Constantly trying to think up delicious and healthy snacks for baby or toddler can be hardcore – especially if you sleep deprived! (And what new mum isn’t?) This banana bread for babies will completely solve your snack searching woes! Super simply to make, quick to bake and able to be stored for up to a week in an air tight container – you’ll have a healthy snack to hand for the whole week! Winner!
Why make banana bread for babies?
Bananas are a fantastic food to offer to your baby, but you may have found if you are going down the baby led weaning route, that they can be messy and very fiddly for baby to hold. Enter the banana bread!
Who doesn’t love a good banana bread? I think we spent half of our lockdown months endlessly baking banana bread until the four of us started resembling a banana loaf!
This banana bread for babies and toddlers is a less messy way of getting your baby to eat nutritious bananas and the health benefits speak for themselves!
Our favourite baby led weaning products
Bananas boast:
- High fibre – great for gut health!
- Tons of potassium – helps to regulate fluid and is good for healthy heart function
- Energy boosting properties – well needed for those toddlers who are constantly on the go!
How to make banana bread for babies
This banana bread recipe for babies is super simple to make and only requires a few key ingredients!
- Bananas – obviously!
- Wholemeal flour – you can swap this out for plain if that’s all you’ve got
- Milk – any type will do!
- Baking powder (although not needed if you’ve got self raising flour)
- Cinnamon – to add a little flavour
- Maple syrup – purely optional
Simply mash the bananas, mix with milk then add the dry ingredients to make a batter. Plop it into a loaf tin and bake in the oven for 35 minutes and you’ll have lovely moist banana bread that your baby will love!
How long does this banana bread for babies last?
If you store this banana bread in an air tight container, you can keep it for up to a week! Healthy and delicious banana bread whenever you want it for a week? We’re sold!
How do you store banana bread?
When it comes to ensuring the food you batch make for baby led weaning stays fresh, it is imperative that you use an airtight container.
As soon as I decided to start down the baby led weaning route and knew I’d be batch preparing lots of things, I invested in a large pack of air tight containers to keep all my goodies! The ones below are perfect for keeping things like banana bread in.
How ripe should the bananas be?
When it comes to making banana bread – the riper the bananas the better! The riper the banana is, the easier it will be to mash with your fork and the easier the creation of the recipe will be.
Of course you can use bananas that are not so ripe too, but you may need a little helping hand in mashing and mixing the bananas with the milk.
I used this Russell Hobbs hand blender to make sure the bananas were really pulped! And at only £12 it’s a bargain that’ll come in again and again!
How do you serve this banana bread for babies?
Once cooled, I slice this banana bread into eight equal chunks and let baby help himself to a slice from his highchair tray. For younger babies, you can cut each slice into finger sized strips so it’s easier for them to grab and eat.
More banana baby led weaning recipes:
What toppings can you add to this banana bread?
In the pictures we used pumpkin seeds to top this banana bread – although you may want to avoid this if serving to very young babies.
You could also slice banana, strawberries or blue berries and push them into the top of the batter before adding it to the oven. Alternatively, other seeds you could use include sunflower, flaxseed or chia.
Related Post: Chia & Flaxseed Flapjack
Banana Bread for Babies and Toddlers
Discover a delicious and healthy banana bread recipe for babies and toddlers. using wholehweat flour and ripe bananas, this recipe can be stored in an air tight container for up to one week for baby led weaning snacks on the go!
Ingredients
- 2 large bananas (around 250 grams)
- 100ml milk (plant based, cows or breast)
- 150g wholemeal flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
- handful of seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170C or 150C fan and line a small loaf tin with baking paper.
- Mash two bananas in a bowl, then add the milk and combine until a thick paste type consistency forms. You could also use a hand blender if you're struggling to get the right consistency.
- Add the maple syrup if using and combine.
- Next fold in the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and cinnamom and use a wooden spoon to combine thoroughly.
- Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and flatten with the back of your spoon, ensuring the mixture takes up the whole of the tin.
- Sprinkle seeds on top if using.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Check it is cooked through by inserting a cake testing skewer into the middle and ensuring it comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then top it out of the loaf tin and leave it for another 30 minutes or so on a wire rack.
- Slice up and serve!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 108Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 68mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 3g
Author: Nicola Hughes
Nicola has weaned both of her boys using the baby led weaning method. She loves nothing better than creating simple recipes that anyone can recreate, using as few ingredients as possible. All of her recipes have been tried and tested by both Dexter and Felix and have their seal of approval!