The Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe
I’ve had some bananas sitting around for a while that have been getting pretty dark, so I wanted to make some banana bread.
The original recipe I typically use from a cookbook I have isn’t Weight Watchers friendly, so I decided to try and make a healthy banana bread recipe and I came up with, seriously, the Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe.
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It only took me two tries to get this recipe right.
The first one crashed and burned last week.
It tasted good, but it didn’t rise much and looked like a flat pancake banana bread.
It was actually quite comical.
When figuring the points for this bread, I noticed the dry ingredients were really the worst offenders in making the points rise and rise.
In this recipe, I switched out the oil for unsweetened applesauce, regular all purpose flour for whole-wheat flour, and real sugar with sugar substitute and it made the world of a difference in points, without sacrificing any taste!
I’m really happy with how the Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe turned out and I think you will be too!
According to the recipe builder on the WW app, this bread is only 1 point per serving, as compared to 5+ points of some of the normal banana bread recipes I’ve found out there.
This bread is moist, has excellent banana flavor, puffs up nice like a typical banana bread recipe, and tastes so incredibly good!
Substitution of Ingredients
After searching in my cookbooks for a Weight Watchers recipe for banana bread and having no luck, I searched the internet a bit and didn’t find much either.
I knew I had to create a new recipe for my banana bread craving, and that was just fine because I knew I could share it with my readers too!
As I mentioned above, I substituted some typical banana bread ingredients in this recipe to make it more personal points friendly.
Most recipes called for some type of oil, whether it be canola oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, or coconut oil.
The first time I tried to make the Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe, I used less oil (vegetable) and even though it was lower smart points, it was still a heavy amount for a slice of bread.
While I was prepping for this recipe, I was in the grocery store in the baking aisle, looking at all of the different types of cake mix and quick bread boxes to see if I could find something easy way to quickly make the bread, but nothing was standing out to me.
I think this recipe makes an easy banana bread recipe that you’ll enjoy, even though it doesn’t come from a box. By substituting unsweetened applesauce for oil, I really saved a lot of points. I was worried about this method, but I remember baking with the applesauce before and it turned out well, so I thought I’d try it in my Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe, and it turned out very well.
This really brought the total fat down, which helps the points values.
As far as sweeteners go, I think it’s obvious sweet breads traditional banana bread will include at least a cup sugar, whether it’s white sugar, brown sugar or both. There are a lot of artificial sweeteners out there, but I prefer the zero calorie, zero point Truvia baking blend.
The ratio is 1:1 and makes it easier for the recipe. This helps cut back on extra calories and that helps the WW points come down as well.
I’ve used stevia drops in the past and that was hard to figure out, but with the Truvia stevia granules, it makes it so much easier. You can find it here.
The ingredient I found to add the most to the point value of the recipe was the typical all-purpose flour that most of us have in our cupboard.
When I was in the baking aisle, I noticed the Weight Watchers points value on the whole wheat flour was so much less than the all-purpose, which makes sense.
I initially thought I should use almond flour, but the points values for that aren’t very good either. In the first recipe, I used self-rising flour, but it didn’t really self-rise. I really can’t tell a difference in the taste by substituting the whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour.
Storage of Banana Bread
For best results, make sure that you store this banana bread in an airtight container. I usually keep mine in a Ziplock freezer bag, or a glass container with a lid.
If you’d like to make a double batch and freeze some, it’s best to let it get to room temperature, then wrap it in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil before setting it in the freezer.
I’ve even went a step further and then put the plastic wrapped, aluminum foil wrapped loaf in a freezer bag as well.
Add Ins
Some people prefer banana nut bread.
If you would like to add walnuts, you can add a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter for 1 additional point per serving.
If you’d like to add some chocolate chips, you can add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter for 1 additional point per serving.
You could add a bit to the batter and then sprinkle the rest on top before baking as well, if you don’t want to add them all to the batter.
Let’s get on to the Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe!
Ingredients
- 1/3 C Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1/2 C Truvia Sweet Complete Granulated All Purpose Stevia
- 2 eggs (if you’d like to use egg whites you can – or feel free to use the yolks)
- 3 overripe bananas, mashed to a pulp (the most important ingredient!)
- 1/4 C Skim Milk
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp of this product
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
(If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can substitute cinnamon instead, or omit it.)
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, add the applesauce, Truvia, and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer or a whisk.
- Add the mashed bananas, milk, baking soda, vanilla, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Beat or whisk until blended well.
- If you’re choosing to add nuts or chocolate chips, add them in and stir with a spoon to incorporate them into the batter.
- Using a large spoon, add the flour to the wet ingredients and stir to incorporate.
- Pour batter into the sprayed loaf pan. Here you can sprinkle some more spice on top, or if you’re adding chocolate chips or nuts to the top, do that now.
- Bake for one hour, or until a knife comes out clean when you stick it down through the center.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan. I removed mine to a wire rack for additional cooling.
- If you wish to do so, after the bread has cooled, cut the loaf into 16 equal pieces.
Weight Watchers Points Values
Weight Watchers Personal Points Value = 1 point per serving
Serving Size = 1/16 of loaf
*For best results, put this entire recipe in the WW Recipe Builder for accurate point counts. The new WW Personal Points program is tailored to WW members, so my points value may differ from yours. Points values for blue plan, purple plan, and green plan will vary as well, and I am now unable to get points for those programs since the switch to WW Personal Points.
This recipe is a great healthier choice and is now one of my favorite recipes. I think for skinny banana breads, this one is amazing.
Making simple swaps in recipes and lowering ingredients are great ways to bring the points values down without sacrificing taste and it helps us stick to our daily values much easier without feeling deprived.
If you’re following a low calorie diet, the nutritional information can be found in the recipe card below.
Yield: 16
The Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread Recipe
This moist, delicious 1 point banana bread recipe will quickly become your go to!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/3 C Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1/2 C Truvia Sweet Complete Granulated All Purpose Stevia
- 2 eggs (if you'd like to use egg whites you can - or feel free to use the yolks)
- 3 overripe bananas, mashed to a pulp (the most important ingredient!)
- 1/4 C Skim Milk
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- (If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can substitute cinnamon instead, or omit it.)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, add the applesauce, Truvia, and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer or a whisk.
- Add the mashed bananas, milk, baking soda, vanilla, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Beat or whisk until blended well.
- If you're choosing to add nuts or chocolate chips, add them in and stir with a spoon to incorporate them into the batter.
- Using a large spoon, add the flour to the wet ingredients and stir to incorporate.
- Pour batter into the sprayed loaf pan. Here you can sprinkle some more spice on top, or if you're adding chocolate chips or nuts to the top, do that now.
- Bake for one hour, or until a knife comes out clean when you stick it down through the center.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan. I removed mine to a wire rack for additional cooling.
- If you wish to do so, after the bread has cooled, cut the loaf into 16 equal pieces.
Notes
You can add 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped walnuts to the batter for one extra point per serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16 Serving Size
1
Amount Per Serving Calories 33Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 23mgSodium 162mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 1g
Nutrition data shown is only an estimate. If you are tracking nutrition for medical purposes, or need an exact nutrition count, please consult an outside, trusted source.
This recipe is versatile too, you can use a mini muffin pan for homemade mini muffins or make some mini loaves too.
The whole family will enjoy this bread and it’s one of the best family friendly recipes.
Serve a slice with some fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, and you have yourself a wholesome breakfast!
Comment below or contact me here to let me know how you like this Best Weight Watchers Banana Bread recipe!
For other great WW recipes, see my WW recipes page here.
Cheers!
Carissa
