Raspberry Banana Bread
An uptick on a classic, this whole-grain raspberry banana bread features a soft, tender bread studded with juicy pockets of raspberries.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 262kcal
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas , about 1 ¼ cups mashed banana
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup oil (canola, vegetable, avocado, melted coconut)
- 2 cups whole grain flour , oat flour or whole wheat pastry flour (240 grams)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 3 large ripe bananas, 3 large eggs, and ¼ cup oil, then stir in the 2 cups whole grain flour, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, stirring until a smooth batter forms. Fold in the 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, then rest the batter until the oven is fully heated.
- Bake the loaf for about 60-70 minutes, checking at 60 minutes, when a tester comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 20 minutes, then cool it on a rack. I like to cool the bread completely so that the crumb sets, but it's OK to cut into it after about 30 minutes (it's delicious warm!).
Notes
- Can I use frozen bananas? Absolutely. A great way to save ripe bananas is to freeze them in a freezer-safe bag. When you're ready to bake, take out as many bananas as you need, thaw in a bowl, and drain any liquid before mashing them up.
- Reduce the sugar. If your bananas are very, very ripe and sweet, you can reduce the sugar by ¼ cup (so, ½ cup of sugar). You can give the batter a very small taste test to determine when you do need the full ¾ cup of sugar.
- Rest the batter. Don't turn the oven on until you have assembled the batter. While the oven is preheating, the flour will have time to hydrate, making for a softer, better crumb after the loaf is baked. This is true whether you are using gluten-free oat flour or whole wheat flour; whole wheat flour also benefits from a rest before baking.
- Can I use all-purpose flour? Yes, of course! Use 2 cups of all-purpose flour for the whole grain flour.
- Try other spices. Instead of cinnamon, use ground ginger or cardamom.
- Plus vanilla. Stir in 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste when putting together the batter.
- Make it refined sugar-free. Substitute coconut sugar or maple syrup for the granulated sugar.
Nutrition
Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 209mg | Potassium: 250mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 107IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 1mg