Incredibly light and moist banana bread made with whole wheat flour! This whole wheat banana bread that I make with a mixture of whole wheat flour and rye flour is my absolute favorite version of banana bread. I adapted this recipe from my classic banana bread recipe, so it’s still a super easy, quick bread recipe to make, and you’ll get consistently fabulous results every time.
Why this recipe is my favorite
The whole wheat flour adds a lovely nutty flavor to the banana bread. And I love it even more when I add 50% rye flour! Since I add less flour to compensate for the texture and heaviness of whole wheat flour, the banana bread still comes out really soft, moist, and delicious. I love to make mine with brown butter, which adds even more flavor. You can do the same with the classic banana bread too. You can easily adapt this recipe and use honey instead of sugar. I increase the amount of baking powder to help the cake rise better and still maintain a nice crumb. I use pecans which are my favorite type of nuts to eat, so the whole wheat banana bread has fantastic flavor from the nuts as well.
Making brown butter
I’ve written a separate post on how to make brown butter and the different stages the brown butter goes through. I upgraded the caramelized brown butter flavor by adding 1.5 tbsp of dry milk powder to the butter while it’s cooking. The milk powder caramelizes, forming more caramelized milk solids, adding even more flavor to the butter. This is of course an optional step, and you can use plain brown butter, melted butter, or just oil instead too. Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, or vegetable/canola oil are all good options.
How to make whole wheat banana bread
First, preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. This batter comes together very quickly, so you need to make sure there’s enough time for the oven to preheat. Mash up the ripe bananas in a medium bowl and set aside. I like to keep the mashed banana mixture pretty chunky. In a large bowl, place the sugar, salt, and brown butter (or any other alternative), and whisk to mix together. Whisk in the sour cream. The batter should become creamy and smooth. Stir in the banana, followed by the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, including the spices. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold them in. Add any other additions you like before completely incorporating all of the flour. I added chopped pecans, but you can also add chocolate chips, chopped dates, or dried fruits like raisins. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Cut another banana lengthwise and lay it on top, cut side up, and sprinkle with some raw sugar AND salt (preferably maldon sea salt). The sliced banana makes the banana bread look pretty once baked, but you can leave it out, or top with nuts instead. I usually ALWAYS add some sea salt flakes though. Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 – 70 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. The bake time is about 65 minutes for me. Remove the banana bread from the oven, and carefully turn the loaf out onto a cooling wire rack. Let the whole wheat banana bread cool completely on the wire rack. Enjoy this warm with a pat of salted butter (or more salt sprinkled on top). It’s just as delicious at room temperature or toasted!
Whole wheat banana bread variations
My favorite variation is adding chocolate chips. The added chocolate chips yield another layer of flavor to the nutty whole wheat banana bread. I usually always make this with 50% Whole wheat flour and 50% rye flour. I prefer whole wheat and rye banana bread, because the rye flour adds even more flavor. Instead of the sour cream, you can add peanut butter (plus 1 tsp apple cider vinegar) to add peanut butter flavor to your banana bread. To keep the banana bread dairy free, substitute the butter with oil or a dairy free butter, and substitute the sour cream with vegan yogurt. To make a healthy banana bread recipe, you can use olive oil instead of butter, and honey or maple syrup instead of sugar. If you don’t have raw sugar to sprinkle on top, you can use granulated sugar or leave it out. I love this recipe! It’s my favorite version of banana bread. The nutty, wholesome flavor of whole wheat and rye banana bread is one of a kind! Mix in a little flour with the chopped pecans. Mix until the nuts are lightly coated with flour. Place the flour coated chopped pecans in a strainer to sieve out any excess flour (that is not coating the nuts). This can then be folded into the batter. You can adapt this recipe to either be not too sweet, or a sweet banana bread. We love the not too sweet version, and then sprinkle some more salt on top. This is a great recipe to pair with your morning coffee. 🙂
If you liked this recipe, you may also like,
The best homemade banana pudding Banana layer cake with brown butter cream cheese frosting Spiced banana cupcakes Easy baked bananas foster Easy basic muffins Blueberry muffins with streusel topping
