Sugar Free Banana Bread with Whole Wheat Flour, Sweetened with Dates

Fresh baked banana bread is one of the most comforting things to have in your kitchen. It should always start with fully ripe bananas, as it adds natural sweetness to the bread. And what’s great about my recipe is that it contains no added sugar at all! Well, there’s a tiny sprinkling of brown sugar on top but you can omit if you want. Also, chocolate chips are a nice addition if you don’t mind a little sugar.

The batter is sweetened by the ripe bananas and dates. I used a blender to mix all the wet ingredients, so no need to chop the dates. You can adjust how sweet you want your bread by adding more bananas or dates. To make it even healthier, I used whole wheat flour and a little bit of oats. You can store this sugar-free banana bread in the fridge for about a week.

Right Image: Chocolate chips (or nuts) optional

Loaf ready to go into the oven

Sugar-Free Banana Bread Recipe

  • 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons rolled oats
  • 5-7 dates, pitted and chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
  • 4-6 ripe bananas
  • 1/4 cup pecans or chocolate chips (optional)

    Crumb Topping

  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons coconut oil or butter
  • 1 tablespoon rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon light brown sugar (optional)

    Preheat oven to 350Β°F. Grease loaf pan with coconut oil (or butter), then mix crumb topping together in a small bowl and set both aside.

    Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add bananas (reserve 1 for later if you like banana chunks), dates, eggs, and coconut oil (or butter) into a blender. Puree until smooth. Mix the batter into the dry ingredients until no lumps. Chop remaining banana and add to batter. Mix in chocolate chips (if using).


    Pour batter into greased loaf pan and sprinkle crumb topping on top. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool before serving.

    Total Time: 60-70 minutes
    Yield: 1 loaf
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  • [be sure to check out my banana muffins for another delicious and healthy recipe]

    Comments

    1. says

      Barb, Found you on tasteologie..
      Wonderful use of dates, oats and whole wheat flour in this banana bread. Would love to try an eggless version of yours…

      • says

        Hi Radhika, thanks for checking out my site. I like your idea of an eggless version, putting it on my “to-cook list” for a future blog post

    2. Marca Acme says

      Make crumb topping and set aside? Done
      Make batter and pour in loaf pan? Done
      Bake batter? Done
      Cool bread? Done

      Now … what am I supposed to do with the crumb topping?

    3. says

      What a neat idea to use dates as a sweetener!! Luckily I’m headed to the store shortly – can’t WAIT to try this!! I guess that means I’m going to have to eat my other loaf of banana bread first, though. Darn. LOL πŸ™‚

    4. says

      I just wanted to let you know that I made an adapted version of your banana bread (no dates, yogurt instead, less butter), and it was just fabulous! Thanks so much for posting it, as I’d have had no idea where to start otherwise. I’ve linked back to you and your original version, as well, but wanted to thank you in person πŸ™‚

      • says

        Thanks for reporting back, Dawn! I used yogurt in my banana choc chip muffins as well, it’s such a great addition to baking. Your banana bread version sounds delicious. I could use a slice right now πŸ™‚

    5. Jenny Zachry says

      I just made this gluten free and it is fantastic!!! I too would love to see an egg free version as well!

      • says

        Thanks for the comment Jenny! What did you use as a flour substitute?

        Maybe I’ll make a “Gluten-Free, non-dairy version” of this recipe soon.

    6. says

      I love banana bread but hate how sweet it usually is.

      I made this bread 4 times in about a week, it’s amazing and my 1.5 year old would have eaten a whole loaf if I let him. I used coconut oil and left out the chocolate chips.

      It tastes even better the next day, if it makes it to the next day!

      I’m going to try making it with whole wheat pastry flour instead of the regular whole wheat flour next time I make it.

      • says

        That’s wonderful, Jessica! So happy you and your 1.5 yr old enjoyed it πŸ™‚ And whole wheat pastry flour works really well with this recipe so definitely try it next time.

        • says

          What size of pan do you use? My loaves don’t rise very much at all and my baking soda is new, but I think I under mixed them. Your loaves look twice the height of mine. lol
          Either way, they’re still delicious. πŸ™‚

    7. Kwiyoung says

      Finally made this tonight using brown rice flour as my hubby is allergic to gluten. Didn’t have dates so skipped that but doubled the dark chocolate chips to make up for it. Really yummy…next time i’ll add ground flax seeds!

      • says

        I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I’ll have to try this with brown rice flour sometime. Thanks for commenting and hope to see you soon πŸ™‚

        • Kwiyoung says

          Made it again and this time with dates. Wow love the flavor…and it’s our favorite banana bread recipe! My family loves your recipes Barb! Keep em coming. πŸ™‚

    8. Diana says

      Thanks for this great recipe! I feel so much better about serving this to my one year old without added sugar. Regarding the leavening, did you mean baking powder instead of baking soda? I was under the impression that soda requires an acid to properly react and rise. My loaves we very flat. Since there isn’t an acid in the recipe (buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, etc.), I’m thinking you may have used baking powder for yours? Thanks for the help!

      • says

        Thank you Diana πŸ™‚ Thanks for your comment. Hmm, my loaves turned out fine but I haven’t made this in a while so I’ll try it with baking powder next time!

    9. Jacqueline says

      I split this recipe in half and used brown rice flour and I also used 0% greek yogurt instead of oil and Baking powder instead of soda….dried dates and dark chocolate chunks and split them in 2 little mini pans for 30 min bake time and sprinkled with flaxseed instead of crumble. I hope this helps anyone who needs to sub things….Barb thank you for sharing it is absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • says

        Yum, that sounds so delicious and healthy, Jacqueline! Thanks for posting your version. And you’re very welcome, I’m glad to share πŸ™‚

    10. Kate says

      Thanks for this recipe! I love finding tasty healthy snacks!
      We had it for dessert tonight and it was quite yummy.
      I used dried dates (not the medjool kind) and used a few more than suggested. It was just the right amount of sweetness for us.
      Thank you.

        • Kate says

          The dates I used were just the ones you get from the dried fruit aisle in the supermarket. (I’m in Australia, not sure if things are different here than there)
          Since I first commented, I’ve made the recipe into muffins, and tonight I’m going to try adding some cacao to see what it tastes like.
          Thanks again!

          • says

            You’re welcome, Kate! I love turning this recipe into muffins as well. Thinking of baking some this week πŸ™‚ Let me know how it tastes with cacao!

    11. Kate says

      The cacao was a great addition!
      Turned it into a lovely chocolatey banana cake. Very nice.
      We love warming or toasting it and serving with some butter. Yum.

        • Kate says

          Something else I tried yesterday.. Pumpkin!
          I substituted 3 of the 6 bananas for some cooked pumpkin, added the choc chips, forgot about the topping…
          It was really yum!
          Again, I used a bunch more dates than suggested (about 18 dried dates this time)
          There are already no muffins left, only 12 hours later.

    12. Renita says

      Tried this recipe & I used only 3 tbsps of oil (extra virgin olive oil)instead of 1/4 cup. It came out excellent….. Thanks a lot for sharing such a wonderful healthy recipe.

      • says

        I’m so happy you loved this recipe, Renita! I love the olive oil tip, I’ll have to try that… Thanks for your comment πŸ™‚

    13. Zamzam says

      I was looking for sugar free oatmeal whole wheat flour bread and i found this to be amazing but i used 1 cup oatmeal plus lil more butter come out so perfect this recipe is a keeper, appreciation from Kampala Uganda

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