Healthy Rhubarb Banana Bread
This rhubarb bread recipe is made healthier using whole wheat flour, no refined sugar, no butter or oil, but it’s so soft and tender that you’d never be able to tell! So delicious, you’re going to want to make Healthy Rhubarb Banana Bread all season long!
This post was originally published on May 26, 2016. It was updated on 7/17/19 with new photos and recipe tips.
Rhubarb is one of those intriguing foods you see in recipes here and there, but it’s not wildly popular like blueberries or apples. You can only seem to find rhubarb in a very narrow time period and when you see it in the produce department of your grocery store, you can rest assured, spring is here. I like to challenge myself to try new foods and, in my opinion, everything pairs well with bananas, so rhubarb banana bread was born.
How to Make This Rhubarb Bread With Banana
My daughter loves to get in the kitchen with me when I’m baking, especially when the recipe is sweet and comforting. Baking bread is a great opportunity to get your kids helping in the kitchen. There are great teaching opportunities to be had- measuring ingredients, chatting about the ingredients being used and learning to use common kitchen tools.
This particular recipe was really fun to make with my daughter because we were both new to rhubarb. I did some research and learned that rhubarb has a very short season (April through June), so grab it up while you can. It looks like bright pink celery and has a zesty flavor that is perfect for balancing out the sweetness in pies and other desserts. It freezes well and can be saved to enjoy later in the year.
This recipe is very straightforward. You can use a stand or hand mixer or mix everything by hand. You’ll want to start by whisking all of the dry ingredients together in one large bowl. Next, add in the wet ingredients and gently stir to combine. Last, fold in the chopped rhubarb. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake at 350ºF for about 50-55 minutes. Once the bread comes out of the oven, allow it to cool in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes. Use a butter knife around the sides to help lift the bread out of the loaf pan. Slice and enjoy!
What makes this rhubarb banana bread healthy?
- This rhubarb banana bread recipe is made with 100 percent whole wheat flour, unlike most quick bread recipes that call for refined flour and lots of processed sugar.
- This rhubarb bread is naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, which offer some trace nutrients that white sugar does not.
- Lastly, this recipe doesn’t call for any oil or butter. The added mashed banana not only naturally sweetens the bread, but it also makes the bread super moist.
As you can see, my homemade rhubarb bread has plenty of redeeming qualities, chief being that it won’t send your blood sugar levels for a loop. You can keep them all to yourself, though. No one will be able to tell that this is healthy rhubarb banana bread!
Variations
- Stir a handful of chocolate chips into the rhubarb banana bread batter for a super indulgent treat.
- Try adding chopped nuts of your choice. Pecans, almonds, or walnuts would all be tasty additions.
- If you prefer spelt flour, white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour; those all work great as a substitute for the whole wheat flour.
- Turn this quick bread recipe into a muffin recipe. Shorten the cook time down to 20-25 minutes.
Tips For Storing Rhubarb Quick Bread
This recipe makes twelve slices and only lasted a day and a half in my household. My whole family was pretty fond of the zesty, comforting flavors. My husband and I especially appreciated that it didn’t send us into a sugar coma and paired really well with scrambled eggs for a complete breakfast meal. If you need to store your bread for any length of time, follow the tips below.
- Cover loosely with a tea towel and store at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Like most homemade baked goods, you’ll get the longest shelf life by storing this bread in the fridge. Place the bread into an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap. It should keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can eat the bread straight from the fridge, lightly toast in the toaster oven or warm up for about 25 seconds in the microwave.
- To freeze, wrap in aluminum foil, then plastic wrap and store for up to 2 months. Defrost on counter overnight, remove the plastic wrap, then gently reheat in a 350º oven for 10-15 minutes.
Delicious Quick Bread Recipes You’ll Also Love:
Whole Grain Strawberry Banana Bread
Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Low Fat Flourless Banana Bread
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This rhubarb bread recipe is made healthier using whole wheat flour, no refined sugar, no butter or oil, but it's so soft and tender that you’d never be able to tell! So delicious, you're going to want to make Healthy Rhubarb Banana Bread all season long!
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large bananas, mashed**
- ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 cup finely chopped rhubarb (about 1 large stalk)
Preheat oven to 350ºF. and prepare an 8x4" loaf pan*** with cooking spray or parchment paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and all spice, in a medium bowl and set aside.
- ***Use a stand or hand-held mixer to beat eggs on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Mix in vanilla, banana and honey until combined.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture and stir on low speed until just combined. Gently fold in rhubarb. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until loaf is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen sides with a knife and remove from pan. Enjoy!
*Spelt flour and whole wheat pastry flour also work. You can also use a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose.
**You will want to make sure your 3 large bananas, mashed, measures over 1 cup. 1 1/2 cups would be great- this way the bread won't be too dry.
***An 8x4" loaf pan is slightly smaller than the typical 9x5" loaf pan.
****Alternatively, you can beat and mix by hand. However, I find it easier to use my stand mixer.
*****Alternatively, this recipe could be used to make muffins. I'm not sure how many it would make and cook time should be shortened to about 20-25 minutes.
Photos by Sasha at Eat Love Eats.
Did you make this recipe?
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This looks so good! I love creative spins on banana bread!
Thanks, girl! It’s hard to go wrong with banana bread. 🙂
rhubarb in banana bread is something i am yet to try! love it!
Oh it’s such a great flavor combo! Hope you get a chance to give it a try!
Man! All thse rhubarb recipes I’ve been seeing lately makes me regret not taking any of the rhubarb we had growing at home in the garden back with me since I had used up everything I had had frozen from my last trip ;(
What a unique combination of flavors! Rhubarb has such a short season that I’m always keeping an eye out for it so that I don’t miss it. I love that this recipe has no added sugar, and just a bit of honey or maple syrup. It looks and sounds wonderful!
Thanks so much!! Hope you get a chance to give it a try. It’s one of my favorite quick bread flavor combos.
I was excited to try this recipe as it didn’t use sugar and is a little more healthy than traditional rhubarb recipes which usually contain a lot of sugar. It tasted good but mine turned out a bit dry. Any suggestions as to why this happened?
It may have been the size of your bananas. I’m sorry you had this experience. I’ll be sure and update the recipe to include a note about the size of the bananas and texture of the bread. Thanks for your comment!
Can you substitute the whole wheat flour for almond flour or coconut flour?
I think almond flour would work fine, but I haven’t tried this. I would not use coconut flour as it works much differently and would have different ratios of dry to wet ingredients.
Can you use AP White Flour? Dying to try this but my husband won’t eat other flour in the recipe.
Definitely! Enjoy!
I made it and it was delicious! Nice and moist and not too sweet, like some breads can be! Thanks for posting. I am going to make it again today 🙂
I love hearing this! So glad you enjoyed!
The nutrition is for one slice. How many servings does the recipe make ? (Trying to convince my husband a slice isn’t as big as he thinks 🙂
Haha! No, it’s not. 12 slices.
We love this recipe! Rhubarb is a loved ingredient in our family and any recipe that doesn’t require adding loads of sugar to sweeten it is great! I like to add a little oats on top just to make it look nice and add a little more breakfast oomph, not that it needs it! Perfect! Thanks for sharing!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed!! Thanks so much for taking time to comment and leave feedback!
Can I use my frozen rhubarb?
That should work just fine!
I did use the frozen rhubarb but substituted almond flour for the whole wheat flour. However the batter was very moist and runny. The bread is good but didn’t have good form, didn’t come out as a loaf of bread though I let it set 10 min. It was more moist than cake but the tooth pick had come out dry. Maybe another half cup almond flour would do it – or any other suggestions? I read somewhere later that with almond flour one should leave it sit for a hour or two before removing from pan. Thank you for your help!
Amazing recipe,I’m a big fan of banana bread but the rhubarb just takes it to another level.Thank you.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed!
This is amazing! Per my sweetener preferences, I used mostly sorghum with a little apple juice. I also used A mixture of buckwheat and amaranth flour, so it definitely be made gluten free.
Yum!!
Love hearing this! Thanks so much for taking time to leave feedback!