Have you tried banana bread without bananas?! We love making banana bread from Chiquita mix. Check out our banana bread from Chiquita mix regular recipe. We love it so much that sometimes we run out of bananas!! Yah, I don’t run out of banana bread mix because I buy it in bulk and I always, and I mean always have several boxes handy. Since my kids insist on still eating banana bread, I make it with an alternative – applesauce! Applesauce is the secret sauce that I put in the banana bread without bananas and my kids can’t really make much of a difference.
This banana bread is made in one bowl saving you time to wash kitchen equipment. The batter is done in just 5 minutes. I love making banana bread. My kids can smell the delicious banana bread from the entrance door when they come home. This has become one of our family’s comfort foods!
Main Ingredients
Chiquita Banana Mix
We love using Chiquita banana bread mix for our banana bread flour base. It is super easy to use and it has banana flakes. Moreover, the ingredient list is short and the first ingredient is wheat flour. It is also low-fat and has no preservatives added. My family loves the taste of the bread when I make it. Unfortunately, the mix is no longer available in my local Winco Foods. Now, I either order it via Amazon or Walmart. I started using “Pick up” when shopping at Walmart, but if you are in the store look in the banana (produce) section to find the mix. I know, it is counter-intuitive not to have a flour mix where all the rest of the flours are. But it does make sense to place it close to the bananas. Below is a link to Amazon as well. The 12 boxes pack seems to be the cheapest way to buy it. If you don’t have Chiquita banana mix handy, don’t worry, check out our banana bread from scratch.
Ground Seeds
If you are one of our regular users/cooks, you know that we put ground seeds in almost every batter. It is a great nutrient booster. We use the ground seeds in this recipe as well. Sometimes I catch myself overusing the ground seeds with the intent to boost the nutrition of the bread. Just be careful with that because the flavor of the bread changes. Now, I try to stick with about 1/4 cup of total ground seeds.
Applesauce
The secret sauce in this recipe is the applesauce! We almost always have apples at my house. Apples don’t spoil as quickly as banana do so most of the time when I ran out of bananas I have apples. It is really easy to make homemade applesauce from scratch. Check out our applesauce recipe. You can also use store-bought applesauce. It is just a bit less nutritious than homemade. See the applesauce in the link below. We were able to find one that doesn’t have additional unhealthy sweeteners (high fructose). It is made just from apples, water, and Vitamin C.
Bread Batter Optional Additions
If you are like me and have a favorite ingredient to put into the bread batter (I love putting seeds), then feel free to include it in this recipe too. Chocolate chips, blueberries, walnuts, or any other ingredients you love, just toss them in. After all, we eat the food not only to get energy from but also to enjoy it. If you are in a mood for pumpkin bread, then check out our pumpkin bread recipe.
Serving Banana Bread Without Bananas
We love eating our banana bread with yogurt. The seeds in the bread pair well with the yogurt to boost the nutrient absorption from the yogurt and bread. I also like eating banana bread with a warm glass of milk. What do you like eating your banana bread with (i.e. ice cream?) Drop us a note in the comments below. We would love to hear how you eat your banana bread.
Equipment
- Baking – I usually make the banana bread in the circle baking pan. It takes overall less time to bake as the middle of the bread gets done much quicker. It is also easier to get the bread out of the pan to serve it. Having said that, we all associate the banana bread with a loaf of bread. So when I make the bread for other people I use the regular bread loaf pan.
- Grind the seeds – To grind the seeds, you can use a coffee grinder, food processor, or blender. Whatever you have handy to grind them would do the trick.
- Mixing the batter – I use a hand mixer for the batter. However, a food processor may work too
- Applesauce – I use a vegetable brush to clean the apples.
- Other – here are some other handy items for making the banana bread – mixing bowls, measuring set, utensils, and a knife.
Banana Bread Without Bananas
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Chiquita banana bread mix
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup of variety ground seeds
- 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 tbsp golden flax seeds
- 1/2 tbsp brown flax seeds
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1/2 tbsp hemp seeds
Grease pan
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
Instructions
Prep
- Wash hands with soap and water. Check out our article about how to wash hands properly
- Gather all ingredients together.
- Make applesauce. You can also use store-bought. I just love making my own as I am in control of the ingredients. In this case, I use apples and cinnamon.
- Reminder: Scrub the apples with a clean vegetable brush under running water if you decide to make the applesauce from scratch.
- Grind all seeds of your choice with a coffee grinder or any tool you have available in the kitchen. You can also buy already ground seeds. You will need 1/4 cup of ground seeds to put into the batter.
- Grease and flour the bread loaf pan with 1 tbsp avocado oil and some whole wheat flour
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius)
Make batter
- Add all wet ingredients together: 1 egg, 1 cup applesauce, 1/3 cup warm water and an additional 1 tbsp warm water
- Mix well with a mixer or a whisk
- Add all dry ingredients: 1 Chiquita banana bread mix and 1/4 cup ground seeds
- Mix well with a mixer or a whisk for 1-2 minutes until all ingredients are wet and well mixed. Sometimes I won't split ingredients and will just add everything together and mix. I haven't noticed a huge difference in the final product.
Bake
- Pour batter in greased and floured bread loaf pan
- Bake in the preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 50 minutes if using rectangular bread loaf pan or about 45 minutes if using the circle one
- I like using the circle cake baking pan for the banana bread because it bakes quicker (about 5 minutes faster) and also is better baked in the middle of the bread
- Check with wooden toothpick if the bread is done. Poke the bread with a toothpick and if there is nothing sticking to the toothpick (the toothpick is clean) then the bread is all done!
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- This recipe doesn’t take into account making the applesauce when I timed it. Allow extra time if you are making applesauce prior to making the bread. I usually already have applesauce ready when making this recipe.
- I grind all types of seeds ahead of time and store them in an airtight container for several days. I use the seeds in many recipes such as loaves of bread, pancakes, muffins, etc. It is easier and quicker to grind more seeds at one time versus every time I need them for a recipe.
- You can buy already ground seeds at the store too if you don’t have a tool to grind them yourself or want to save time.
- I don’t grind the hemp seeds.
- Sometimes I will also rotate the batter midway of the baking (around 20-30 minutes into the baking) to ensure the bread is baked evenly.
- We are extremely excited to announce we are now using the saferecipeguide.org guidelines to make our recipe safe-friendly. We will slowly be incorporating the safe recipe guidelines into our recipe instructions!
Nutrition
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