Greek Yogurt Banana Bread

The other night I got the urge to bake at nine o’clock in the evening. That seems to happen pretty frequently, along with the occasional sudden need to clean everything. And I don’t just mean something simple, like wash the dishes. I mean scrub everything, reorganize cupboards, spit shine the faucets. Okay, maybe not that far…at least that I’ll admit to anyway!

While I was packing my lunch the other night, which is often a 30-minute ordeal now that I am eating healthier again, I glanced over at a couple very ripe bananas and sighed. (I’m sure I hurt their feelings!) I’d have sworn I had just bought them and they were already too ripe to eat plain. And since I already have a couple of bags with ripe bananas in the freezer, I decided to start yanking ingredients out of the cupboard to make a loaf of banana bread.

As you can see, I got rather impatient and took the bread from it’s warm and cozy pan a bit early, and the wire rack imprinted those cute scalloped edges on the bottom of the bread. For future reference, pulling the bread too soon will cause your cooling rack to create cute scalloped edges!

The original recipe calls for sour cream, but I decided to use a container of plain Greek yogurt instead to give it a bit more protein and less fat/calories. Being as everyone raved about it, the choice was clearly a good one. Next time, I’m thinking I might try some strawberry yogurt, or maybe toasted coconut! Also, since this only calls for two bananas, the bread isn’t overly banana-y (that’s a word, I say so!) which I found several people appreciated. You can always add another to give it more flavor.

Greek Yogurt Banana Bread
Adapted from: Janet’s Rich Banana Bread
Makes one 9×5-inch loaf

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups (6.38 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small container (approx. 5.3 ounces) plain Greek yogurt
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Lightly spray or grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, melt butter in microwave for about 30 seconds. Heat in increments of 5 seconds until butter is mostly melted, then stir until remainder is melted.
3. Add the sugar to the melted butter and, using a fork, stir until incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix well.
4. Sprinkle the salt and baking soda evenly over the top of the wet mixture, then add the flour. Mix until just incorporated.
5. Using your fork, mash the bananas in a separate small bowl. Add the yogurt, bananas and nuts (if using) to the flour mixture and using a spatula, fold until all ingredients are incorporated.
6. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack.

Tags: Banana Bread, Greek Yogurt, Greek Yogurt Banana Bread, Yogurt Banana Bread