Banana Bread For Babies, Toddlers, Kids
This is my go-to banana bread recipe for baby – a soft, light, moist baby friendly treat that’s perfect for baby led weaning (6 months+) or toddlers. Learn how to make no added sugar banana bread that’s bursting with natural sweetness and packed with healthy ingredients.
Whether you want to bake a baby banana bread for the first time, or looking for banana bread recipe for toddlers that’s nutritious and family-approved, I’ll offer helpful tips on achieving the best texture, and show you why this delightful bread is a top choice among banana recipes for baby. Plus adapting the recipe it’s pretty easy if you’d like extra flavors.
Whipping up a loaf that’s healthy, easy to store, and fun for little hands to play and eat, is the best way to use ripe bananas or to have healthy snack or dessert that can be packed in your kid’s lunchbox. Overall: Keep fresh bananas for BWL, and use overripe banana in baking this recipe.
Related: Banana For Babies – Baby Led Weaning Method
What Makes This Recipe Special
- Low-Fuss, Quick & One-Bowl: This baby banana bread recipe is super simple, requiring just one bowl and about 10 minutes to whisk everything together and roughly an hour to bake—perfect for busy parents who want a banana dessert for kids without hovering over the stove like you would with banana pancakes (although these are awesome!).
- Naturally Sweetened: There’s no added sugar – perfect for early taste buds. Using ripe bananas guarantees natural sweetness and great moisture. Balancing the wet and dry ingredients properly is key to achieving the best texture with no added sugar.
- Healthy & Baby Friendly: Nutrient-rich ingredients make this loaf gentle on little stomachs, great for baby led weaning and for toddlers. But still, tasty enough for older children and adults to enjoy.
- Soft, Moist Texture: Specifically crafted so babies can easily mash it with their gums or chew with newly emerging teeth.
- Easy to Customize: Add spices, or swap flours to fit your family’s dietary needs, ensuring versatility for various banana recipes for baby.
- Convenient for Busy Parents: Bake once and freeze slices for quick snacks or on-the-go treats, saving you time.
If you’ve tried my baby banana muffins, you’ll find this recipe quite familiar—with just a few minor ingredient tweaks before baking it in a loaf pan.
This post may contain affiliate links. To read the disclaimer policy See This.
Ingredients For Baby Banana Bread
- Ripe bananas – the riper the better, they’re sweeter and softer, which makes your banana bread moister and more flavorful.
- Eggs – used as binding agent and for moisture.
- Butter (or oil) – banana bread made with oil tends to be more moist than bread made with butter.
- Flour – You can swap half the flour for whole wheat (I’m using 50% all purpose and 50% whole wheat) or another favorite whole-grain flour like oat, spelt, sorghum, rye, buckwheat, semolina etc. Or use a gluten free flour mix, to make it entirely gluten free. Note that all whole-wheat flour will make a denser bread.
- Flax seeds – will ensure the banana bread doesn’t get too wet or crumbly plus it will provide more fibre.
- Baking soda + lemon juice – as the leavening agent and baking powder substitute.
- Cinnamon – for flavor, optional.
- Optional – You can add sea salt and natural sugar for toddlers and older kids.
See the entire list of ingredients and measurements with instructions in the recipe card below ↓
Jump to Recipe
How To Make Banana Bread For Babies: Step By Step Method
1. Prepare:
- Gather all ingredients. Preheat oven to 350°F. And line the baking pan with parchment paper if needed. I’m using a mini loaf pan, and the dough fills 2 cavities (2 mini loaves).
2. Combine Wet Ingredients:
- In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork. Make sure there are no big chunks left. For some reason the fork works the best. Using a blender or food processor makes the texture gummier.
- To that add the melted butter (or oil) and the eggs, mix well to combine using the same fork.
3. Add Dry Ingredients:
- Add the flour (50% all purpose and 50% whole wheat), ground flax seeds (flax meal), cinnamon, sugar and salt (if using). Except baking soda.
- Mix to combine, but don’t overdo it.
- At the end add the baking soda and pour the lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) on top. This will create a chemical reaction (bubbles) which will provide an excellent leavening effect.
- Mix gently to combine without dispersing the bubbles too much (see pictures below).
- Transfer the dough immediately into the pan.
3. Bake The Banana Bread
- Bake for 34-38 minutes at 350F. If you’re using only white flour, reduce the time by 7-10 minutes.
- Once baked, don’t attempt to take them out immediately from the pan. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. They will easily detach themselves.
- Wait to cool completely before slicing.
Tip To Make The Banana Bread Tender And Softer
Most banana breads turn out dense and gummy. Why?
Because there is another liquid used in the recipe (often too much) and also there is no acid like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar accompanying baking soda. To make the banana bread soft and fluffy you need both and no liquid added (just banana and eggs).
Recipe Substitutions / Additions
- Gluten Free Banana Bread: as flour use this gluten free flour mix.
- Dairy Free Banana Bread: as butter substitution use a healthy neutral flavored oil like avocado oil or even coconut oil.
- Flax seeds: if you don’t have any flax seeds replace that 1 tablespoon of flax with 2 more tablespoons of flour.
- Add seed or nut flour: add 2-3 tablespoons of ground nuts or seeds of your choice, like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, pecans etc.
- Add grated/shredded veggies like zucchini or carrots (about 1/2-3/4 cup).
- Substitute the butter/ oil with the same amount of yogurt.
Banana Bread For Babies FAQs
Babies can eat banana bread starting at 6 months of age as long as the recipe doesn’t contain any added sugar, salt and highly processed ingredients. If your baby is not ready in general for solid foods, keep banana bread for later, at 7-8 months. Also keep in mind that banana bread is still a sweet treat for babies and shouldn’t be served very often. They get easily attached to sweet foods.
Cut one small slice of banana bread into 3-4 strips and let the baby pick them up and eat with their hands.
Absolutely, the bananas are sweet enough to provide an amazing sweet taste.
As long as the recipe contains whole grain flours, no added sugar and moderate amount of fat, yes it’s considered healthy.
Also as a note: keep in mind that if your baby is not accustomed to vegetables and fruits first, it’s best to wait before you serve sweet baked goods in order to avoid picky eating later.
Need more breakfast or snack recipes for babies? Check out the breakfast or snack category for more ideas!
How To Store
- Store leftovers for 3-5 days at room temperature (on your counter).
- Freeze up to 3 months in an airtight container. For convenience, slice the banana bread before freezing.
- Thaw / reheat – just pop one or two slices out of the freezer and place them in a toaster. Or defrost overnight in the fridge. Warm up in the oven, if you prefer it warm.
More Baked Goods With Banana For Babies
Have you tried this baby banana read recipe? Your feedback is really helpful, please rate and leave a comment below recipe card!
Banana Bread Recipe For Babies, Toddlers, Kids
Ingredients
- 2 large bananas (aprox. 1 cup mashed)
- 2 medium eggs (room temperature)
- 1/4 cup melted butter (ghee or a neutral oil)
- 3/4 cup flour (50% white and 50% whole wheat, see notes for gluten free)
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds (flax meal)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
For Toddlers Add:
- 2-3 tbsp sugar (coconut and maple sugar is great)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Prepare:
- Gather all ingredients. Preheat oven to 350°F. And line the baking pan with parchment paper if needed.
Combine Wet Ingredients:
- In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork. Make sure there are no big chuncks left. For some reason the fork works the best. Using a blender or food processor worsens the texture.
- To that add the melted butter (or oil) and the eggs, mix well to combine using a simple fork.
Add Dry Ingredients:
- Add the flour, ground flax seeds (flax meal), cinnamon, sugar and salt (if using). Except baking soda.
- Mix to combine, but don't overdo it.
- At the end add the baking soda and pour the lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) on top. This will create a chemical reaction (bubbles) which will provide an excelent leavening effect.
- Mix gently to combine without dispercing the bubbles too much.
- Transfer the dough immediately into the pan. I'm using a mini loaf pan, and the dough fills 2 cavities (2 mini loaves).
Bake The Banana Bread
- Bake for 34-38 minutes. If you're using only white flour, reduce the time by 6-8 minutes.
- Once baked, don’t attempt to take them out immediately from the pan. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. They will easily detach themselves. Wait to cool completely before slicing.
©ThrivingNest. Content and photographs are copyright protected and need prior permission to use. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to other websites and any social media is strictly prohibited. Sharing and using the link of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated!
Disclaimer: The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only and not intended for medical advice. Please refer to my full disclaimer for more info.
The banana bread was a great success, thank you!
Loved the texture and taste!
I made these with a gluten free flour blend for my little girl. She loved them, but I’m pleasantly surprised that I love them just as much! So hearty and the texture is wonderful! I made them in a muffin pan and shortened the baking time to 25 minutes to accomodate:) thank you so much for the recipe! This will be a go to for sure!
So glad you tried making them, and thank you for your feedback!
Thanks for the recipe! Can I bake these in muffin trays and if so does that impact the baking time or temp?
Sure, use same temeparture and 10 minute longer baking time for regular muffin size.
Can you substitute chia seeds for the flax meal?
Theoretically yes, but I never tried.
Can I bake in a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan? Would I need to adjust the baking time?
Yes, absolutely! Adjust the time to aprox 25-30 minutes.
Can I use 100% wholemeal flour?
Using wholemeal flour in banana bread can result in a denser, heartier loaf with a nuttier flavor, darker color, slight adjustments to moisture and baking time may be needed.
Have made this multiple times – my go to recipe for banana bread for the family! Do you have any tips on how I can improve on these 2 issues:
Sometimes i get parts of the banana bread tasting too bitter/ too much like baking soda. Anything else i can do aside from being careful to break up the baking soda when adding it in.
Also it doesn’t rise as much so it doesn’t look like a loaf… any tips for getting that nice shape?
If there is that bitter taste it means there is still undissolved baking soda or the dough wasn’t mixed well. You can mix the baking soda and the vinegar in a small bowl and then add it to the rest. Or give it a more thorough mix before pouring into baking dish. Some people like yo use half baking soda and half baking powder also. Sometimes baking soda alone is not enough to lift the volume of batter so baking powder is added to pick up the slack.
Thanks! I’ll try mixing the vinegar/lemon juice and baking soda separately. Great idea!
Just an update that I tried mixing separately – there was no bitterness (yay!) but the loaf seemed to rise even less than before. Could it be that the leavening effect fizzed away as i mixed it (baking soda and apple cider vinegar) thoroughly in a separate bowl? Or could it be a result of using oat flour (in place of the white flour)?
I’m going to try this tomorrow but it sounds really good! Can you tell me can I use honey instead of sugar? And how would I adjust the recipe?
Sure, just add 2 tablespoons of honey, if you like and that’s it, you don’t need to adjust the rest of ingredients.
Hi, i would like to use this recipe to bake my son’s 2nd birthday cake. Can i use a round cake pan instead of a loaf pan? And how to make sure it rises nicely so i can decorate afterwards?
Thank you for your responses
Theoretically you could, but no guarantees, you can make this Birthday Cake instead, its similar.
Can flax seeds not flax meal work for the recipe too? 😍
Whole flax seeds will not absorb as much moisture as milled flaxseeds, so the texture will be totally different (not in a good way)
A great recipe. Tried it last week as written and it came out perfectly, this week I’m trying with a tablespoon of peanut butter mixed in.
great recipe 🙂 just if it hasn’t risen as much as i would like, (only rises to half the loaf tin) should i add more baking powder?
If you’d like it to rise more, yes you can add a touch more.
Can I use pumpkin purée instead of butter?
Theoretically, I suppose you can, or use more banana puree, they both have the same role. But I think you’ll get a sturdier texture if you omit it entirely.
Absolutely delicious and so simple!
Thanks!
Can you make without the flax seeds?
If you wish to remove the flax seeds from the recipe, you will need to add 1 more egg to keep the structure, otherwise the banana bread will turn mushy inside.
Love this recipe! I enjoy making this into muffins and I can’t believe how fluffy and light they turn out. My little one and I both enjoy these!
It works like magic 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!
My kids loved this banana bread! I made one large instead of two small.
Lovely!