Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread
This Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread is a delicious & nutritious option to meal prep for breakfast or snacks all week long! It is also freezer-friendly!
Life update: October 2017
It’s been a while, I know. I’ve been just a little busy lately. ; ) I thought that life would slow down when we got home from our honeymoon, but that still hasn’t really happened. But hey, I’m not complaining. It has been a blast (and a whirlwind) and I don’t really see things slowing down until the new year.
During the month of October, we have two more weddings to celebrate and then we’ll blink and it’ll be time for the holidays! As you can see, all these festivities don’t leave much time for blogging, but I’m doing the best I can. My husband (that’s still so weird to say) comes first and then comes everything else. : )
If you’re curious to hear/see more about our wedding, check out these posts below!
healthy pumpkin banana bread: made with love!
I wanted to share the latest version of this healthy pumpkin banana bread, because, ’tis the season for all things pumpkin!
If you know me, you know I LOVE to bake, mostly banana bread, or energy bites, or pumpkin-anything around this time of year, but since life has been so crazy, this is the first chance I’ve had to bake in months. It felt so good. Not just baking, but baking in OUR home with all of OUR new kitchen things. Like new mixing bowls and whisks and loaf pans and measuring cups and spoons.
Finally having our home feel complete is such an amazing feeling. Some of you might be thinking, “What do you mean finally? You’ve been married for three weeks”. But Ethan bought us this home last March, so we have slowly accumulated a few things over the past 18 months, but for the most part we were holding out for the wedding, so it’s incredibly refreshing to finally have all the things we really need.
To everyone who gave us gifts for our wedding, both big and small, please know how much we appreciate every single thing we have been given. From dish towels all the way up to crockpots and knife sets, it’s such a dream to finally have a space that is ours to live together and cook and bake and hopefully create a lot of goodness that will eventually make it to the blog!
what you need for this healthy pumpkin banana bread
Okay, so onto the recipe. First off, it’s super easy and straightforward, but more importantly, it’s damn delicious. Also, it’s not overly sweet, which means you can totally eat it for breakfast, and it has chocolate in it, so if you’re having a shitty day, it will be significantly better after one slice of this. Preferably smothered with almond butter or crunchy peanut butter. You know I don’t discriminate against nut butter. ; )
Here’s what ya need:
- Bananas
- Pumpkin puree
- Greek yogurt
- Eggs
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Old-fashioned oats
- Spices
- Optional mix-ins: dark chocolate chips and nuts of choice
Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt plain or vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Dash of salt
Optional Toppings/Mix-Ins:
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or nuts of choice
- Purely Elizabeth Pumpkin Spice Granola for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Combine mashed banana, pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, eggs and applesauce in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly with a whisk. Set aside.
- Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir with a large spoon.
- Add flour mixture to banana and pumpkin mixture and stir with whisk until just moist. Stir in dark chocolate chips and walnuts if desired.
- Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle Purely Elizabeth granola (or more chocolate chips/walnuts) on top if desired.
- Place loaf pan in oven to bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. I would recommend checking around 50 minutes and cook longer as needed.
Nutrition
This pumpkin banana bread is best when it’s warmed up and smothered in nut butter of some sort, followed by a glass of milk. 🙂 It’s a bomb addition to any breakfast, but it also makes a bitchin’ bedtime snack. Basically, there is no wrong time to eat a slice of this bread.
I hope you enjoy this delicious, Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread as much as we do!
Lastly, thank you all for sticking with me throughout the wedding craziness and my long break from blogging; it was much needed, but I hope to be back in a routine of posting at least a couple times a month very soon! If there’s anything specific you’d like to hear about, let me know!
Happy baking and happy fall!
Shanna
YUMMY CANT WAIT TO TRY
Yayayay let me know what you think!!!! ☺️?
This looks great. I’m all over it!!
Yesss do it!!!! 🙂
Planning on baking this this weekend 🙂 do you have any idea of almond flour would work?
Yay!!! Hmm, I’m honestly not sure – I’ve never tried using any other types of flour. If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
Delicious!!! I used spelt flour simply bc I didn’t have enough whole wheat; so it needed to be cooked a little longer…but still tastes great!! Thx for the recipe!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
I had all ingredients on hand except for whole wheat flour so I subbed for all purpose flour and it came out perfectly! Super moist and just the perfect amount of sweetness with dark chocolate chips added to enjoy with my coffee! Will definitely make again and have already passed along your link/recipe!
YAY! I’m so glad you liked it!! 🙂 The chocolate chips are a must, in my opinion. ; ) Thank you so, so much for your review and for sharing it with others! It means more than you know!
The best pumpkin bread! I loved making this and the pumpkin spice granola on top was the BEST! Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Ooh, yes! The topping is a game changer! Thanks so much! 🙂
Ok coming back for year 2 and I made into muffins to share with my resident to celebrate her last day. Her response “these are the best pumpkin muffins I’ve ever had” – y’all heard it here first!! I did sub the 1/4 cup sugar for 1/4 cup maple syrup which I’d do again bc I love maple syrup & pumpkin!!
Oh my gosh, this is the sweetest!! Thank you so much for sharing! How long did you cook them for muffins? Same temp? I’d love to include that info in my post for others who want to do the same!! Thank you! 🙂
Yep, same temp at 350 and I cooked them between 30-35 minutes and they turned out perfect!
Amazing! Thank you Jen! : )
Didn’t have much flavor. Not very sweet or very pumpkin spicy… it rose great and has a nice texture but without good flavor or sweetness it is not a crowd favorite and won’t make again. 🙁
Hi Lauren! Mixing in and/or topping with some chocolate chips can help add some additional sweetness, and I love to serve it warm with nut butter to add some extra flavor as well. Either way, I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t love it, but I do appreciate your honest feedback! – Shanna
This is such a good banana bread recipe! We eat it all year round at our house for breakfast or a snack. The only change I make to the recipe leaving out the granulated sugar. I add a few extra chocolate chips instead! I also do not add the granola on top, just because I don’t typically have it on hand. I do not like baked goods that are overly sugary, so this recipe is perfect! It is moist and packed with flavor. We always have Shanna’s banana pumpkin bread or carrot pumpkin muffins in our fridge. They both go so fast I never have to freeze them!
Aw, thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear this!! I agree — it’s nice that it isn’t overly sweet so it makes a great breakfast option! Good to know that it turns out okay without the granulated sugar. 🙂 Thanks Amanda!
So good, and super easy! Made the house smell amazing too!
YAY!! That’s what I like to hear! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Shanna!
Could I possibly still make this sub milk for the yogurt? Thank you.
Hi there! So sorry for my late reply here! I’m not sure if milk would be the best sub for yogurt since they are different consistencies. If you have something similar on hand like cottage cheese or sour cream that might even mix in okay. Otherwise you could possibly increase the amount of applesauce instead. Haven’t tried these subs myself so I can’t confirm if they’ll work perfectly, but let me know how it goes!