Whole wheat peanut butter banana bread that’s naturally sweetened and loaded with peanut butter flavor! Great for breakfast or snacking!

Having breakfast prepped for my kiddos in the morning before school is a serious time and sanity saver.
For the longest time they always wanted our whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread for breakfast. And they love that bread with a spread of peanut butter on top.
Then my daughter decided she didn’t like raisins anymore. So she would pick out all the raisins. From the cinnamon raisin bread.
That seemed a little silly to me after a while so I came up with this whole wheat peanut butter banana bread.
And oh wow, she LOVES it! So does my son.
They easily go through half of a loaf in a morning. So every other week, I’m making this bread again.
Time to double up I think and do two batches at once cause it freezes so well!
But as you may remember, ripe bananas are hard to come by in our house. Because we eat so many bananas and also use them for banana bread baked oatmeal, banana blueberry muffins, banana chocolate chip snack cake and of course, their beloved spinach banana mini muffins.
So we have a shortage of bananas, a serious shortage of bananas that have sat long enough to get super ripe and then a ton of recipes competing to use those bananas.
Problems, people. Serious problems here.
The last time I needed to make this peanut butter banana bread, and I didn't have any bananas in the pantry to use, I had to make some substitutions.
Good news - it turned out great even without the bananas, so you can absolutely make this anytime!
Also, this bread is whole wheat, naturally sweetened and loaded with peanut butter flavor.
Recipe Notes:
Flour: You can substitute regular all-purpose flour if you’d prefer.
Peanut butter: You could also substitute almond or cashew butter for the peanut butter if you want this to be peanut free.
Chocolate: Add some chocolate! Fold in ½ to ¾ cup of semisweet chocolate chips.
Bake time: Mine is perfectly done at 50 minutes. However, all ovens are different so check yours at 45 minutes using a toothpick to check.
No bananas? You can still make this bread! To replace the bananas, use 1 full cup of applesauce (instead of just the ¼ cup called for in the recipe) and maybe add a little extra honey to make up for the sweetness.
I hope you try this whole wheat peanut butter banana bread for an easy, delicious, healthy breakfast or snack!
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour (or sub all-purpose)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 medium bananas, mashed
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup honey
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x5 bread pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, mash the bananas and add remaining ingredients. Mix well.
- Add dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared bread pan.
- Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Kelly Jones
How did I not think of this? I almost always top banana bread with nut butter, but never thought to make it part of the recipe! Sounds awesome!
Kathryn
Thanks so much Kelly! I hope you give it a try! 😊
Karly
Um, okay, I'm obsessed. This looks absolutely DELSIH! Borderline addicting, but definitely delish.
Kathryn
Thanks Karly! My kids are obsessed too and it's definitely addicting! 😊
Luci's Morsels
Love this healthier take on a delicious classic! Looks tasty!
Kathryn
Thanks Luci!
Tara | Treble in the Kitchen
Good to know that you can make this with applesauce instead of the bananas! Both sound like delicious options 🙂
Kathryn
Thanks Tara! And we did love both of them!
Sarah @ Bucket List Tummy
This looks amazing, Kathryn. I love that it's made with two of my favorite flavors 🙂
Kathryn
Thanks Sarah! Those are two of my favorites too 😊