This healthier Greek Yogurt Banana Bread is made without butter or oil, but so soft and tender that you’d never be able to tell! Naturally sweetened and loaded with banana flavour, it makes a great healthier alternative to a traditional favourite!
I realized an embarrassing thing the other day. Well,two embarrassing things.
The first was that Isomehow managed to miss a few patches whenI was shaving my right leg. Which wouldn’t have beenhorrible had I not had someone else point it out to me two days after the fact.Awkward.
The secondwas that, for how much I adore it, I don’t really have any banana bread recipes here on Spoons. I mean, I do, but I basicallyposted them as recipes in passingwithout really giving them the kind of attention they deserved. So it’s time to rectify that mistake…
Banana bread is one of two three sweet treats that hold a special place in my heart — the other two being chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and Black Forest cake. And if you’re wondering what those three things could possibly have in common, the answer is: almost nothing other than the fact that they’re delicious and basically epitomize my childhood. Well, the homemade baked goodie portion of my childhood, anyways.
I’ve been baking for pretty much as long as I can remember, and almost allof those early baking memories involve hanging out in the kitchen and “helping” Mom make one of the aforementioned treats, with cookies being the most common, Black Forest happening for every.single special occasion, and the elusive banana bread making an appearance on the off-chance that we had some ripe bananas lying around… which wasn’t really that often.
I actually remember not believing my mom when she said that we couldn’t make banana bread becausethe bananas weren’t ripe enough.My little 7 year-old self saw yellow bananas on the counter and couldn’t understand what more my mom wanted from them. Bananas were bananas… weren’t they? It wasn’t until many years later when I realized that there actuallywas a huge difference in not only the sweetness, but the texture that properly ripe bananas add to whatever you throw them in. Not to mention the increased health benefits.
Anywho, maybe it’s because it was such a rare occurrence, or maybe it’s because it’s just plain delicious, but banana bread securedone of the coveted top 3 spots in my heart, and it continues to hold that spotto this day. Which makes the fact that I couldn’teven remember the last time I had a slice of it that much more embarrassing…
But like I said… it’s been rectified.
I originally posted a slightly modified version ofthisrecipe a couple yearsago, butit pretty muchgot lost in the archives since I wasn’tserious about food blogging at that point, and had no idea about photography, SEO, social media promotion, etc… which is a shame because it’s really kind of amazing. And by “really kind of amazing” I mean it’s easily my favourite recipe for healthy banana bread.
Soft, tender, subtly sweet, and loaded with banana flavour, you’d never be able to tell that this banana bread is made without butter or oil. Instead, it’s got Greek yogurt to keep it moist,with an extra egg and some coconut sugar to help out.
The recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but you’d be fine cutting that down to 1/3 cup if you like your breads a little less sweet. And this is especially true if you were planning on tossingin some chocolate chips. I like my banana bread without any add-ins, so I passed on the chocolate (I know, I know) andplayed around with the sweetness instead. Both versions were delicious — it really depends on how sweet you like it!
Happy eating!
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, andsubscribetoour mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
- Author: Amanda @ Running with Spoons
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas (200 g or 1 cup mashed)
- 1/2 cup (115 g) plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
- Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup chocolate chips/raisins/nuts
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF (176ºC), and lightly grease a 9 x 5 (23cm x 13cm) loaf pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs until the yolks break apart. Whisk in the mashed bananas, yogurt, maple syrup, and sugar (if using), mixing until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing gently until just combined. Do not overmix. If you’re adding any mix-ins, fold them in now.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan, spreading it out evenly, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
* You can also use coconut sugar.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
Keywords: baking with Greek yogurt, banana bread, Greek yogurt banana bread, healthy banana bread, recipe
Recipe was edited in March 2020 but reverted to original by popular demand.
Looking for more healthy banana recipes?Try one of these!
Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
Flourless Banana Bread Muffins
Strawberry Banana Oat Bars
Flourless Vegan Banana Muffins
Flourless Chocolate Banana Bread
