Healthy Recipes With One Ripe Banana

These old-fashionedBanana Bars with chocolate chips are the epitome of snack-meets-dessert (or is it dessert-meets-snack?) stardom. Use your ripe bananas to make this easy, moist, and delectable treat!

Wholesome enough to fly as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up but scrumptious enough to satisfy sweet cravings, this healthy-dessert-meets-anytime-munchie is a recipe you can feel great packing for your kids’ lunches or rewarding yourself with after (or during!) a long day.

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One of the reasons I adore banana recipes like these banana bars so much is that they allow me to sweeten up my baked goods more naturally.

One Ripe Banana Isolated Over Bright Yellow Background, Collage Stock Image

These banana bars are made from less processed ingredients and offer nutritional benefits too (just like the recipes on this list of 50 Healthy Desserts).

5 Star Review “These are brilliant. The bars are not too sweet and have a great banana taste. Thank you for sharing such a genius creation.” — Tracy —

In addition to being naturally sweetened primarily with mashed banana, these banana bars are made without brown sugar. (I use coconut sugar, though you can swap in brown sugar if that is what you have on hand.) The banana bars are also 100% whole wheat.

Healthy Banana Muffins

Even with these healthy swaps, however, this banana recipe will still satisfy any sweet tooth. I found a good reason to eat them at any time of day.

Like theseStrawberry Oatmeal Bars, and honestly the majority of the healthy dessert recipes on my site, they’re well balanced, nutritious, and hit the spot whether you need a 3 p.m. energy boost or a late-night treat.

You can also make these banana bars for a crowd. Double the recipe, then bake it in a 9×13-inch pan. The 9×13 banana bars recipe will be thicker, so you will need to extend the baking time by several minutes.

The Healthiest, Easy To Make Banana Recipes — Eat This Not That

If you’ve already frosted the bars and want to store them for a longer period, you can freeze banana bars with cream cheese frosting (or any other frosting). See tips below.

This high-quality baking pan is easy to clean and creates perfect corners every time. It’s a kitchen tool you’ll use for years to come!

Healthy Banana Bars with Chocolate Chips. Moist, chewy, and easy to make. Kids love them and they are perfect for healthy desserts and snacks!

Healthy Mini Air Fryer Banana Bread (for One!)

Serving: 1 (of 16) Calories: 98 kcal Carbohydrates: 14 g Protein: 1 g Fat: 4 g Saturated Fat: 3 g Cholesterol: 18 mg Fiber: 1 g Sugar: 8 g

Hi, I'm Erin Clarke, and I'm fearlessly dedicated to making healthy food that's affordable, easy-to-make, and best of all DELISH. I'm the author and recipe developer here at and of The Well Plated Cookbook. I adore both sweets and veggies, and I am on a mission to save you time and dishes. WELCOME!So I spent a lot of time thinking about whatmy first recipe of 2017 should be, and by thinking I mean planning, stressing, and Type-A-ing my way through the last couple of weeks.I mean, not only does the first recipeset the tone for the rest of the year (

Banana

Yup! Today is the big day! And I have a good feeling about this year because my age ends in an even number. And I know that sounds all sorts of crazy, but I also know there are a tonne of you out there who know exactly what I’m talking about. 2 > 1 in more ways than one.

Throwing Overripe Bananas? Try These Tasty Recipes Made With Bananas

Anyways!I can’t even tell you how long I spent mulling overwhat kind of recipe to post on my birthday. I was originally going to gowith chocolate cake, but Spoons is a place for healthy, quick, and easy recipes, and cakes don’t exactly fit any of thosebills. Beside, my birthday is the one day of the year where I can convince someone

To do the baking for me, so I wasn’t overly keen on the idea ofmakingmy own cake… especially when I really wanted muffins.

Chocolate cake here – I just won’t be the one making it and therefore won’t have a recipe to share with you guys

Bowl Gluten Free Banana Bread

Fortune of being a January baby, in which case… I sympathize. My birthday is close enough to New Year’s that I can

That’s why I figured that January would be a good time for something easy, healthy, and practical… which is how thesehealthy one banana muffinshappened.

I mean, I know I just said that 2 > 1, but I also know that I can’t be the only one who sometimes finds herself with only ONE overripe banana on hand and no idea what to do with it. Can’t make most banana breads/muffins, can’t eat it, can’t throw it away…

Healthy Overripe Banana Recipes To Savor

So these muffins are basically an answer to that problem. The recipe only calls for that one lastbanana, but the finished muffins have so muchbanana flavour and moisturethatyou’d really never know they weren’t made with the standard two.

I mean, I guess you could make it 8 or 9 ingredients if you felt like tossing in some add-ins, but I like my banana breads and muffins free of any conflicting flavours so I can taste all the banana goodness.

They’re light, fluffy, tender, andoil-free thanks to the Greek yogurt, and I found them to be plenty sweet, so you could probably cut back on the sugar to 6 Tbsp… or maybe even 1/4 cup if you were adding something sweet like chocolate chips or dried fruit. I made this batch with regular wheat flour so I can’t say for sure how subbing in a GF flour would go, but I’ve had several readers inform me that similar recipes work fine with an all-purpose GF mix if you need them to be gluten-free. Either way, I hope you like them!

Of The Best Ways To Use Overripe Bananas

I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!

* You can also use brown sugar or cane sugar. ** You can also use all-purpose flour, or use a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat. I’d probably go 3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose and 1/2 cup (60 g) whole wheat. I’ve also had readers say that an all-purpose gluten-free mix works as well.Or maybe I should say, sometimes you have a ripe banana and you want to do something with it (ideally, make banana bread). But is that one lonely banana enough all on its own? Spoiler: Yes.

Second, sometimes you just want to bake something. Is it just me, or does everyone feel this way now and again (especially in the winter months)? Ideally, I want to bake something easy that will make my whole kitchen smell amazing.

Ingredient Banana Pancakes Recipe

But I’d prefer if the end result was NOT a dozen cookies or scones or whatever because I know myself well enough to know that this means I will likely eat a dozen cookies or scones over the following couple of days.

I want a little treat, sure, but mostly I just want to carry out the act of baking something and just get a little bite of something at the end.

Third, and most literally, this recipe is inspired by Chrissy Teigen’s recipe from her cookbook (which I love). But, I’ll be the first to admit that this is a much more simple version that results in a smaller serving amount in the end.

Favorite Ripe Banana Recipes

It’s really very different, but I was still inspired by her recipe and I love her cookbook so much I wanted to mention it anyway. 🙂

If you only have one banana, make this banana bread. If you LOVE banana bread (raises hand high) but don’t need a giant bundt cake size in your house due to a lack of self-control, make this banana bread.

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I added a second banana to the top of these mini loafs just for the photos (just trying to give you something pretty to look at it). This is not necessary and in fact I found it caused the batter just under the banana to bake unevenly. So I really don’t even recommend it, but if you want the look … I get it. 🙂