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If you’re looking for the perfect baby led weaning banana bread, look no further! This recipe is naturally gluten-free and sweetened only with bananas and dates. While it’s perfect for an easy baby breakfast or snack, it doesn’t stop there. This bread is also perfect for toddlers and the rest of your family including yourself. Yes, my family ate an entire loaf of this bread in the past 24 hours.

toddler reaching for baby friendly banana bread

Ingredients

This bread is simple and wholesome for your whole family. Many banana breads have added sugar whether it’s refined sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup, or honey. I prefer to avoid any added sweeteners when cooking for my babies and toddlers under the age of 2.

Oats – I chose oats to make it naturally gluten-free for those babies with a sensitivity to wheat. Plus, I love the moistness that oats give to banana bread.
Almond Flour – If you wish to add more healthy fats and protein or are looking for a good way to introduce nuts to your baby I recommend substituting 1 cup of oat flour for almond flour. I personally love making the bread this way.
Bananas
Dates – Instead of using a sweetener like maple syrup or honey, I chose dates so that this bread is 100% fruit-sweetened and appropriate for babies or young toddlers.
Eggs
Yogurt
Coconut Oil
Cinnamon
Vanilla
Salt

Tips for Making Baby Led Weaning Banana Bread

Use ripe bananas that are developing brown spots. If your bananas aren’t ripe and you can’t wait to make this bread I tried this trick to ripen bananas in the oven and it worked very well! I didn’t even find it necessary to do as long as the tutorial suggested.
Use a food processor or blender to make the oat flour and blend all ingredients. This will ensure that there are no chunks in the bread. (This is the one I have and love!)
Mash your bananas well. This will help create a smooth texture.

How to Make the Perfect Banana Bread for Babies

Step #1: Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a bread pan with coconut oil.

Step #2: Process your oats to make oat flour.

You can either use a food processor or blender. If you’re using almond flour, only use 1 cup of oats, and then add the 1 cup of almond flour once it is blended into a fine flour.

Step #3: Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and blend.

Mash your bananas, mix in the eggs, and add the cinnamon, vanilla, salt, dates, yogurt and coconut oil. Blend until smooth in the food processor.

Step #4: Pour mixture into bread pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Insert a toothpick to test if it comes out clean. When it does it’s ready! Note: I find that if you use 1/2 almond flour the recipe cooks faster and takes a little longer for oats.

How do you serve banana bread to babies?

There are a few different ways to serve this baby friendly banana bread to your little one. You can either:

1. Cut the bread into small pieces and let your baby pick them up and eat with their hands.

2. Make into small muffins for ready-to-eat portions for your baby.

Storing Leftover Baby Banana Bread

If you want to extend the life of your bread, simply store in an airtight container in the fridge or you can freeze it.

If you want to freeze the baby banana bread, I suggest slicing it before freezing and using parchment paper to keep it separated so that you can take out a slice or two as needed. That way it doesn’t go bad and you don’t have to eat the whole loaf at once!

Other Helpful Baby Led Weaning Recipes and Resources

So there you have it! The perfect baby-led weaning banana bread recipe that is healthy and perfect for your whole family. If you need more help with baby-led weaning here are a few other helpful resources:

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