Christmas is coming whether we’re ready or not—there are only five shopping weekends left. If you’re brainstorming gift ideas, these Almond Butter Banana Bread mini loaves with chocolate chips are an easy, thoughtful edible gift.
I discovered cardboard mini-loaf pans at Target that are perfect for wrapping up a baked treat. Food makes a wonderful gift: for that person who seems to have everything, for neighbors, for your mail carrier, for teachers—everyone appreciates something homemade, especially when it’s moist banana bread spiked with almond butter and dotted with chocolate chips. If you like, you can even use homemade almond butter in this recipe.
If gift-giving isn’t your thing, make them for yourself—you’ll want to keep some. This loaf is addictive: moist, flavorful, and you’d never guess it uses whole wheat flour and reduced sugar. Don’t worry if you don’t have mini loaf pans—the recipe yields either three mini loaves or one standard 9×5-inch loaf.
To make gifting easier, there’s a simple printable label you can use: print it on cardstock, cut it out, and attach it to your packaged loaves.
Here’s the Almond Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips recipe.
Almond Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips + a Free Food Gift Label Printable
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- Author: Healthy Happy Mama
- Total Time: 80 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
Description
This almond butter banana bread with chocolate chips is incredibly moist. It uses whole wheat flour and less sugar than many traditional banana breads, but the flavor and texture are rich enough that no one will miss the extra sugar. My kids gobbled it up quickly.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup almond butter
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sucanat or other unrefined sugar
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas, yogurt, almond butter, melted coconut oil, and eggs. Beat with a mixer on medium speed until well combined. Add the sucanat and beat until blended; set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, ground flax seeds, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into three mini loaf pans or one 9×5-inch loaf pan lightly coated with oil. Bake at 350°F until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean: about 35–40 minutes for mini loaves or about 1 hour and 5 minutes for a full loaf. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and cool completely before slicing. Enjoy.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, October 2010.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 12 servings
- Calories: 297
- Sugar: 22.5g
- Sodium: 110.6mg
- Fat: 14.4g
- Carbohydrates: 39.7g
- Protein: 6.1g
I baked these loaves intending to keep one for our family and give the other two away, but they disappeared quickly. With shorter daylight hours I was rushing photos; my daughter Meghan got home from school and impatiently waited for her slice, eventually interrupting my photo session to dig in. Needless to say, the family didn’t want to share. Next time I’ll make extra for neighbors and for us. Have a great week!