Before I get into this recipe, let me just say I am not a banana fan 90% of the time. I only like them when they’re on the cusp of ripeness, still lightly green. I am then always left with a situation in which I have my bananas that are left way past their normal yellow/spotty range.
Enter this banana bread. As a banana hater, I really enjoy this bread. I use very ripe bananas and use less sugar and replace some of the oil with greek yogurt. I also add oats to the batter along with walnuts and cacao nibs. The result is a moist, tender, lightly spiced banana loaf that is very hard to resist.
The recipe is very simple, it can be done in one bowl and comes together very quickly. You can leave out the walnuts, oatmeal, cacao nibs/chocolate chips if you want to keep it simple.
I personally am a fan of the wholesome taste of the oats and the light crunch that comes from the walnuts and cacao nibs. The hardest part of the recipe is honestly the waiting as your kitchen fills with the smell of the delicious loaf baking.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup neutral oil (avocado/canola/vegetable oil)
3/4 cup cane sugar
2 eggs
1 cup greek yogurt
2 very ripe bananas mashed with a fork
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional add ins:
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup steel cut oats
3/4 cup cacao nibs + dark chocolate chips/chunks
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 bread pan.
Add oil and sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix together for 30 seconds. Add eggs and whisk. Add greek yogurt and mashed bananas and whisk to incorporate. With a spatula mix in the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. It will look chunky but that is fine. Add in your choice of mix ins. I like to top the bread off with additional add ins to give the crust an edge.
Pour into greased bread pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
This is the easiest and healthiest banana bread recipe I’ve made to date. It uses whole wheat flour, cane sugar ,and greek yogurt. It also tastes far from healthy and that’s win in my book.
As always, let me know if you try this. Good luck!