WW Recipe of the Day: Healthy Low Fat Applesauce Banana Bread
(120 calories | *3 WW SmartPoints)
My favorite thing to make with overripe bananas is banana bread.
Weight Watchers Friendly Low Fat Banana Bread
The other alternative is to peel and toss them into a zipper lock bag for the freezer where they are ready and waiting to be added to healthy smoothies, protein shakes and “ice cream”.
I have lots of different recipes for healthy Weight Watchers friendly banana bread recipes here on Simple Nourished Living.
This one is a bit different.
Made from a combination of applesauce and bananas, this healthy applesauce banana bread is as easy as it is delicious.
And it hasn’t doubled in SmartPoints the way so many sweet treats have under the Weight Watchers Beyond the Scale Program.
I think I’ve discovered the secret to making sweet treats with a moderate amount of SmartPoints that doesn’t require resorting to artificial sweeteners!
Splenda gives me a headache and I don’t like the bitter aftertaste of stevia.
Healthy Applesauce
Keep the amount of sugar as low as possible, use mashed 0 Points fruit like unsweetened applesauce and bananas for natural moisture and sweetness, and use as little fat as possible.
The Skinny on Low Fat Applesauce Banana Bread
The original recipe called for baking mix such as Jiffy or Bisquick, which while convenient, now that I’m an avid food label reader, I realize isn’t the healthiest choice ever. So I substituted flour, baking powder and salt instead.
I used white whole-wheat flour to bump up the nutrition a bit. Feel free to substitute all-purpose flour or a combination of white-wheat and all-purpose if you prefer.
Banana Bread with Applesauce
I haven’t tried this recipe with regular whole wheat flour which can be much heavier and more dense.
As a longtime Weight Watcher, my kitchen is equipped with a digital kitchen scale (affiliate link), which I now routinely use to weigh my flour instead of measuring it when baking, because it provides more accuracy and consistency.
If you have issues with managing portion-control when it comes to baked goods, you could always use this recipe to make mini-loaves, muffins or mini muffins instead.
According to my calculations each slice has 120 calories, *3 Weight Watches PointsPlus and *3 WW Freestyle SmartPoints. Enjoy!
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Kitchen Tools I Used to Make this Banana Bread:
- Mixing Bowls (affiliate link)
- Potato Masher (affiliate link)
- 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (affiliate link)
- Digital Kitchen Scale (affiliate link)
If you like this easy recipe for banana bread with applesauce, be sure to check out some of my other easy healthy Weight Watchers friendly recipes including Low-Fat Banana Nut Bread, Bran Banana Chocolate Chip Bread, Individual “Banana Bread” Baked Oatmeal Cups, Cashew Banana Mini Muffins and Mini Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Muffins
If you’ve made this Banana Bread with Applesauce, 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.
Low-Fat Applesauce Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 or 3 medium)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350F degrees. Coat a nonstick 9x5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the bananas, applesauce, brown sugar and eggs until creamy.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until just blended.
- Scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool.
- Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan by carefully tipping the loaf out of the pan.
- Set banana bread loaf on wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
*PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.
Watch how easy it is to make your own healthy applesauce banana bread at home:More Weight Watchers Friendly Recipes with Banana:
- Skinny Banana Oatmeal Muffin & Bread Recipes
- Healthy Low-Fat Banana Bread
- Low Fat Chocolate Banana Bread
- Healthy Low Fat Banana Bread with Apricot and Dates
- Skinny Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Skinny Banana Coconut Date Muffins
- Low Fat Banana Bread
- Nutella Banana Bread
- Skinny Healthy Banana Coconut Date Muffins
- Low Fat Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Icing
- Banana Cranberry Muffins
- Moist Banana Nut Bread
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or Craftsy links, I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thanks for your purchase!
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Hi, I'm Martha. Simple Nourished Living chronicles the easy and delicious Weight Watchers friendly recipes, tips & hints that help me balance my love of food and desire to be happy, healthy and slim. 
Maria LaSalle
Did you know that there is a low carb flour? I think it would further decrease WW points in these types of recipes, although not totally sure bout that.
Martha McKinnon
Thanks Maria!
sandy baker
I just made this low fat applesauce banana bread and I think there should of been baking soda in it. My loaf didn’t rise at all it feels like it weighs 2 lbs!!! I followed the recipe and this is the only thing I think went wrong. It still has good flavor but very dense. Your comments would be appreciated
Martha McKinnon
Hi Sandy, I’m not sure what might have gone wrong unless your baking powder was out of date. Baking powder actually has baking soda in it and the 1 tablespoon called for should have been plenty to get a good rise. The only other thing might have affected the outcome would be the kind of whole wheat flour used. I called for white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour which are light and not as dense as regular whole wheat flour. Hope this helps. -Martha
Louise
Hello Martha. I tried the recipe last night. Mine did rise, but it is so dense, thick, hard to cut and chew. I followed the recipe to a tee and it was beginning to overcook at 45 minutes. I had to take it out of the oven. Do you have any suggestions as to what went wrong?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Louise, I really don’t know what to suggest. I’ve made this a couple of times and thought it baked up moist and heavy I didn’t find it dense or hard to cut or chew. I use white wheat flour, which is much lighter than regular whole wheat and I measure my flour with a scale to make sure I don’t use too much. Curious – what kind of flour did you use? How do you measure your flour. Do you fluff it up well before gently spooning it into your measuring cup and then leveling it off. I’ve learned that if you just scoop your flour up with a measuring cup you can end up with more than intended. I’ll be making this again soon to try to determine what the issue might be.
Beatrix Young
I can attest to the fact that this is a really tasty recipe.
We had a few important guests last weekend so I gave it a go.
Your directions were so great and it did not take so long as as I imagined it would to get ready.
Cheers for the awesome recipe
Martha McKinnon
Thanks Beatrix!
Perry
Hi. Can you please share how many ounces or grams of flour you use in this recipe? I too use a kitchen scale but you don’t state them in the recipe. Thanks
Martha McKinnon
Hi Perry, 10 ounces flour.
Sherry
I made this recipe into 14 muffins and it turned out great and they rose wonderfully it took about 30 mins
Sherry
I made the low-fat applesauce banana bread into muffins. They turned out great and baked them at the same tempture. It made 14 muffins. I used reg. unbleached flour. Thanks for the recipe. Sherry.
Pat
I made this banana bread today and it rose great and looks delicious! Can’t wait to taste it!
Martha McKinnon
Thanks for taking the time to let us know!
Trish
Do you pack the brown sugar?
Martha McKinnon
Yes
Beth
I made this tonight because it sounded so simple and appealing. I have a chronic problem with baking any kind of bread (I’ve tried zucchini bread and banana bread and both have flopped). I was so pleased when this turned out very well! I followed the recipe exactly. The loaf was quite dense and didn’t rise as much as I thought it should, but the result was a very moist and delicious bread. I’m not even a big fan of banana bread (hubby is) and I thought this was really tasty. Definitely adding it to my WW recipe list!
Martha McKinnon
So glad it worked for you Beth!
Janice
How many servings should i get, direction state one slice per serving, but if not limited, my slice could be very large lol ?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Janice, I know what you mean about a very large slice, lol!! There are 14 servings per loaf! -Martha
Michelle
I’m curious if you have tried this without the eggs? Many egg-free recipes use a “flax egg” or “chia egg” as a substitute.
Thanks
Amy
Made into 12 large muffins! Sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on top before baking!! 25 minutes at 350. These were delicious