This spelt banana bread is easy, delicious, moist and a healthy bread recipe that’s sure to please! It’s also naturally sweetened and dairy-free.
Apparently a lot of people are baking banana bread right now while being holed up inside. I have no idea why! People panicked and bought too many bananas and need to use them up now?
Whatever the reason, it’s cool with me because I just happened to have this spelt banana bread recipe to share!
I love baking with spelt. It’s certainly harder to find than whole wheat, which is annoying, but it’s worth seeking out.
It tastes less wheaty than whole wheat and has several health benefits.
I have several recipes with spelt, like these Spelt Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Spelt Banana Muffins and Whole Grain Spelt Mini Pitas. This spelt cinnamon raisin bread is also a favorite of mine!
Spelt isn’t always interchangeable with whole wheat but in this recipe you can use whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour in place of the spelt flour.
Unfortunately, I haven’t tried a gluten-free version of this recipe BUT I do have a gluten-free banana bread coming to my other blog this week!
I hope you’ll enjoy this spelt banana bread if you try it! If you need a sugar-free version, try this sugar-free banana bread (t’s made with whole wheat).
Spelt Banana Bread (naturally dairy-free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 grams) whole grain spelt flour, whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) maple syrup or 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) oil (olive oil, canola, grapeseed, or anything neutral)
- 2 large (50 grams each, out of shell) eggs
- 2 cups (600 grams) mashed bananas (about 4-5 medium but please weigh them)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (55 grams) chopped walnuts or (65 grams) chocolate chips (or a mix of both - optional)
- 2 tablespoons coarse sugar for sprinkling over top optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9"x5" loaf pan by spraying with oil, non-stick spray or a piece of parchment paper. and set aside.
- In a small bowl mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, combine the well-mashed bananas with the maple syrup/honey, oil, eggs and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix quickly, adding the nuts or chocolate chips in the last moment of mixing.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle with coarse sugar over top, if desired.
- Place in the oven and bake 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Remove the loaf pan from the oven and let the loaf cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before turning it out and cooling on a cooling rack completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Comments & Reviews
Kris says
I’m the process of baking the bread but I have say in order to get 600g of banana I had to use 7 bananas! They weren’t babies, they were between 4-6 inches each! Anyone else experience this?
Erin @ Food Doodles says
Hello! I’m thinking your scale might be acting up. Mine did this the other day. There was something wedged under a part of it and it was messing with my numbers all day. 7 bananas for 600 grams would be 85 grams per banana. Even small bananas are 100 grams each (this talks about size + grams of bananas but I also always weigh my bananas and they’re usually about 125 grams). I hope the bread came out well. 🙂
Jasmine says
This has become my go-to banana bread recipe. My daughter has a few friends who are sensitive to wheat so this is always a safe snack. I love to use coconut oil and then I sprinkle shredded coconut on top so it toasts as the loaf cooks. Yummy.
Mindy says
Absolutely delicious!! Added some sunflower seeds instead of walnuts!
Joshua says
I liked your review of the WonderMill: it’s so hard to find reviews online! And of course the bread recipe looks like it makes some scrumptious stuff.
Have you used any other kind of grain mill? I looked at grainmillcomparison.com and onlygrainmills.com, and they both list quite a few mills besides the WonderMill. The KoMos in particular seemed like they’d be a dream to use.
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
I had a hard time finding reviews too. I haven’t used any other mills, my mill before I received this one was the same kind of mill, and was my mother in laws for the past 20+ years. My sister in law had a hand mill that she wouldn’t recommend just because of the effort involved in grinding just a little bit of grain, but I don’t know what brand or model it was. I know the lady that writes 100 Days of Real Food uses a Nutrimill and seems to like it. I just looked up the KoMo grain mill and it looks great! It’s beautiful! Although I’d be worried about the mess. The WonderMill connects directly to the storage container so there’s no mess at all. You’d have to look into the difference in wattage and warranty and things like that if you’re trying to make a decision. Either way you will just love using fresh flours!
Gosia says
Heidi, what do you know! When googling for low-gluten bread recipes… where do I end up – on Food Doodles. What a recipe you got here! I’ll be eating this deliciousness in a matter of hours, no, let me be realistic – days. But I’m testing it tout de suite. Thanks for this gorgeous-looking bread. P.S. I’m so in awe for your freshly-ground flours. My next best choice (after store-bought) is the mill in Chilliwack., British Columbia where they do it, not to order, but fresh nonetheless http://anitasorganic.com/. I’ll report on the bake results soon.
Allison says
Oh! Yummy, This kind of bread made up with banana is delicious in kind. I want to taste it.
Ashlae says
I had no idea mini mill grinders existed!??!! This whole time I thought people ground their grains in high speed blenders, like me. But now that I know mini mill grinders exist.. I want one. Bad. And this banana bread looks delicious. I love hearty, whole grain breads.
Katie {Epicurean Mom Blog} says
I’ve so wanted to try grinding my own grains! You may just push me to actually do it! This bread looks fabulous!!
Marina {YummyMummyKitchen.com} says
I haven’t baked with spelt yet, but you’ve convince me. This looks great!
Joanne says
Grinding your own flour is DEFINITELY worth it, and it’s a LOT cheaper. Love this banana bread! Spelt flour is my favorite to bake with.
Kat says
I started to use whole grain flour in my baking, and the difference in taste is tremendous. I imagine it’s much better when it’s freshly ground, not to mention the nutrition qualities you mentioned. Your banana bread looks beautiful!
Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli says
I’m a bit ashamed to admit, but I swear this is the first I’ve ever heard of grinding your own grains. Where in the world have I been?! I love experimenting with different flours when I bake and I’ve used spelt before to make banana avocado muffins that turned out really great. Your recipe definitely looks like a winner and as always, your pictures are absolutely stunning! Love the contrast of the blue towel!
Emma says
I love banana bread, always seem to get it wrong. To be fair I do need a new oven so I guess that doesn’t help!
Looking delish tho!! 🙂
Jane says
I have always always wanted to be able to grind my own grains, but I’ve been kinda help back by the price of buying one! I’ve heard once you start grinding, you won’t go back to store bought flour! Thanks for the review, I will def think about it! That bread looks really good!
Sonia The Healthy Foodie says
How beautiful! I’m way way overdue for a good slice of toasted banana bread, topped with gorgeous, home made peanut butter and a few slices of… apple! Oh yeah! I think I know what I’ll be making tomorrow. I was already planning on making a fresh batch of peanut butter, and I have like 5 bananas on the counter just waiting to get used up!
This is so happening! Thanks for the inspiration, Heidi!
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Can you believe I’ve never had banana bread with peanut butter on it?! I usually just put butter on it, if anything. So I took a piece out of the freezer last night and tried it – yummy! 😀
Sonia The Healthy Foodie says
Heidi, this is seriously the best banana bread I have eaten my entire life! Soooo moist, tender, chewy, it’s like a decadent cake. Of course, I’ve made a few very slight mods (you know me, always have to change recipes…) but this is now my go to banana bread recipe! I have to admit that I was very sceptical when I add ALL that cinnamon, and god knows I LOVE cinnamon, but really, it works great! I think it just elevates the flavor so much!
Of course, I sampled it toasted, with peanut butter (ain’t it amazing?) and it was the bomb!
LOOOOOOVE it. Plain and simple.
Thanks a bunch for this brilliant recipe. Oh, and expect to see it on my site very shortly, of course!
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’m off to read your post now 😀
Margarita says
Can’t wait to have a house so I can buy all these awesome kitchen gadgets!
Marsha @ The Harried Cook says
That’s one gorgeous looking loaf… I’ve never baked with spelt before, but now I want to try! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Maris (In Good Taste) says
This banana bread looks perfect!
Nora @ Natural noshing says
I would LOVE a grain mill! maybe that should be on “to buy” list! Your banana bread looks yummmmmmmyyy! I would definitely add the nuts and the chocolate – I am an add-in type of girl 🙂
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
I make banana bread (and everything else) with whole spelt and love it. It must be great to have a grain mill! I could walk down the street to the organic store and use theirs, but then I have to buy their spelt berries and they’re so expensive. I’m definitely going to have to buy one when we move back to the US because whole spelt seems to cost a fortune there. But I was wondering, if you’re grinding your own spelt berries, doesn’t that mean you used whole spelt? Or is spelt automatically whole spelt unless it’s “white spelt”? I guess I’m confused because “spelt” and “whole spelt” are different products here. I guess all spelt is really whole spelt. I feel so stupid. I even write “whole spelt” on all my recipes. 🙁
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Oh, don’t feel stupid!! I should probably be writing “whole spelt” on my recipes. I actually can’t buy any kind of spelt flour here, at least where I live, that’s why I love being able to grind it so much – otherwise I’d have to travel to find it, or order it online or something. I didn’t even think that in other places people might wonder whether it’s whole or not!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
I’ve looked on Amazon before but it just confused me more. Oh well. I’m just going to assume that spelt is the same as whole spelt. And good for you for grinding your own flour! But it’s strange that you can find spelt berries and not spelt flour. That’s just puzzling.
Charissa says
I’ve heard so much about spelt flour…it sounds like such a better choice than regular whole wheat.
Genevieve says
I love baking with whole grains and different flours, but I’ve never ground my own…I learned a lot from this post! I usually do buy my flours in small quantities from bulk bins, but I don’t usually think about them going bad – how can you tell?
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
You might be able to tell by the smell of it, but unless you have something to compare it to you might not be able to tell the difference. Before I had smelled freshly ground flour, I couldn’t smell anything “off” about “old” flour. If you’re buying it from bulk bins that are frequently used it might be fairly fresh though!
chinmayie @ love food eat says
I have been wanting to bake some banana bread for a few days and this post reminded me I have to do it soon if I want to save my overripe bananas! Thank you
Amy @ Gastronome Tart says
Who knew?! I seriously had no idea that there were mill grinder’s that that you could use to grind your own grains. Honestly. No clue! Unfortunately, there probably isn’t anywhere around where I live that would sell whole grains in their natural state 🙁 I will be keeping an eye out!
Roxana GreenGirl { A little bit of everything} says
Lately I started to use more whole wheat flour in my baking. I thought my family is gonna turn their noses but was an easy transaction. We still use some white flour, but not as much as I used to.
I’ve been looking to get myself a mill, somehow I can’t quite justify the cost…
your banana bread looks great!
Liz says
I love this recipe! Thank you for sharing this banana bread steps and ingredients.
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
I’m always inspired by those who use whole grain flours. I know that I need to make a switch sooner than later but growing up eating mainly white bread, it’s a big step. Kids didn’t know any better if I changed when they were even smaller…so I’m telling myself now is better than next year or year after… I’m amazed with your passion and that leads to making this beautiful bread. It’s also fun reading your experience too. Thanks for sharing and especially keeping to inspire others like me!