This Baby’s first banana bread is sugar-free and perfect for babies starting their weaning journey. If you are looking for a freezer-friendly, easy recipe, look no further!
This Healthy Banana Bread is a great make-ahead snack for littles of all ages. Most banana recipes you will find use maple syrup as a sweetener; however, it is added sugar and should be avoided for younger babies and toddlers < 2 years of age. Therefore, I blend raisins in the batter to add sweetness, fiber, vitamins, and minerals!
You can add chocolate chips to the batter to make this recipe more interesting and fun for toddlers > over 2 years old and older kids.
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Table of Contents
Reasons to Love this Sugar-Free Banana Bread for Babies
- Naturally Sweetened: This baby banana bread is sugar-free, yet not bland! The raisins add the perfect sweetness without negatively affecting the baby’s developing taste buds.
- Easy and simple: This recipe uses ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
- Customizable: You can bake for babies and add chocolate chips or nuts to the batter for older siblings.
- Freezer-friendly: A great recipe to prepare and reheat in the microwave for a quick breakfast or snack.
- Great for lunch boxes: These are a healthy option for your little ones, and they can easily be added to packed lunches or snacks on the go.
Ingredients to Make The Best Baby Banana Bread
Here is what you need to make this delicious banana bread for your baby:
- Bananas: For added sweetness and moisture. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the banana bread.
- Eggs: Used as a binder. Use room-temperature eggs if you can!
- Raisins or Golden Raisins: Source of natural sweetness packed with fibers, vitamins, and minerals. Natural sugars from fruits and veggies can be used to sweeten baby recipes from 6+ months.
- Butter: To add moisture to the muffin. You can use coconut, avocado, vegetable oil, or light-flavored olive oil (extra virgin will not work as it is too strongly flavored).
- All-purpose flour: I like to use a combination of oats and all-purpose flour. This way, the muffins are healthier and also fluffy!
- Oat Flour: For added fibers and nutrients.
- Baking powder: To make the muffins rise.
- Cinnamon: Optional for added flavor and sweetness.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Follow these simple steps to make the best healthy banana bread for babies:
- Preheat oven to 356F and prepare a baking loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter (about 20 seconds in the microwave).
- Add the ripe bananas, eggs, raisins, and melted butter to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Combine the oat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk the dry ingredients until combined.
- Pour the blended wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and whisk until combined.
- Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the banana bread is golden on the edges.
- Let it cool for 5-10 minutes and move to a wire rack.
Tips for the Perfect Baby’s First Banana Bread
- Use overripe bananas with brown spots for best results on both sweetness and moisture.
- For decorating, you can add a few banana slices to the top before baking.
- Preheat the oven before adding the banana bread. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick and check if it comes out clean.
- After 5-10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the pan and let it finish cooling on a wire rack, preferably, or it can get soggy.
Tools Needed
Storage Instructions
- Let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer bag or an airtight container.
- Fridge: Store for up to 4 days. You can reheat in the microwave for about 10 seconds.
- Freezer: Store for up to 3 months. You can slice and freeze or wrap the entire loaf. I find it easier to portion it so that you can remove the exact quantity for the baby’s snack, and it is much easier to defrost.
Serving Suggestions and Substitutions
I always suggest offering the ingredients individually before adding recipes to the menu. For example, first offer bananas, then eggs, then bananas with oats and cinnamon. Then, you can offer this baby banana bread, making sure that you screen for any food allergies and allow enough time for the baby to get used to each individual flavor.
- This banana bread can be served independently, or you can top it with nut/seed butter, yogurt, cream cheese, or even sugar-free jam.
- For baby-led weaning, between 6 and 9 months, you can serve the food in thin slices so the baby can use his palmar grasp to hold on to it.
- Once the pincer grasp has developed after 9 months, you can cut the banana bread into smaller pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely! Babies can have sugar-free banana bread since starting solids! However, make sure that the individual ingredients have been offered first, especially the allergens such as dairy and eggs. I started introducing recipes when both my babies were 9 months old.
7-month-old babies still use their palmar grasp, so, if you are doing baby-led-weaning, you can cut the bread into strips or fingers. If you are feeding the baby, you may offer it in smaller pieces. At around 9-10 months of age, babies develop their pincer grasp. At this age, you may cut it into bite-size pieces.
Yes, this banana bread loaf can be frozen. Let it cool down, slice and add to a sealed container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
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🥣Recipe
Baby’s First Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 9×5 Loaf Pan
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 356F (180C) and line a baking loaf tin with parchment paper OR grease with butter and coat with some oat flour for a clean release after baking!
- Melt the butter (about 20 seconds in the microwave).
- Add the ripe bananas, eggs, raisins, and melted butter to a blender and blend until smooth.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- Whisk the dry ingredients until combined.
- Pour the blended wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and whisk until combined.
- Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean and the banana bread is golden on the edges.
- Let it cool 5-10 minutes and move to a wire rack.
Notes
- Nutrition facts are calculated for each 1 serving of the recipe (1 slice).
- It is suitable for baby-led weaning. I always recommend starting recipes after the baby has been exposed to each ingredient individually. For example, offer bananas and eggs separately before the combination so that the baby is familiar with each food individually before combining.
- Ensure you preheat the oven before adding the banana bread. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick and check if it comes out clean.
Nutrition
The whole family loved it!
That’s what I like to hear! Thanks for sharing!
This was delicious and I’ll definitely try making it again. It is a bit too crumbly for my 7 month old bring to her mouth, but she seems to like eating it.
Hi Tamara! I am glad your baby girl likes this banana bread. If you think it is too crumbly for her, you can add an extra tbsp butter to the batter. It will add some additional moisture.
So I made the mistake of rehydrating the golden raisins and it was too moist (lol). It caused my bake time to be closer to 45 minutes. Still, it’s super yummy and I did make a few adjustments. I didn’t have enough oat flour so subbed the rest with ap flour. I added about a large carrot’s worth of shredded carrots bc I just had too much at home. Lastly I used oil instead of butter bc I haven’t introduced butter to my baby (7 month old) yet. He didn’t realize how much he liked it until he squished it all over the place and then wanted it in his mouth but it was smeared everywhere (so lots of slamming his little paws on the table in frustration). It didn’t help that his grandma stole half of his and took another slice all in the name of “taste testing for the baby”. Will make again (and not rehydrate the raisins lol).
Thanks for sharing, it does sound like a fun taste testing for the baby lol!
I really like this recipe so I keep using it but every other time I forget that 1T of baking powder makes it too bitter for my baby so every other batch has been a fail. Half T worked great for me!
Hi Sarah! Thanks for sharing your feedback! I will revisit and change the quantity to 1/2 tbsp as several other readers have also suggested.