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Date Banana Bread
PIN THIS RECIPE!Banana bread is the best. When I think back to my childhood, most of my memories are around food. Not people, not experiences, but food. And one of those food memories is a banana bread loaf (and sometimes pumpkin bread) that we would get at the local grocery store. I would eat it straight out of the tin with a fork because cutting it into slices seemed like too much work…and I didn’t understand portion control. I simply understood the dopamine dump I was getting from consuming such a lovely piece (meaning loaf) of bread. Well nowadays I prefer my dopamine dump to come from a banana bread that has no yellow #5 or canola oil or propylene glycol. Instead, I much prefer some dates, bananas, and some delicious butter…inside AND on top.
Since I’m currently in the third trimester of pregnancy, ready to pop any damn day, I’m eating a lot of dates. And if you’ve never been pregnant or never heard about what dates can do for you during pregnancy…let me give you a visual. I know that’s what you came here for when you were searching for a banana bread recipe! Starting at 36 weeks, eating dates daily can help ripen your cervix. That’s right…we’re talking about ripe bananas AND ripe cervix over here. That’s where my life is at these days. So I’m eating dates, adding them to smoothies, and consuming them in banana bread since that way is the most enjoyable way…all in hopes that labor is even just a tad smoother than it would be if I hadn’t eaten dates. I’m also do about a million other things like drinking raspberry leaf tea, taking evening primrose oil, curb walking (these sneakers and these ones, too, are majorly coming in handy since my feet are swelling and need allll the support), getting abdominal uterine massages, and about anything else they say may help induce and improve labor. Let’s gooooooo, baby girl!
I’m thinking I may whip up one last batch of this banana bread before she gets here. It’s just so damn good. It’s much more dense than the normal banana bread I make and I really dig that. You have to make sure it’s heated up and has a big ole helping of organic grass-fed butter on top. No skimping when it comes to this banana bread. Get that dopamine rush, baby! Speaking of that…maybe I’ll order some groceries today to not only load up on ingredients for this banana bread, but so I can make sure I have all the snacks for our birth center bag! Birth is a marathon and I want to be fully prepared with food that keeps me energized throughout! I’m so damn excited for birth! Kloveyoubyeeeeeee!
Date Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 slices 1x
Ingredients
- 12 medjool dates, pitted
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 3 brown bananas
- 1/3 cup melted butter (ghee, coconut oil, etc.)
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten free flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bread pan with coconut oil spray and line with parchment paper.
- Place dates in a bowl and cover with hot water then let stand and soften for 10 minutes.
- In a food processor, add dates along with the water and pulse to begin to break down the dates. Then place food processor on low and blend until the dates have completely broken down and begin to thicken up, almost like a caramel. Then add the bananas, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Once completely combined, add to a large bowl and slowly mix in the gluten free flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Pour mixture into greased and lined bread pan.
- Place in the oven and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the loaf. After 30 minutes, take a piece of aluminum foil and place it lightly over the top of the banana bread to keep from browning too much. Once banana bread is cooked through, let stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan and then let cool on a rack. Serve warm with some butter and enjoy your life! Store in the fridge in a closed container.
What I Used To Make This Recipe:
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Oh, Hi! I’m Juli.
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69 thoughts on “Date Banana Bread”
Made it already 🙂 added pecans. Tasty. Will add Hu chocolate chips next time. This is a keeper!
This recipe looks absolutely delicious and I hope I can plan to make it. In my last pregnancy, I had gestational diabetes and was terrified to eat dates and bananas and especially not the 2 of them together as labor approached. My OB GYN was very strict. Despite being diet controlled I took blood sugar readings 4x a day up until my last dinner before delivery the next morning. I suppose I could have eaten dates and bananas together with 8oz of chicken breast and a 2 mile walk afterwards to keep my sugars down.
Could you substitute deglet nour dates?
Killing it, mama! This was DELICIOUS!
★★★★★
I made this bread this morning and it turned out so moist and it was perfectly sweetened! I only ended up baking for 1 hour as the top looked like it was getting overdone and I was worried that it was going to be dry, however, it was perfect! Thanks for sharing this recipe! 😊
★★★★★
woooohoooo!! so happy to hear that!
Can you put in muffin tins to make this recipe into muffins??
definitely could!
What are your thoughts on adding chocolate chips? I’m one week behind you, and my preggo cravings are all about the chocolate, but also need to get things moving with the dates 😉
adding chocolate chips is NEVER a bad idea
Can confirm its GREAT with chocolate chips!
★★★★★
35 weeks pregnant over here. Made this today and it is delicious! All my kids love it. Thanks for the recipe and prayers for a good labor and delivery!
This recipe is a winner! It was so damn good. I didn’t have gluten free flour so I just used regular flour and it turned out wonderful. Definitely making it again! Thanks Juli : )
★★★★★
Can this be made paleo by subbing almond flour?
haven’t tried the recipe that way so I can’t say for sure!
Hi Juli- I’m making your date banana bread, and it smells DIVINE! What’s the best way to store it? Does it need to be refrigerated? Thanks for the delicious recipe!
★★★★★
in the fridge! since it doesn’t have any preservatives or stabilizers in it, it will mold pretty quickly so store in the fridge! thank you for the reminder to put that in the recipe card, i’ll add that now!!
I used almond flour and it turned out great!
★★★★★
So glad you tried it with almond flour. Did you keep the measurement the same?
This is so good!! 38 weeks pregnant and have been loving having this every day. Also satisfies my sweet tooth without being overly sweet 🙂 thanks, Juli! Hope newborn life is going so well!
★★★★★
so happy to hear it, Maggie!
Do you know if the egg could be substituted with something else? My toddler has an egg allergy.
i haven’t tried the recipe another way, but bob’s red mill has a great egg replacer that i’ve had success with when it comes to other recipes!
My good God this date banana bread is so friggen good. I think i expected it to be too dense or mushy and its texture is just perfect. Mine only took an hour in the oven (the top looked just a tad dry so I took it out) and it was perfect. 10/10 for this recipe and I will be using it in the future!
★★★★★
yayyyyy! so happy to hear that you loved it!
I made this recipe with the egg replacer and it turned out perfect!
so good to hear, thank you for sharing that substitution!!
This bread is EVERYTHING!!!! I’m 33 weeks pregnant and I’m making my third loaf right now. It’s not overly sweet and so dang good with some grass fed butter on top. I also had extra peanut butter buttercream icing that I put on a few slices too. Oh my!!!!
woooohoooo!! so so glad you like it!
This gluten free, refined sugar free, banana date bread is simply FANTASTIC! I did let it bake for the full 1hr 10 mins at 350 F and it got a bit dark and smelt like it was starting to burn, although it didn’t taste burnt. Perhaps the next time I’ll take it out after 1 hr. (I’ll figure it out because I will definitely be making it again and again and add some chopped walnuts sometimes). I used Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour. Thank you for sharing this treasure!
★★★★★
Eating this with butter as I type review 🙂 delicious! I used deglet noor dates (18 as they are a little smaller) as that’s what I had. I also used avocado oil and Bob’s Red Mill gf all-purpose baking flour. Many thanks for another great recipe Juli! PS Avery is adorable, congrats!
★★★★★
I used about one cup of dried dates as it’s what I had on hand but followed the recipe as written and this was so delicious. My spouse and adult daughter were also very amazed as they were doubtful a date sweetened banana bread would be any food. Joke’s on them! Thanks Juli for a fantastic recipe.
Just made this tonight for the first time. I doubled the recipe and used a 9×13 cast iron casserole pan. 30 mins at 350 was perfect!! We are going camping this weekend and I know what I’m taking as a sweet treat!! Definitely making this one again and again.
★★★★★
Made this today…so good, the teenagers have devoured it! I added chocolate chips and pecans!.
★★★★★
Made this banana bread today and it is delicious! I baked it for a full hour, but took it out because I didn’t want it to be dry. It definitely wasn’t dry even though the outside was pretty toasty. The bottom part was a little more on the moist side than the top so I’m thinking maybe I’ll try an extra 5 mins next time, but it’s still delicious. I just need to perfect the time in my oven. Thanks for a great recipe!
I made this tonight and followed the recipe except I used almond flour and it turned out great! It did great dark on top but not burned. I think the dates must have something to do with that. I was nervous to put the water and dates in my food processor and sure enough it shot out everywhere. I had to wrap a towel around it to keep it from coming out but once the water and dates got blended together it was fine. I also put the salt, baking soda, and almond flour in the food processor to mix. thanks for a great recipe!
Delicious! Moist and not too sweet! This will be my new go to banana bread recipe!
★★★★★
This is TO. DIE FOR. I was worried about baking with the dates, but seriously so easy! And absolutely delicious. Can’t wait to make it again!
★★★★★
I made this last night and it’s not very sweet. What type of dates did you use? My bananas were very ripe so I don’t think it’s that. Otherwise I like the recipe. Any tips would be helpful.
medjool dates!
Can I use regular flour instead of gluten free??
yes!!
Made this today but subbed 1 cup of ground walnuts for 1 cup of the flour and substituted unsweetened applesauce for the butter because I somehow didn’t have any 🙈. It is delicious and my entire family loves it, picky kids and husband included!
★★★★★
Great recipe for banana bread and will make again! I did not have gluten free flour but used a blend of 1c whole wheat flour, 3/4c AP and added about 1/4c of oat bran! Delicious!
★★★★★
This is my new favorite banana bread recipe! I love the usage of dates in place of sugar. I will say I have made some tweaks for my own personal liking…4 bananas instead of 3, add a tbs of avocado oil, 1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and 1/3 cup of sour cream or ricotta. I love a super moist banana bread and these additions make it SO good. But again, great recipe as is. I did find it super tricky to bake per instructions. Every time, the top would get way too dark and the inside would be underdone. So, I divide the batter into two silicone loaf pans (about 1/2 to 3/4 full for each pan) and bake for 40 min at 350. Comes out perfectly!
★★★★★
I’ve been meaning to make this for a while and finally did. Love it!! Moist and just sweet enough. Warm up a slice and oh man, don’t even talk to me so I can savor it. I used half almond flour and half regular flour – turned out perfectly. Thanks Juli!
★★★★★
I’m only 25 weeks pregnant but I made these in the Souper Cubes as smaller loaves so I could freeze a few for postpartum snacking.
This bread is stupid good. Well done, Juli!
Highly recommend using butter as the recipe states. This bread is BUTTERY. The dates do make it taste carmely like Juli’s notes indicate. I used 1.5 cups of cassava flour and it turned out a little too moist. (I mean is this really a problem? No.) Next time I’ll go for 1.75 cups or so. Most of the time I need chocolate chips in my banana bread to get excited about eating it. This doesn’t need any add-ins. I’ll be making again!
★★★★★
Finally made this! So good. I baked in muffin cups for easy travel snacks!
★★★★★
amazing!! i need to bake these into muffins next time!
Ooooh was hunting these comments for muffins!!!! Made it into loaf last weekend, and thought of muffin for this weekend, easier to correctly portion for me! Trying!
#35weeks
Was there any change to the bake time?
Worried about the bake time in changing to muffins!
Update! Made as muffins! Just as frickin DELICIOUS!!!! 22 mins bake time! I love this number! Ha! It is still hot here, so the hour bake time was really heating the house! Thanks Juli!!!
Can I use regular flour instead of gluten free???
I had my first baby in June and wish I would have had this recipe in my final prenatal days! I am a little embarrassed to share that I have made this banana bread every week for the last 6 weeks (literally) and am obsessed! It’s the perfect breakfast side and I usually have a slice before bed with butter, of course.
★★★★★
What if you don’t have a food processor? Would a Vitamix work for the dates?
Could you sub pumpkin for the banana? Perhaps estimate the volume of banana and use pumpkin instead?
i haven’t tried it that way so i can’t say for sure!
I have made so many banana breads but this recipe is the best I’ve had in quite a while! Wonderful recipe!
★★★★★
OOOOOKAY….
Made this for my 3 and 7 year old kids in place of my classic banana bread recipe which has an entire cup of white sugar in it. They LOVED this. Devoured it and told me it was better than my original. Juli this is just magical!!!!!
★★★★★
yay!! so glad you loved it!!
I’m a million weeks pregnant (or at least I feel that way) and I hate dates and am so grateful I found this recipe and your date smoothie recipe. My husband said its the best banana bread he’s ever had. I added bits of 70% dark chocolate in mine!
★★★★★
This was SO GOOD!
So I’m assuming one slice is approximately the amount of dates we need to ripen our cervix? I wouldn’t be opposed to eating more than a slice though, good lord this was so good. Thank you Juli!
★★★★★
39 weeks pregnant today, and whipped up a loaf after dinner tonight. It’s so good! Added a little butter on top and it was fluffy and moist and delicious still warm from the oven. This is going to be a great treat the new few days while we wait for our daughter to arrive!
★★★★★
Made this today at 38 weeks pregnant! Didn’t have bananas so I used pumpkin and it is sooo delicious! The only way I will eat dates from now on. Thanks Juli!
★★★★★
Delightful as mini muffins too!
Baked for 16-18 minutes for the cutest little fluffy bites of banana bread. Pro tip-wet your finger and gently smooth the tips before baking to keep them pretty.
Made up my own gf flour blend too:
5 oz cassava flour
2 oz tapioca starch
1 oz coconut flour
1 oz oat flour
★★★★★
Absolutely amazing! So fast and easy to throw together and toss in the oven. I always want banana bread when I see old bananas sitting there, but I dread making it. NOT anymore! LOVE you and your genius ideas.
★★★★★
Wow wow wow 🤩 these are fantastic and will be my go to recipe for banana bread!! I made them into muffins and they were perfect after 23 min. Also used an egg replacer. Thanks for another great recipe!
I make this banana bread on a regular basis. It’s quite honestly my favorite recipe to make and is delicious every time. 🔥🔥
★★★★★
Juli,
This banana bread is so Deelish!! I made it a couple weeks ago and then again last night. This time I added chopped walnuts! So so good, this will be a staple in our house. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★