.
When you compare to a "traditional" banana bread (let's say at a very popular coffee shop), you're looking at a whole of NON-nutrition.
Per slice, a more "main stream" banana bread will set you back:
- 380 calories
- 17 grams of fat
- 29 grams of sugar
And it's only providing you with 2 g of fibre and 5 g of protein😢
And it kinda seems like well hey, it's not a doughnut. It's banana bread! It must be healthy. But alas, no.
But this Healthy Banana Bread can be a part of your healthy lifestyle with its source of fibre, protein and antioxidants from the blueberries (or dark chocolate - depending on what you add in.)
All for under 200 calories per slice.
I hope you love the Healthy Banana Bread!
If you make this recipe and love it like we do, please rate and comment below. I love hearing from you🙋♀️
~April
If you like the sound of this recipe, then definitely check these out too:
- Healthy Gluten-Free Granola
- Super Moist Pumpkin Bread
- Gluten-Free Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with Chocolate
- Healthy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones
- Puffed Quinoa Bars with Almond Butter
Published on March 5th, 2020. Updated and re-published on August 5th, 2022.
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📖 Recipe
Healthy Banana Bread with White Beans
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups gluten-free flour blend I use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large very ripe bananas
- 1 cup canned white kidney beans (cannellini beans) drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and brush sides of an 8x4 inch loaf pan with oil or spray with non-stick spray.
- Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and stir.
- Add bananas, beans, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla to a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times - chunks are ok!
- Pour the banana mixture into the large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Add the blueberries and stir once or twice through.
- Pour this mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 55 minutes. Sprinkle a few blueberries on the top if you want.
- It's done when the top is springy to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes and then take it out of the pan. Slice and enjoy warm.
Francine Wilson says
Sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it😄
I often put bananas that are overripe in my freezer for future use in a recipe just like this one!
April Saunders says
Thanks Francine! I hope you like it. Me too-my freezer is full of those brown bananas🍌
Gerarda says
I will try this, just use an egg substitute 🙂 thanks April
April Saunders says
Awesome Gerarda! Hope you love it????
Nadine says
I only had spelled flour at home and no blueberries. I added half of a chopped banana to it and a few chopped walnuts and almonds. It’s in the oven now😄
April Saunders says
Nice Nadine! Sounds like a yummy combo 🙂
Nadine says
It was. My 8 year old son ate 3 big slices. He said it’s sooo delicious. Next time I add frozen blueberries.
I baked on low for 1h10min and it was perfect. Thank you for such a great recipe that is so versatile.
April Saunders says
That's awesome! I wish my 7 year old would eat it lol You're so welcome and thank you for letting me know the delicious variation.
Leslie-Jo says
I just made it! Delicious but my blueberries all sunk to the bottom....
Any idea how much fibre per slice?
April says
Hi Leslie-Jo - so glad you liked it! Oh no! Sorry about that re: the blueberries 🙁
Maybe next time you could try tossing the blueberries with a very small amount of flour (~1 Tbsp) before adding them to the batter. The light coating of flour around the berries will absorb some of the fruit's liquid, making them less likely to sink. Hopefully that will help!
Fibre is approx. 4g per slice. Thanks again for commenting and trying it out 🙂
Cathy Hoover says
This is a great recipe! I didn't have any blueberries but I put in about a 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts which tasted great. I am glad I discovered this recipe because I have a weakness for baked goods such as muffins and quick breads, although I know they tend to be high in fat and sugar. I love the fact that it uses those white beans.
Also I also discovered that it freezes well ( just slice first); this is helpful for those of us who live alone.
Hey Cathy! Thanks so much for commenting! So glad you like the banana bread and I love that you added the walnuts in there. Also, super good to know it freezes well. Thanks again!
Antonella says
I just made my second loaf! I used chocolate chips because I didn't have any blueberries. This bread is absolutely delicious, light and fluffy. I love that it is low in added sugar but remains true to the flavour of a banana bread. My new favourite banana bread recipe!
Thank you for commenting, Antonella. And that's awesome to hear! So glad you loved it😄