Spelt Flour Banana Bread

This spelt flour banana bread is 100% naturally sweetened with maple syrup and made with wholesome ingredients! Slice it up for an energizing snack, a sweet breakfast with coffee, or a light dessert. Utterly delicious served with butter (always). This post was updated in January 2022 with a video and improved post content.

this recipe

This one's for all the banana bread lovers of the world. And for everyone who has overripe bananas that need to be used (I currently fall into both categories!). So, my banana bread loving friends, today I bring you a spelt flour banana bread that's as wholesome and delicious as they get!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Spelt Flour Banana Bread FAQs
• Top Tip
• Spelt Flour Banana Bread

Ingredients

Today we're featuring one special ingredient: spelt flour! While it isn't gluten free, spelt flour is known to be easier on digestion, plus it's a nutritious whole grain and makes up the entire flour component of this bread.

If you didn't already have plans for while your banana bread is in the oven (besides hovering and smelling all the smells, which is understandably time-consuming), you can read more about spelt flour health benefits!

Other than that, below are all the ingredients you need for spelt flour banana bread success.

• Spelt flour - I love the kind from Arrowhead Mills!
• Cinnamon - For the BEST flavor.
• Baking soda - The leavening agent for this bread; make sure your baking soda is not expired, or the bread won't rise as expected!
• Salt - To balance out sweetness and make flavor pop.
• Butter - I love using butter to form a creamy banana bread batter that bakes up with an ultra-tender crumb. For this recipe, butter should be brought to room temperature before mixing.
• Pure maple syrup - A natural sweetener that provides amazing flavor! The maple syrup should also be brought to room temperature so that it can be easily creamed together with the butter.
• Eggs - Eggs create incredible moisture and texture in this bread, plus they act as another leavening agent.
• Vanilla extract - For incredible flavor!
• Very ripe bananas - Ripe bananas make the best banana bread because they are naturally sweeter and moist.
• Add-ins - Not required, but fun, delicious, and decadent! I love adding chocolate chips and walnuts to my banana bread. Fresh or dried berries would also be delicious.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter and maple syrup together at high speed until smooth, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs until incorporated. Then, add vanilla and mashed ripe bananas and mix on medium speed to incorporate.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until just incorporated. If adding chocolate chips or other add-ins, gently fold them into the batter.
5. Transfer the banana bread batter to the prepared loaf pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Allow the bread to cool before slicing and serving.

Hint: Check your baking soda expiration date! I made this bread twice in the past year with expired baking soda, and the result was WEIRD to say the least. Baking powder and soda just hang out in our pantries years, which seems great, but they do expire. For successful baked goods, it's essential that baking soda and powder have the appropriate reaction with other ingredients to make the rise. Fresh baking soda could be the difference between weird, flat, spongy banana bread and a fluffy, moist, tall loaf.

Substitutions

The following are some tried-and-true substitutions that will help you make this recipe work for your diet or your pantry.

• Flour - I have made this many times over with other flours, including whole wheat pastry flour and white whole wheat flour. I love them equally as much as I love the spelt flour version!
• Maple syrup - Honey or agave syrup will also work in this recipe.
• Butter - Butter can be substituted 1:1 with extra virgin coconut oil. You'll need to melt the coconut oil and allow it to cool slightly before mixing with the maple syrup.

Variations

Try the variations below to jazz up your banana bread!

• Chocolate chip - So simple, but classic and delicious! Add ½ cup to the batter and sprinkle a few more on top before baking. I love white chocolate chips in quick breads as well.
• Berry - Add ½ cup fresh or dried strawberries or blueberries.
• Almond Joy - Add ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes and ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter, plus sprinkle more of each on top before baking.

Storage

Storage: After allowing it to cool completely, store this banana bread in an airtight container in a cool, dry place (such as on your kitchen counter) for up to a three days, then transfer it to the fridge for up to a week. I suggest moving it to the fridge because it is such a moist bread and can mold if it gets warm left in an airtight container. To warm it up slightly, pop your slice in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and enjoy!

Freezer: To freeze, place the banana bread in an airtight container (such as a glass storage container with a lid that snaps on/seals well). Store it in the freezer for up to three months. To thaw, let the bread sit out on the kitchen counter for a couple hours.

Spelt Flour Banana Bread FAQs

If you like this banana bread recipe, you'll love this healthy pumpkin chocolate chip bread!

Top Tip

My top tip for this banana bread is to make sure your butter, eggs, and maple syrup all have time to come to room temperature before mixing! That way, when you cream the butter and maple syrup, it will create a nice, uniform mixture. Otherwise, teeny tiny bits of butter will become suspended in the cold maple syrup. It will still taste delicious, but the texture of the bread will be slightly different, and it won't fluff up as much.

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