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Dessert · American, Indian · 55 minutes

Easy Healthy Wholewheat Ragi Banana Bread

By Sonia · 18 March 2020
Nutrition diploma holder & home cook, Vizag — not a registered dietitian. Cooked, shot and eaten in my own kitchen.

top view of banana bread, sliced alongside bananas, cinammon stick on a dark background.
top view of banana bread, sliced alongside bananas, cinammon stick on a dark background.
4g proteinper serving
Prep
10 min
Cook
45 min
Total
55 min
Serves
8
Calories
345 kcal
Course
Dessert

All nutrition figures are per serving.

Good to know

Contains gluten and tree nuts.

Dairy-free · Vegan · Vegetarian

Effort Medium

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Who doesn’t love a good wholewheat ragi banana bread! Moist, cake-like bread loaf that’s easy to bake and super healthy too. Pairs beautifully with your evening cuppa and makes for a guilt-free dessert snack!

Closeup of banana bread loaf, sliced on a wood cutting board with banana slices, walnuts and cinnamon and a grey background.
Wholewheat Ragi Banana Bread – an ideal guilt-free dessert snack!
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If you know me or have been a reader here for a while, you must be aware of my enthusiasm for using wholesome flours, especially when it comes to baking. I believe that eliminating refined flours and other processed ingredients , especially in home cooking is the easiest way to celebrate nutrition and ensure balanced eating.

I enjoy testing out new wholesome flour recipes while baking – this way I know exactly what went into the cake. Furthermore, the satisfaction of developing my own healthy recipes is just otherworldly!

Ragi aka finger millet – a wonder grain?

A versatile grain that has been the chief source of nutrition for millions of individuals across the world, ragi or finger millet is a wonder grain in its own right. Ragi is ideal for those suffering from diabetes, because its high fiber content, minerals and amino acids helps in managing insulin levels in the body.

Ragi boasts of higher calcium content than most other millets and cereals, making it a superior choice for fighting diseases related to calcium deficiency, like osteoporosis. Also, the amino acid profile has been noted to improve dramatically upon fermenting ragi for a duration of 16-24 hours – this also serves to improve the protein yield and reduce the starch content, aside from reducing the anti-nutrient content like phytates.

The benefits of a ragi-rich diet don’t stop here – this nutrient-dense crop is also drought-resistant and has a longer shelf life, making it an ideal candidate for fighting food insecurity and climate change.

Banana Bread – The Story Behind

As a matter of fact, this wholewheat ragi banana bread recipe was founded on a whim as usual, for incorporating wholesome, nutritious ingredients in a delicious bake. However, it turned out so delightful each time I made it, that banana bread rose to one of my favorite bakes. There are no surprises, really – the ingredients are fewer and easily available – not to mention – super healthy too.

This bread can be refrigerated for 1-2 days, and is best devoured within that duration. It can be packed in your child’s lunch box as a pleasant sweet surprise. Also, you can pack it in your lunch and enjoy the guilt-free dessert option.

Further, this makes use of those bananas that have been ignored tad bit too long, and we all know that overripe bananas aren’t all that fun to eat now, are they! Above all, the procedure is super easy, and your banana bread is ready within an hour, just in time to be paired with your evening cuppa.

If you’re looking to try other healthy bakes, do try my

Eggless Carrot Cake

 Oats Red Rice Cranberry Cookies,

Pumpkin Spice Barnyard Millet Cake

Wholewheat Chocolate Ganache Cake!

Top shot of banana bread, sliced on a wooden board with cinnamon and nuts on a wooden board.
Wholewheat Ragi Banana Bread – Pairs beautifully with your evening cuppa

RECIPE: Wholewheat Ragi Banana Bread

Serves 8

Preparation Time: 10 minutes, Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup wholewheat flour

1/2 cup ragi flour

3 ripe bananas

1 tsp baking powder

8-10 walnuts, roughly chopped

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup powdered jaggery

1 tsp cinnamon powder

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. Grease a bread tin with little oil and then dust some flour evenly on it.

Next, blend the overripe into a smooth purée using a blender or food processor.

Sieve all the dry ingredients together, i.e. wheat atta and ragi flours, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add chopped walnuts and mix well with a spatula.

In another bowl, whisk together jaggery powder or sugar and oil until fluffy. Add banana purée, vanilla essence and cinnamon powder. Whisk everything together to form a uniform and fluffy liquid mixture.

Next, add the dry ingredients to the bowl with wet ingredients in two stages, as you whisk them together . Take care to not over-mix.

Finally, pour the batter into the greased and flour-dusted bread tin. Tap on a surface a few times to release any trapped air.

Bake at 185°C for about 45-50 minutes, until it has risen firmly. Check if the bread is baked by inserting toothpick in the center and a corner – it should come out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow to completely cool down. Run a flour-dusted knife along the edges of the bread tin.

Finally, remove the tin to reveal beautiful banana bread.

Devour!

NOTES

  • If you wish – and purely for aesthetic reasons – you can reserve a thin lengthwise slice of banana as a topping for the batter later on. Once you’ve poured the batter in the tin, place the banana slice over the surface and place in the oven to be baked.
  • I’ve used jaggery powder to enrich the taste profile as well as the micronutrient profile. You could easily substitute the same with cane sugar/ brown sugar/ molasses/ coconut sugar/ palm sugar. In contrast, if using the simple powdered white sugar, you can reduce the quantity by half a cup for the measurements given here, as it has more sweetness.

The recipe

Wholewheat Atta Ragi Banana Bread

Who doesn’t love a good banana bread! Ripe bananas, wholewheat flour, ragi or finger millet and jaggery powder come together for this moist, cake-like bread loaf. Easy to bake and super healthy too– pairs beautifully with your evening cuppa and makes for a guilt-free dessert snack!

Ingredients

Serves
8

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. Grease a bread tin with little oil and then dust some flour evenly on it.
  2. Next, blend the overripe into a smooth purée using a blender or food processor.
  3. Sieve all the dry ingredients together, i.e. wheat atta and ragi flours, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add chopped walnuts and mix well with a spatula.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together jaggery powder or sugar and oil until fluffy. Add banana purée, vanilla essence and cinnamon powder. Whisk everything together to form a uniform and fluffy liquid mixture.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with wet ingredients in two stages, as you whisk them together with the other hand. You should mix only well enough to make a smooth batter; do not over-mix.
  6. Pour the batter into the greased and flour-dusted bread tin. Tap on a surface a few times to release any trapped air.
  7. Bake at 185°C for about 45-50 minutes, until it has risen firmly. Check if the bread is baked by inserting toothpick in the center and a corner – it should come out clean.
  8. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to completely cool down. Run a flour-dusted knife along the edges of the bread tin.
  9. Turn the tin around on a plate and tap on the tin. Remove the tin to reveal beautiful banana bread.
  10. Devour!

Nutrition, per serving

Calories
345 kcal
Protein
4 g
Carbs
65 g
Fat
9 g
Saturated fat
6 g
Fibre
3 g
Sugar
44 g
Sodium
147 mg

Figures are estimates, per serving, calculated from the ingredients listed. They will shift with your brands, your substitutions and how heavy-handed you are with the oil. This is general information from a home cook with a nutrition diploma — it is not medical or dietetic advice. If you are managing a health condition, please talk to a qualified professional. Full disclaimer.

DessertAmerican, Indian

More from my kitchen

Sonia

Nice to meet you!

I'm Sonia.

I hold a diploma in nutrition and have spent years cooking, testing, and eating my way through modern takes on regional Indian and global food. Everything here is made and photographed in my own kitchen before it reaches you. I’m not a registered dietitian — I’m a home cook who reads the research, cites her sources, and keeps it honest.

Made one of my recipes? Tag @fit.foodie.diary on Instagram so I can see it!

I'm not a registered dietitian or a doctor. When I make a nutrition claim, I back it with research and tell you where it came from.

More about Sonia

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Jump to recipe · 4g protein