Carrot cake meets banana nut bread in this healthier loaf of Whole Wheat Banana Nut Carrot Cake Bread that’s moist and marvelous.
Crazy About Carrot Cake
Carrot cake is one of my absolute favorite cakes and this time of year, I crave it like crazy! Of course, I bake carrot cakes year round, but come springtime, I’m looking for any and all reasons to bake a carrot cake. As much as I love a moist sweet carrot cake with a thick covering of cream cheese frosting, I probably shouldn’t satisfy my craving with something that indulgent every single day.
So I baked up this healthier loaf of Whole Wheat Banana Nut Carrot Cake Bread that’s loaded with shredded carrots and spiked with cinnamon. It’s the best of both worlds. If you love banana bread and are crazy about carrot cake, this banana nut carrot cake bread is a dream come true for your taste buds and your tummy.
Slightly Sweet, Fully Delicious
It’s baked with whole wheat flour and just 1/2 cup oil to keep it on the healthier side so you can enjoy it as a healthy hearty breakfast, brunch accompaniment or afternoon snack. The mashed bananas, shredded apple and shredded carrots add a ton of moisture and texture to this beautiful bread. The nuts give it an occasionally crunch and it’s still nice and sweet, but not nearly as sweet as a carrot cake or some banana bread recipes.
Perfect to Bake and Share
If you’re looking for a healthy quick bread to bake for Easter brunch, to give to a neighbor just to show them how much you love them or to have handy throughout the week for a great breakfast or snack, you’ll love this loaf. It’s easy and everyone always enjoys it!
What Do I Need to Make Whole Wheat Banana Nut Carrot Cake Bread?
(see recipe card for measurements and details)
- Whole wheat flour
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Canola oil
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Very ripe bananas
- Shredded apple
- Shredded carrot
- Chopped walnuts
- 9×5 inch loaf pan
My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipes
My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipes are moist, packed with flavor and will surely be a hit at your holiday dessert table!
How to Make Whole Wheat Banana Nut Carrot Cake Bread
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the canola oil, sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in the mashed banana, shredded apple, shredded carrots and walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Garnish with banana slices and more chopped walnuts, if desired. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
The Best Easter Brunch Recipes
Plan a festive and delicious Easter meal for your loved ones with this collection of The Best Easter Brunch Recipes. Fresh and flavorful sides, festive snacks and desserts–there’s so much yumminess to choose from.
Happy Spring! If you make Whole Wheat Banana Nut Carrot Cake Bread and post a pic to social, be sure to tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see! 😍 I just love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the recipes and ideas I share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
Whole Wheat Banana Nut Carrot Cake Bread
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 12
- Category: Bread
Description
Carrot cake meets banana nut bread in this healthier loaf that’s moist and marvelous.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup mashed banana (about 2 very ripe bananas)
- 1/2 cup shredded apple (about 1 medium)
- 2 cups shredded carrot (about 5 whole carrots)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts, plus more for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the canola oil, sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in the mashed banana, shredded apple, shredded carrots and walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Garnish with banana slices and more chopped walnuts, if desired. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
I made this bread last night, added extra banana, roughly three tablespoons of wheat bran and swapped the granulated sugar for honey. I cut the loaf in half, praying it baked evenly. The loaf is extremely moist, soft, flavourful, and filling. I cut a slightly thicker slice than the suggested serving, warmed it in the microwave and added a big spoon of freshly mashed raspberries. The addition of honey instead of granulated sugar made made the loaf a delicious brunch. I would recommend adjusting the recipe to your personal preference. I would bake this again in a heartbeat! Thank you for an easy to follow and customizable recipe. I would love to see the nutritional information attached to your recipes. I hope to see it in the future.
Hi Chloe! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m so happy to hear you were able to adjust the recipe successfully and enjoy it just the way you like it. Sounds amazing! I am definitely considering adding nutritional details to my recipes…it’s quite a process. Stay tuned and continue to enjoy!
What would you substitute the walnuts for? (Allergy to walnut and pecan)
Hi Brooke! You could substitute with any nut or you could omit the nuts altogether. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
I just made this awesome banana carrot bread cake and it is the bomb! Doubled the recipe and added an extra banana and nuts. So good! At first it didn’t blend together, kind if crumbly so I added about 1/4 cup of extra oil and then added the bananas, carrots, apple and nuts and then it finally looked right. Probably didn’t need the extra oil, panic for no reason, but it came out perfect. Not too sweet either! Ok Bakermama, I see you!! Thank you for sharing. I will keep this as a favorite!
Hi, Maria! YAY! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi….can I use whole wheat pastry flour instead of the regular whole wheat flour? I think it has a milder flavor than wwflour.
Hi Sona! Yes, you can replace the whole wheat flour with whole wheat pastry flour. It will produce a slightly lighter loaf. Enjoy!
Perfect as cake and bread. I usually don’t leave ratings or comments but felt compelled here esp as my family loved it too. Thanks for the recipe.
Excited to try this! I love carrot cake, but don’t love the nutritional content. What are your thoughts on using oat flour in this recipe? I see you have other flourless bread recipes (one of which I’m baking today!) but no carrot cake.
Hi Rachel! I think this bread would bake up great with oat flour. It’s a hearty bread with a lot of moisture so the oat flour would be similar to whole wheat flour when it bakes. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
If I wanted to leave out the sugar…what adjustments would you make to the recipe? I would probably rather use honey/maple syrup than the regular white/brown sugars.
Hi Giovanna! I would recommend using 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup for the total 1 cup of sugar that is called for in the recipe. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
Help?! I want to add one cup canned pumpkin to this in addition to the ingredients, will it be OK or too mushy? Do I be longer too if adding it, Thanks!
Hi Donna! I couldn’t say for sure, but I’m guessing the other ingredients in the recipe would need to be adjusted to accommodate the pumpkin. I would recommend replacing the banana with the pumpkin or reducing the banana to make room for the moisture of the pumpkin. I would have to test it to know for sure.
Baking at altitude (9000 feet). Reduced sugar a bit. Added raisins, a few handfuls of dried coconut and a few handfuls of quick oats. Turned out so so good! Thank you!
Hi! I’ve made this before and loved it! Want to make it again today, but I only have pear on hand and no apple. Do you think that would make a big difference since I think the (ripe) pear has more water content?
Also, do you think it would work if I used half almond flour and half whole wheat flour?
Thank you!
Hi Julie! Yes, I think the pear will work nicely. If there is a lot of moisture when you shred it, just drain it on some paper towel first before adding it to the batter. And since whole wheat flour is already dense like almond flour, using half and half should work great! Let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!
How do I store the bread and how lomg will it last?
Hi Justine! You can store it covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Any longer than a week, I would recommend freezing. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
Could I replace the shredded apple with an equal amount of applesauce?
Hi Julia! Yes, I’ve actually replaced the apple with applesauce in this recipe before and it turns out just as great. Enjoy!
[…] well – maple glazed roasted carrots, carrot cake cheesecake cake, healthy baked carrot chips, whole wheat banana nut carrot cake bread or Cracker Barrel baby […]
My cake turned out to be dry. I only skipped the apple.added an extra egg to the dough
Hi Pooja! The apple adds a lot of moisture to the loaf so you can’t skip it without replacing it with something that has equivalent moisture such as additional shredded carrot, more mashed banana, etc.
I made the recipe and cooked it for 95 minutes and toothpick still not clean. Didn’t change anything except possibly added extra carrot since I didn’t measure carefully and I reduced sugar by 1/4 cup. Leaving it in (turned off) oven as I head to bed. Will see how it is in about 7 hours!
Oh goodness! The extra carrot could definitely be the issue. If there’s too much moisture, the dry ingredients won’t be able to hold it and therefore you’ll never get that bread texture that it should bake into.
Hey there! Hope you and the fam are doing great! Just wanted to say thanks because I love this recipe!! I swapped zucchini for the carrot and it was delicious!
Came out perfect! Thank you Maegan for another wonderfully healthy recipe!!
This banana carrot cake looks awesome! I just mixed up a batch and couldn’t resist adding that leftover cup of pumpkin I had on hand….and a handful of raisins! Can’t wait for it to come out of the oven!
Love that you added pumpkin and raisins! Enjoy!
I can seriously vouch for the baker mamas carrot-pumpkin cake…great recipe!!!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it, Arlene! 🙂
Perfect. Thanks!
This looks awesome!!! Any chance you have a good carrot cake recipe up those baking mit sleeves of yours?? Would love a good recommendation!! Thanks!
Hi Kat! Here are two of my favorite carrot cake recipes:
http://9d7.b0c.myftpupload.com/recipes/coconut-carrot-cake-with-cinnamon-cream-cheese-frosting/
http://9d7.b0c.myftpupload.com/recipes/pumpkin-carrot-cake/
Enjoy! 🙂