Ingredients
Scale
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk*
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 and 1/2 cups)
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- optional: 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lowest level; this prevents the top of your bread from browning too much too soon. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and spray a 9×5 inch load pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the applesauce, honey, brown sugar, milk, vanilla and eggs until combined. Then, whisk in the mashed bananas. The mixture should be *almost* smooth; I like to leave some chunks to the bananas. Set aside. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the walnuts. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and slowly whisk together until *just* combined. Overmixing = too dense.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs. The loaf in the pictures took exactly 52 minutes, so be sure to start checking at the 50 minute mark since every oven is different.
- Allow the bread to cool completely in the loaf pan on a wire rack before slicing. The bread will stay fresh in an airtight container (it always tastes better on day 2!) at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Baked bread can be frozen for up to 3 months and thawed overnight in the refrigerator.
Notes
If you’re adding semi-sweet chocolate chips, add them in step 2 with the walnuts. This will prevent overmixing when combining the ingredients.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes