Got overripe bananas? Try this healthy banana bread with a blend of regular and whole wheat flour, yogurt and cinnamon.
Last night I baked a loaf of banana bread and Isaac said it was the BEST banana bread I’ve ever made! That’s saying something, because I’ve made quite a few loaves in our nearly 6 years together.
This one is different because it’s made with blend of regular and whole wheat flour, yogurt and cinnamon. It’s moist and absolutely delicious. I’ve made it many times and tried a bunch of different variations and mix-ins.
Banana Bread Variations
- Nutty: add 1 cup chopped walnuts
- Decadent: add 1 cup chocolate chips
- Summery: add 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Less sugar: cut 1 cup organic sugar down to 1/2 cup and/or use maple syrup or honey
- Whole grain: use whole wheat pastry flour
If you try this banana bread recipe please let me know how it turns out in the comment section and leave a review!
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PinDescription
A classic banana bread recipe made a little healthier with a blend of regular and whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar*
- 1/4 cup butter, softened or melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute).
- Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended.
- Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat at low speed just until moist.
- Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a wooden tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
Notes
*For a lower sugar version you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup or use 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup instead of the sugar.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 194mg
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
Looking for a gluten-free banana bread? Check out my gluten-free banana bread recipe made with coconut flour and coconut oil.
Lauren says
October 5, 2010 at 7:54 pmThis looks so simple to make but so delicious to eat! 🙂 Love recipes like that.
Estela @ Weekly Bite says
October 5, 2010 at 8:09 pmYum! I’m always in the market for a good banana bread recipe!
Krystina says
October 5, 2010 at 9:05 pmYum! I need to buy more loaf pans so I can get to loaf making.
Rachael says
October 5, 2010 at 9:14 pmGlad you’re feeling the support. The past few days have been exemplary in displaying how tight knit the blog community is, and yet have also shown that we’re open to analysis and serious discourse about serious topics. Good stuff.
Banana bread is one of those entities that never fails to get old. Another version to try- we just dumpstered a ton of bananas from Earth Fare, so let the baking begin!
Stephanie says
October 5, 2010 at 9:30 pmso uhhhh how about you send some of that delicious looking bread over to the short pump area… mmmmmkay? 😉
lynn @ the actor's diet says
October 5, 2010 at 9:43 pmi love my breads MOIST. i know people hate that word.
Eating Bird Food says
October 5, 2010 at 10:35 pmhaha. I’m actually one of those people. But I still use it to describe baked goods. 😉
Kelly says
October 6, 2010 at 5:59 pmI agree with you on both. I dislike the word, but I still find myself using it to describe cupcakes and muffins and the like.
Monet says
October 5, 2010 at 11:56 pmBanana bread is the best. Truly, I bake a lot, and I think that when it comes down to a favorite for me…I would choose banana bread. Thanks for sharing sweet woman!
Tori @ FIToriBLOG.com says
October 6, 2010 at 12:06 amI love our photography! This bread looks scrumptious and you make it look even better!
And, I love how you have it printable! What a great idea! You’re so smart!
Holly @ couchpotatoathlete says
October 6, 2010 at 9:43 amI love banana bread – and I bet the cinnamon just adds such a nice extra “zing”.
I too love how your recipes are “printable” — great idea!
Eating Bird Food says
October 6, 2010 at 9:54 pmThanks! The print option is a wordpress plugin called printthis.
Ana says
October 6, 2010 at 12:01 pmJust made your banana bread…. it turned out great!! I made a couple of changes- used 1 c. whole wheat flour and 1 c. white flour, increased cinnamon to 1 tablespoon, used smart balance instead of butter, and used my homemade fat free greek yogurt. I had a slice out of the oven with apple butter (your recipe) and it was perfect!
Eating Bird Food says
October 6, 2010 at 10:17 pmI thought about using a full cup of whole wheat flour but ran out! I’m glad to hear it still tasted delicious!
Melissa says
October 6, 2010 at 7:13 pmDelicious recipe!!! I made my vegan style and came out delicious 🙂 What a great fall treat…thanks for the great idea!
Justine says
October 7, 2010 at 1:07 pmOne of my friends brought that article to my attention as well. I really think that a lot of it was taken out of context. For your blog, especially, you serve as a healthy example of weight loss and maintaining good health! (Sorry, I am a little late with this comment!)
Meanwhile, that banana bread looks to die for! It resemebles the massive slices that they serve at Starbucks. Hope you’re having a good day!
🙂
Claire (Low Impact Fashionista) says
October 7, 2010 at 6:25 pmI think I could live off of banana bread…or least make a variation of banana bread everyday!
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
October 7, 2010 at 10:15 pmThis looks DEE-licious! For some bizarre reason, I haven’t thought to add cinnamon to my banana bread before. I actually just saw a recipe for a banana bread on the cover of a cooking light magazine today at the stop, and I’m pretty sure it had a peanut butter glaze. May need to recreate that 🙂
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
October 7, 2010 at 10:24 pmOopsies, that was supposed to be “store” –I need to start proofreading more carefully 😉
adriana says
October 7, 2010 at 11:55 pmI thought I was the only one who put cinnamon in my banana bread 🙂 Thanks for the recipe! I’d never thought of adding yogurt. Usually I do the regular recipe but skip the vanilla and add the cinnamon.
Monica says
October 8, 2010 at 10:49 pmThat banana bread looks delicious!
Do you think sour cream would work instead of the greek yogurt? I want to make banana bread using this recipie but that’s all I have on hand.
My favorite recipe (so far) is the banana bread featured on marthastewart.com, you should try that one too 🙂
Have a good weekend!
Eating Bird Food says
October 8, 2010 at 10:55 pmI think sour cream would work just fine! Let me know if you try it. 😉
kelsey@snackingsquirrel.com says
October 10, 2010 at 4:50 pmi definitely trust you when u say its the best, your food and baking never lets me down 😛
xoxo
allison says
October 15, 2010 at 10:33 amLOVE this! Made it last night, sooo good. I added walnuts and it added a nice crunch! Thanks for the recipe!
Mark says
October 20, 2010 at 9:41 pmI’m sure it taste great, but to think it is healthy for you would take a bit of imagination.
Last time I checked sugar, refined white flour, and butter were not exactly health food.
By the way, I love your blog and you have some great healthy ideas, this is just not one of them.
Eating Bird Food says
October 20, 2010 at 10:04 pmEverything in moderation is healthy in my book.
Misty says
December 20, 2011 at 10:05 amI made this bread last night exactly as reciple calls… it was DELICIOUS! Even my not so healthy eating husband thought it was awesome. Plan on making more as gifts for the family 🙂
Eating Bird Food says
December 20, 2011 at 10:07 amSo glad you liked it Misty!!
Becs says
February 25, 2012 at 2:36 amI love this recipe! I didn’t have whole-wheat flour or greek yogurt but rolled oats and plain unsweetened low fat yogurt both worked well as substitutes and I’m sure the oats make it more filling as a breakfast on the go! Oh and lining the tray with baking paper made for easy clean up without adding fat 🙂
Angela says
February 28, 2012 at 10:28 pmLoved the addition of whole wheat flour and the substitution of yogurt for vegetable oil or sour cream. The banana flavor wasn’t quite strong enough for my taste, so next time I’ll add an extra banana. Otherwise a fantastic recipe. 🙂
Sarah says
December 7, 2012 at 9:52 amCan you add soy protein powder to banana bread? I’m afraid it will make it too dense…?
Brittany Mullins says
December 7, 2012 at 3:14 pmI’m not 100% sure since I haven’t tried it. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Erica says
December 27, 2012 at 8:34 pmI make a similar recipe, but I replace the butter with organic coconut oil (which has a 350 smoke point, so I lower temp to 330 to play it safe), use 1/2c honey so you can cut sugar down to 1/4 c (unrefined,of course) and add a small handful each of ground flax and raw wheat germ. Yum!
Christina says
February 10, 2013 at 9:20 amI made this using whole wheat flour only and also I substituted egg whites for whole eggs. My family loved it! Which is saying a lot because they are a use a whole stick of butter for that type of family. I will definitely be using this recipe again!
Brittany Mullins says
February 10, 2013 at 9:35 amHooray. I’m so glad your family likes it! 🙂
Brooksie says
April 23, 2013 at 4:39 pmmmmm..and I have some Bananas waiting to be used. Just gotta make it gluten free so my family and I can actually eat it. Luckily I have all the ingreditants to do just that tonight..along with the rhubarb-strawberry jam…mmm……
Baked Goods says
December 29, 2013 at 9:34 pmExcellent recipe!! Don’t expect the bread to last more than a day after it’s made. If you’d like to know how much this recipe costs you to make, a recipe cost-calculator will tell you exactly how much that teaspoon of vanilla actually costs in the recipe.
★★★★★
Sally says
September 14, 2014 at 9:12 pmI LOVE this recipe. Lately I’ve been adding oats and chia seeds (and sometimes a little milk so it’s not too thick). It makes for a really great (hearty) breakfast muffin! Thanks for all your great recipes!
Elizabeth says
October 13, 2017 at 11:40 amI have whole wheat flour but no white flour. Can I use coconut flour or almond flour as a substitute?
Brittany Mullins says
October 13, 2017 at 11:48 pmI’m sure you can use coconut flour or almond flour for this recipe, but I’m not sure the ratios or how it would turn out because I haven’t tested it. Maybe this gluten-free banana bread would be a better option because it’s made with coconut flour.
Natalie P says
February 20, 2018 at 12:29 amJust made this banana bread and my whole family loves it ❤️❤️ It is super moist and dense! The only changes I made were 1/3 less sugar, and some nuts to add that nice crunchy texture.
Mandisa says
April 21, 2019 at 2:57 pmi’ve made this recipe for years since i discovered it. it’s THEE best banana bread recipe ever!! Xxx
★★★★★