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Are you craving a sliced of moist banana bread? I’ve found the perfect recipe for you.
It is from a cookbook called, The Weekend Baker: Irresistible Recipes, Simple Techniques, and Stress-Free Strategies for Busy People (affiliate link) by Abigail Johnson Dodge, a contributing Editor at Fine Cooking.
I grew up eating dry banana bread and have been experimenting with various recipes for years, in search of a consistently moist banana bread that isn’t too full of fat.
If you add enough butter and/or sour cream to any banana bread recipe it will be moist; but I like to eat banana bread relatively often, not as a special occasion dessert.
Recipe Notes
Imagine my delight when I happened across a recipe for supermoist banana-nut muffins in The Weekend Baker (affiliate link) by Abigail Johnson Dodge the other day. Most muffin recipes are easily convertible to quick breads if you have a loaf pan (affiliate link) and the extra time required to bake them. In this helpful cookbook, Abby provides the exact details.
In the introduction to her recipe, she gives her secrets for baking up super moist banana bread or banana muffins – canola (or corn) oil and super-ripe bananas. She explains that the banana peels should be black, not just lightly speckled, for the best banana flavor.
I could barely contain my excitement. I happened upon a recipe for super moist banana bread that isn’t full of butter and sour cream.
What can I say? I’m a woman of simple pleasures.
The whole recipe calls for just 1/3 cup of oil. With way overripe bananas on the kitchen counter, I was in business. The results were as promised – a moist banana bread recipe!
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Moist Banana Bread?
According to my calculations, a slice of this banana bread has 237 calories.
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
8 SmartPoints (Green plan)
8 SmartPoints (Blue plan)
8 SmartPoints (Purple plan)
7 PointsPlus (Old plan)
A similar slice of Banana Walnut Pecan Loaf from Starbucks packs a whopping 410 calories, 20g fat and 16 WW Points. That’s a savings of 173 calories!!!
If you like this recipe for moist banana bread, be sure to check out some of my other easy, healthy Weight Watchers friendly bread and muffin recipes including Banana Nut Muffins, WW Low-Fat Chocolate Banana Bread, Skinny Broccoli Cheese Muffins, Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins and Healthy Low-Fat Applesauce Banana Bread
Watch this demonstration that shows you how to make low-fat banana bread:
Favorite Recipe Variations
- Chocolate Chip Coconut Moist Banana Bread
Add 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and/or 1/2 cup coconut instead of the nuts. - Moist Banana Bread with Pineapple
Add 1/2 cup well-drained crushed pineapple into the banana mixture and replace the walnuts with pecans or macadamia nuts.
Kitchen Tip: Do you have over ripe bananas languishing on the counter and no time to turn them into banana bread? Pop them into a heavy-duty freezer bag, either peeled or un-peeled and freeze them until you do. Let them thaw for about 5 minutes at room temperature and they should be ready to use to make super moist banana bread, or any other recipe calling for very ripe bananas that suits your fancy.
If you’ve made this Moist Banana Nut Bread, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Moist Banana Bread with Walnuts Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 medium very, very ripe bananas, peeled
- 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil, or corn oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Lightly grease and flour an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan (affiliate link).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended.
- In a large bowl, combine the bananas, brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer (affiliate link) on medium speed until well blended with only small bits of banana visible.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and gently stir with a rubber spatula (affiliate link) just until blended. If using the nuts, add them when the flour is almost blended, and stir to incorporate.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top.
- Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick, or cake tester, inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes.
- Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. Using a thin knife, gently loosen the bread from the sides of the pan and slip it out of the pan. Tip the loaf on its side and let cool on the rack until warm or at room temperature.
- Wrap the cooled loaf of moist banana bread with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 8 SmartPoints (Green plan) 8 SmartPoints (Blue plan) 8 SmartPoints (Purple plan) 7 PointsPlus (Old plan) Most muffin recipes are easily convertible to quick breads if you have a loaf pan (affiliate link) and the extra time required to bake them. In this helpful cookbook, Abby provides the exact details. In the introduction to her recipe, she gives her secrets for baking up super moist banana bread or banana muffins – canola (or corn) oil and super-ripe bananas. She explains that the banana peels should be black, not just lightly speckled, for the best banana flavor. Variations Chocolate Chip Coconut Moist Banana Bread: Add 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and/or 1/2 cup coconut instead of the nuts. Moist Banana Bread with Pineapple: Add 1/2 cup well-drained crushed pineapple into the banana mixture and replace the walnuts with pecans or macadamia nuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Source: The Weekend Baker: Irresistible Recipes, Simple Techniques, and Stress-Free Strategies for Busy People (affiliate link) by Abigail Johnson Dodge. This is a great cookbook for people who want to bake but have minimal time. The recipes are organized according to the time they take to make. It is not full of pictures, but instead offers short ingredient lists, big type, and easy to follow instructions.
Moist without too much fat. I used Splenda brown sugar blend. I forgot that it was not a 1 to 1 substitution so it was it was very tasty
Absolutely the best banana bread I have made and tasted.
Dear Martha, I have found several of your recipes that my hubby and I truly enjoy and greatly appreciate you working hard to create and publish them. I have written your site down so that I won’t “forget it” in my search for healthy, low point weight watcher freestyle recipes and also recipes that are diabetic friendly. I love your mission for your site and look forward to researching the site for more wonderful recipes and healthy ideas. Please keep posting and I’m sure I will be healthier for following you, sincerely Martha Thorne. Sunny thoughts coming your way????
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful comment Martha. I appreciate it very very much!
This banana bread recipe sounds delish, just wondering how many points plus it would be? thanks.
Hi Kim, I only began adding PointsPlus values in September. Am slowly
working my way through the old recipes as I have time 🙂
Great recipe! I originally chose it because I had all the ingredients in the house…and now i use it every time we have old bananas….My husband always asks for it when it’s his turn to bring food to a club event. No butter, not too much sugar, and it always comes out great – and i am not much of a baker!
Hi Martha!
Great blog – I love it. I had a few over-ripe bananas and I came across this recipe, so I figured to try it out. The taste is awesome. I also replaced the brown sugar with organic sucanat in hopes of making it a bit more healthy.
I did make one mistake in that after removing the banana bread from the oven, I did not let it sit long enough before removing it from the pan, and so it broke apart some. But it still tastes great and is very moist!! I definitely recommend letting it sit in the pan for 15 or 20 minutes before removing it to cool completely.
Thanks again for the recipe!!