This is one of my family’s favorite recipes…to eat! It is made with yogurt in place of oil or butter. The end result is a very moist, spongy banana bread. It’s so addicting, especially once you realize there are fewer calories with the yogurt substitute. Muahahaha! Look for the * symbol for notes and options noted at the end of the recipe.
- Prep time: approx. 15 minutes
- Cook time: approx. 35-45 min for bread, 15-20 min for large muffins, 12-15 min for mini muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup sugar*
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) vanilla yogurt*
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large medium ripe bananas*
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup buttermilk (optional)*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups mini chocolate chips (optional)*
- Brown sugar for sprinkling
Instructions:
- Before you turn your oven on, remove all but the bottom rack. These need to be cooked on the bottom rack so at least leave enough room to place your pans on the lowest rack in your oven.
- Turn your oven on to 350°
- Butter or non-stick spray a 13×9 pan or 2 9×9 pans. This recipe can also be made into muffins- see the note below*
- Pour the mini chocolate chips into the bottom of your pan(s). Line the bottom evenly so that you cannot see the pan.* This will bake onto the bottom of the bread like a delicious, chocolate crust.
- In a stand mixer, mix sugar and yogurt until smooth.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well in-between.
- Add bananas, buttermilk (opt.), and vanilla. Mix well.
- Mix in flour one cup at a time, mixing well in-between.
- Add salt and baking soda. Mix until smooth.
- Carefully pour batter in to pan(s) while not disturbing the chocolate chips. Make sure to divide the batter evenly between the pans if you are using more than one.
- Sprinkle desired amount of brown sugar over the top of the batter-filled pan(s).
- Cook for between 35-45 minutes depending on your oven. It is best to check doneness with a toothpick at about 30 minutes and every 5 minutes after that until the toothpick comes out clean.
Notes:
*I usually use cane sugar rather than white sugar but both should work the same.
*I use a small container of vanilla bean yogurt but I have also tried using the same amount of plain greek yogurt as a substitute and it worked just as well but required an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract for flavor (2 tsp vanilla total).
*You want bananas that are very ripe but I have used bananas of varying ripeness. The difference is- the riper they are the sweeter and more banana-y the bread tastes.
*The buttermilk is labeled as optional because sometimes I put it in my recipe and sometimes I leave it out. The recipe seems to cook similarly either way but cooking it with the buttermilk adds even more moisture. Without the buttermilk it seems to be plenty moist and you wouldn’t notice it wasn’t in there.
*Chocolate chips are an optional ingredient and 2 cups is an approximate measurement because you can really add as much or as little as you’d like. You can also mix the chips into the batter rather than lining the pan with them. It’s all a matter of opinion.
*MUFFINS- spray and line 1-12 cup or 1-24 mini cup muffin pan(s) as you would large pans. Cook for about 15-20 minutes checking the doneness the same as you would in pans, adding 5 minutes at a time until the toothpick comes out clean.
Nutrition:
- Servings as bread: 32, servings as mini muffins: 24, servings as regular muffins: 12
- Based on 24 serving mini muffins baked with optional buttermilk: 1 serving is approximately 141 Calories; 2.1g Fat; 1.1g Sat. Fat; 20.6mg Cholest.; 152mg Sodium; 28.7g Carbs; 0.4g Fiber; 17.4g Sugar; 2.6g Protein.
