Light & Moist Protein Banana Bread

Your search for the best protein banana bread recipe is over!

This high protein banana bread is moist and fluffy, and nobody would ever know that is was secretly lower-calorie and higher-protein than regular banana bread.

Pair this with some fresh coffee, and you’ve got yourself an amazing breakfast to start your day.

Each slice of this protein banana bread contains 130 calories, 5g fat, 17g carbs, and 6g protein.

This bread does not have as many grams of protein as some of my other recipes, but that’s because I really wanted to find the right balance between making this recipe high-protein and still remaining moist and delicious.

I’ve definitely found that balance here. This moist banana bread does not disappoint!

How to make high-protein banana bread

The most important ingredient in any traditional banana bread recipe is ripe banana. And when I say ripe, I mean very ripe.

Here is what the bananas I used in this recipe look like:

Using overripe banana serves two purposes. One, a ripe banana will be much easier to mash than an unripe banana. Two, the riper the banana, the sweeter it is.

If you use bananas with only a little bit of brown on them, the flavor will be very subtle and not nearly as sweet. It’s important to make sure your bananas are very ripe before making this healthy banana bread recipe!

Mash your bananas in a large mixing bowl, then mix in some brown sugar, granular sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.

It’s okay for the mashed bananas to not be perfectly smooth at this point, so expect to still see some small chunks.

In a separate bowl, you’re going to mix up all of the dry ingredients and then add those to the wet ingredients. For this recipe, that means all-purpose flour (can use whole wheat flour as well), protein powder, baking soda AND baking powder, and salt.

The protein powder I use is a blend of whey & casein protein, which I’ve found to be the best protein powder for baking. You should be able to use whey protein in this recipe without any issue.

Since we’re using a relatively small amount of protein powder, whey protein powder should work completely fine. Vegan protein powder may also work, but I did not test this.

I’ve tested this recipe with both vanilla protein powder and unflavored protein powder and both work really well, so it comes down to preference. I prefer slightly sweeter, so I enjoy vanilla protein powder for the best results.

At this stage, the protein powder banana bread batter should be very thick. We’re going to melt some butter and add that in as the very last ingredient, helping to add some fat into this recipe as well as smooth out the batter a bit (you can also use coconut oil or olive oil if you prefer).

Pour your batter into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I like to line the loaf pan with some parchment paper to help prevent the edges from becoming overbaked.

Oven times can vary, especially if you use a different type of pan (metal and glass bake quite differently, for example) so be sure to check on the bread at the 30-minute mark and give it more time if needed.

You’ll know the banana bread is ready when a toothpick or fork comes out clean.

Do not slice the banana bread right away.

If you do not allow the loaf to fully set, it will be very difficult to slice cleanly, and the interior will be too soft. Allow the loaf to sit at room temperature for about 1 hour to fully cool before slicing.

As long as you’re a little bit patient, you’ll have perfectly clean banana bread slices.

How to store & heat leftover protein banana bread

This healthy protein banana bread recipe is perfect to make for breakfast throughout the week.

Store this delicious banana bread in an airtight container on the counter, and it will stay fresh for up to one week.

However, since this recipe is high-protein, you may find it drying out as time goes by. Heat your banana bread in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds, and it will taste nice and fresh!

Banana bread is great when paired with a topping, so if you did find it a bit dry, it’s very easy to remedy that.

Spread some peanut butter (or other nut butter) over your banana bread to bump the protein content up even more, or enjoy with a little maple syrup drizzled over the top.

Protein banana bread recipe variations

There are quite a few ways you can change up this recipe to fit your preferences. Here are just a few examples:

Make chocolate chip banana bread: Mix chocolate chips into your batter to turn this recipe into chocolate chip banana bread. Be sure to add some extra chocolate chips on top to make sure they don’t all settle to the bottom.

Turn these into banana muffins: Pour the batter into a muffin tin (and add walnuts or chocolate chips if preferred) and bake for 15-20 minutes to make delicious banana muffins.

Make gluten free banana bread: You can swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour and it should still work great! While you can substitute some of the flour for almond flour or almond meal, I would not recommend using only almond flour or else there will be no structure to your banana bread. Likewise, I do not recommend using coconut flour as a replacement.

Simple high-protein breakfast recipes to explore

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so you’ll find plenty of delicious high-protein breakfast options around here.

While I love them all, here are some that I think you’ll love based on your interest in this recipe:

• 3-Ingredient Protein Pancakes
• Protein Cinnamon Rolls
• High-Protein Churro Waffles
• Protein Bagels
• Everything Bagel Pull-Apart Bread
• Maple Bacon French Toast Casserole

Continue to Content

Light & Moist Protein Banana Bread

Yield: 12 Slices

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

This fluffy & moist protein banana bread makes the perfect weekday breakfast. Each slice contains 130 calories & has 6g of protein, making it a delicious and filling way to start your day.

Print

Ingredients

• 4 Medium Ripe Bananas (mine weighed about 400g total once peeled)
• 50g (3 Tbsp) Brown Sugar Substitute (or regular brown sugar)
• 25g (2 Tbsp) Granular Sugar Substitute (or regular white sugar)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 62g (2 Scoops) Vanilla or Unflavored Whey/Casein Blend Protein Powder (code "Matt" to save on PEscience brand)
• 120g (1 Cup) All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Egg
• 4 Tbsp Butter

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mash 4 ripe bananas in a large bowl. It's important the bananas are very ripe because if they aren't, the bread is going to lack sweetness.
3. Add the brown sugar, granular sugar, egg, vanilla, and cinnamon to the bowl with the mashed banana and mix together.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, protein powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and fold everything together (it's important to not overmix the batter).
6. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in the microwave then mix that into the batter last.
7. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and add your batter.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let the protein banana bread fully cool and set for about 1 hour before slicing. If you slice too soon, the interior will be too soft.

Notes

• I often use "light butter" in my recipes to save calories, but this recipe needs full-fat butter. I did test with low calorie butter, and the banana bread was too dry.
• I only tested this recipe with a blend of whey & casein protein powder, but any type of protein powder should work due to the relatively small amount.
• If you do not want to use protein powder, you can substitute the same amount of flour.
• My friend Paige made this recipe as muffins and baked them for 17 minutes with great success!

• I do not recommend swapping the egg for egg whites because the extra fat from the egg yolk helps the overall moisture of this recipe.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Granular Sugar Substitute
• 
  Brown Sugar Alternative Substitute
• 
  PEScience Whey/Casein Blend Vanilla Protein (Code "Matt" will save you 10%)

Nutrition Information

Yield 12 Serving Size 1 Slice
Amount Per Serving Calories 130Total Fat 5gCarbohydrates 17gProtein 6g

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