This Blueberry Banana Bread is ultra moist and fluffy, loaded with bananas and blueberries! Use fresh or frozen blueberries, and whole wheat or all purpose flour.
Extra bananas? Try this Banana Pancakes recipe or — my favorite — Banana Nut Bread!
Table of Contents
Banana bread is probably the recipe we make more than any other, and this Healthy Banana Bread is our favorite (although we often jazz it up and make this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread).
It is such a great, mostly healthy snack or breakfast, and between the five of us we can polish off a loaf in record time.
Some Blueberry Banana Bread recipes are made with butter, all purpose flour and quite a bit more sugar, but I like to make this as healthy as I can while still having incredible flavor.
I believe in eating the foods we enjoy, but I also believe in making those recipes as nutritious and nourishing as we can to fuel our bodies (of course, I also believe that our favorite comfort foods like The BEST Cinnamon Buns and Absolutely the Best Brownies Ever are an important part of our diet, too 😉 ).
For this recipe, I’ve included as many variations as I could down below, to guide you through the recipe if you need to make any swaps.
Love blueberries? Find more blueberry recipes here.
How to make this Blueberry Banana Bread recipe:
- Mash your bananas — most often, I’m using bananas that I have frozen whole and in the peel in the freezer. I set them out in a large mixing bowl for a few hours to thaw, and then I’m ready to go! The plus side is that I always have bananas for baking and they don’t require much mashing at all.
- Add in your wet ingredients and sugar. I use a combination of unsweetened applesauce and Greek yogurt in place of butter or oil, to make this recipe a little lighter and add a ton of moisture.
- Stir in baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt — I whisk these in first to ensure they are evenly incorporated before adding the flour, because once we add the flour we don’t want to overmix! This is key to making a one bowl banana bread.
- Stir in the flour — stir only until the last traces of flour are gone.
- Stir in the blueberries — if I’m using fresh blueberries, I just toss them in. If you are using frozen blueberries, it’s important to add them last, while they are still frozen, and toss them in a bit of flour to prevent them sinking to the bottom and staining your loaf purple.
- Bake — this Blueberry Banana Bread takes quite a while to bake, as most quick breads do. It’s important to keep an eye on your loaf, and cover with foil if it begins to brown too quickly. I usually cover mine at the 40 minute mark and continue baking.
- Remove from the oven when a long skewer inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean or with moist crumbs — it shouldn’t look gooey like batter!
Variations on Blueberry Banana Bread:
- You can swap the applesauce or yogurt with oil or sour cream if you need to
- You can use all whole wheat flour, all all purpose flour, or a combination, without changing the rest of the recipe
- You can swap the blueberries for any other berry — chopped strawberries, raspberries (stir gently as they tend to fall apart), blackberries (chopped if large), or a combination.
- You can use fresh or frozen blueberries, but keep in mind that frozen blueberries may stain the batter purple, and may require a longer bake time as it slows down the cooking process slightly as they warm and thaw.
How to store Banana Bread:
If you have any of this Blueberry Banana Bread left to store after the first couple hours of it sitting on the counter, here are a few ways to make it last!
At room temperature:
This Blueberry Banana Bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days. I don’t like to leave it longer than that, as the extra moisture from the berries can cause it to spoil more quickly.
In the refrigerator:
If you want to store this banana bread more than a couple days, but you want easy access to it, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
If you are going to be storing that long, be sure to refrigerate within the first day to preserve freshness.
How to freeze Banana Bread:
When I’m baking banana bread, I often double the batch and freeze one for later!
They are perfect for pulling out of the freezer for quick snacks or breakfasts when you’re short on time.
Wrap tightly or place in an air tight container, then freeze for up to 3 months.
More banana recipes you’ll love!
- Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (healthier!)
- Banana Oatmeal Muffins Recipe
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Ingredients
- 3 ripe medium bananas
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole wheat flour* (130g)
- 1 cup all purpose flour* (130g)
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries (see notes above for fresh and frozen)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8×4″ or 9×5″ loaf pan (see notes)
- In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add applesauce, yogurt and sugar and whisk until combined.
- Add vanilla and eggs and stir until combined.
- Add baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flour and stir just until combined (don’t overmix – it doesn’t have to be smooth, just combined). Stir in blueberries, reserving a few to sprinkle on top if desired.
- Spread in loaf pan and bake for 50-70 minutes (this will depend on the size of your pan), covering with foil at 40 minutes when the top is golden brown. Continue baking until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (up to about 70 minutes).
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Sibby says
I adore this recipe!! I sub AP flour with almond flour and add a dash of almond extract too. I have made this numerous times and it’s always great and a bit with my picky family and in-laws. I am going to attempt this with muffins and just adjust the time.
Thank you so much for a no oil healthy alternative. I am looking forward to trying you other recipes!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Sibby! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
CoKo says
I live at 6,200′. What changes do you suggest?
Thanks!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi CoKo! I have no idea, I don’t bake for high elevation. I would just follow what you normally do when you are baking (as far as temperatures and times). Enjoy!
Annie says
Can this be made into muffin? If so, how would you adjust the baking time?
Ashley Fehr says
It probably can, but I haven’t tried 🙂
Lezah says
Love this banana blueberry bread. Just barely sweet, applesauce instead of oil, moist and tasty. I used parchment paper to line my pan. Will make this again!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Jim says
Sounds like a delicious recipe. I was wondering if you could make this in a bread machine. 😊
Ashley Fehr says
Sorry Jim, I’ve never tried!
Stephanie says
This is my go-to bread recipe. I just love the flavor combo and the loaf turns out soft and perfect every time!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Stephanie!
Krissy Allori says
Yum! This bread looks so good. I don’t think I’ve had blueberry and banana together. It looks amazing.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Krissy!
Ashley says
We just picked fresh blueberries this week and this bread is just perfect. I can’t wait to make it again!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Ashley!
Beth Pierce says
Yum! Looks so delicious. I can’t wait to make this!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Beth!
D says
I may be an idiot but after reading this article, I read that you could use either all whole wheat flour or all AP flour or a combination (like you do). In the recipe, there’s an asterisk by each. I took that to mean either/or/both… but not one cup of each. I just put this in the oven with one cup of flour total. Now that I have reread the recipe, I have doubts – maybe having both types in the recipe IS your ‘combination’ but I can’t find anything conclusive in the recipe to say one or two cups total. It’s a bit confusing and I hope this turns out okay…
Ashley Fehr says
Hi D! The asterisk is to link the ingredients to the related comments in the notes section. The recipe ingredients listed in the recipe card are always needed unless they are listed as optional. I use 1 cup of each. But as mentioned a couple of times, you can use 100% whole wheat or all purpose if you prefer. I’m sorry for the confusion!