real food, real flavor, real life.
Serves 10
Why the all-day banana bread? Easy!!! This works fabulous first thing in the morning for breakfast with freshly squeezed orange juice or a hot cup of coffee. It could be served for lunch with a ripe apple or pear or even a side salad. Dinner time as a light dessert or even as a snack with a cup of tea when you need that quick energy burst to get you through the rest of the day. As with all my recipes, you’re using natural products that are not overly processed. Yes, you have butter and eggs but when this is sliced into 10 portions you’re not overloading your system with too much saturated fat or sugar – remember everything in moderation. Enjoy this all day banana bread anytime of the day!!!
Ingredients:
- 1 Stick unsalted butter, soften
- 3 Large ripe bananas, peel and sliced
- ¾ cup maple syrup, plus 1 teaspoon to drizzle over finished loaf
- 2 medium eggs
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup whole meal flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup homemade granola of your favorite granola mix
How to make:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F, grease 2lb loaf tin
Place the first 7 ingredients (but only 2 of the bananas) into your food processor and blend until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into a bowl and fold in ¾ cup of the granola.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin
Layer the remaining sliced banana down the middle of the banana bread, then scatter the remaining granola over the top of the loaf.
Place the tin in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and rest for 30 minutes before removing the bread from the tin.
Drizzle over the teaspoon of maple syrup, cut into slices and serve.
Estimated Nutritional Breakdown
Per serving, based on 10 slices
- Calories: 240–310 kcal
- Protein: 4–6 g
- Carbohydrates: 34–44 g
- Fiber: 3–5 g
- Total fat: 10–15 g
- Saturated fat: 5–8 g
- Added sugar: 15–22 g, mainly from maple syrup and granola
- Natural sugar: 5–8 g, mainly from bananas
- Sodium: 90–180 mg, depending on granola and baking powder
- Potassium: 250–380 mg
- Calcium: 40–80 mg
- Iron: 1–2 mg
Nutrition will vary depending on the granola used, the size of the bananas, and how thick the slices are cut. Banana bread, behaves differently depending on who is holding the knife.
Why This Fits MW&B Criteria
Real Food First
This recipe is made with bananas, butter, maple syrup, eggs, cinnamon, whole meal flour, baking powder, and granola. The ingredients are simple, recognizable, and easy to find. It avoids artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colorants, and the long ingredient lists often found in packaged breakfast breads and snack cakes.
Whole-Food Carbohydrates
The bananas, whole meal flour, and granola provide carbohydrates with more texture, fiber, and nutritional value than a standard white-flour sweet loaf. This helps make the recipe more satisfying and gives it a better place within a balanced eating pattern.
Natural Sweetness
The sweetness comes from ripe bananas and maple syrup. This does not make it sugar-free, because apparently maple syrup still counts as sugar despite being charming and from a tree. But it does mean the sweetness is coming from more natural, familiar ingredients rather than refined syrups or artificial flavorings.
Fiber and Fullness
Whole meal flour, bananas, and granola add fiber, which helps support digestion and fullness. For an even higher-fiber version, use a granola made with oats, nuts, seeds, and very little added sugar.
Healthy Enjoyment and Moderation
This recipe fits MW&B because it is not pretending to be a perfect health food. It is a homemade treat made with better ingredients and portioned into 10 servings. That is the point: enjoyment with awareness, not restriction dressed up as virtue.
Reduce Harmful Inputs
Compared with many store-bought banana breads or packaged snack cakes, this homemade version gives you control over the ingredients. You can choose better-quality butter, lower-sugar granola, whole meal flour, and real maple syrup. No preservatives, artificial colors, artificial flavors, or mystery stabilizers needed.
Purpose, Connection, and Community
Banana bread is a sharing food. It works for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dessert, or a snack. It is the type of recipe that can sit on the counter and bring people back into the kitchen, which is dangerously wholesome but we’ll allow it.
Assessment and Adjustment
This recipe is easy to adjust depending on your goals. Use a lower-sugar granola, cut into smaller slices, serve with Greek yogurt for more protein, or pair with fruit for breakfast. If serving as dessert, keep the slice modest and enjoy it properly.
MW&B Plate Balance
This recipe works best as part of a balanced plate or snack:
- Carbohydrates: bananas, whole meal flour, granola
- Fat: butter and granola
- Protein: eggs and granola
- Flavor builders: cinnamon and maple syrup
- Best pairings: Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, or coffee/tea
Optional MW&B Serving Ideas
- Serve with plain Greek yogurt for extra protein
- Add fresh berries on the side
- Serve with a boiled egg for a more balanced breakfast
- Toast lightly and serve with a spoonful of cottage cheese
- Pair with apple or pear for a fiber-rich snack
- Cut into 12 smaller slices for a lighter portion
- Use a nut-and-seed granola with less added sugar
Chef Mark Note
This all-day banana bread is simple, comforting, and practical. It can be breakfast, snack, dessert, or something to enjoy with a cup of tea. The bananas bring moisture and natural sweetness, the whole meal flour adds substance, the cinnamon gives warmth, and the granola adds texture.
The MW&B message is simple: make it yourself, use real ingredients, keep the portion sensible, and enjoy it without guilt. Everything in moderation, even the things that make the kitchen smell this good.
