This Classic Banana Bread is made healthier with whole wheat flour, applesauce and plain Greek yogurt! It’s super moist, perfect every time banana bread that’s good for you, too! Freezer-friendly and made in one bowl with no mixer. Includes step by step recipe video.
I am a banana bread fanatic.
*Post and recipe updated from original or April 2015
It is my favorite quick bread and pretty much the best smell in the world. I think baking yeast buns/bread and baking banana bread are tied for #1 Smells in All The World.
I’ve made you lots of banana bread recipes here on The Recipe Rebel: PB & J Banana Bread, Toasted Coconut Banana Bread, Samoa Banana Bread…. And they’re all delicious.
But I have a confession to make:
I like plain banana bread best. Yes that means without chocolate.
Don’t be hatin’. You know I love my chocolate.
But I believe that a good banana bread is like a good brownie: it needs no frosting, no glaze, no chocolate chips, no nuts, nothing. If it’s the perfect banana bread, then that should be enough.
This here is Perfect Banana Bread.
This wasn’t intended to even make it to the blog.
I had finished my recipes for the week, four of them, in 3 days (Monday-Wednesday). Photographed and everything.
So on Thursday (because I don’t know how to handle downtime of any sort), I was all like, “I should just bake, just to bake.”
Weird, right?
I knew I had lots of bananas in the freezer and I like to have a loaf of banana bread around for snacking, and I also love to have some in the freezer.
This is the recipe I’ve been sticking with for a long time. I’ve made it again and again and again and it turns out perfectly every time. But the only record I have of my version of the recipe is my comments on the original pin of the recipe from Cooking Light.
And since it was Thursday and I was done all of my other recipes I figured, “well I ought to snap a few pictures, and write up the recipe and be all official about it. No need to keep this perfection to myself.”
So that’s what I did.
And on my day off, I made you a bonus post.
Because I love you, and you deserve to have perfect banana bread.
It’s light, whole wheat, super moist, with reduced sugar and needs no other adornments. It’s made in one bowl with a whisk and no mixer. It’s freezer friendly.
It’s perfect. Just saying.
So even if I’m the only one to ever refer to this recipe, at least I have it written down somewhere!
Watch the recipe video and see how easy it is to make!
Classic Banana Bread
15 minsPrep Time
1 hour Inactive Time:Cook Time
0:15Total Time
Classic Banana Bread: the perfect, super moist, no frills, one bowl banana bread! It’s also secretly healthy! www.thereciperebel.com
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
- 2/3 cup (130g) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup (125g) whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup (95g) all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8×4″ or 9×5″ loaf pan (see notes)
- In a large bowl, mash bananas with a whisk. Add butter, yogurt and sugar and whisk (continue mashing if need be – if you don’t get the butter totally smooth, that’s fine!) until combined and somewhat smooth.
- Add vanilla and eggs and stir until combined.
- Add salt, baking soda, cinnamon and flour and stir just until combined (don’t overmix – it doesn’t have to be smooth, just combined).
- Spread in loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, covering with foil at 30 minutes when top is light golden brown, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (up to about 1 hour).
Recipe Notes
*Set the timer for 45 minutes, and check every 5 minutes for doneness.
I use a glass 8″x4″ loaf pan. If you use a larger pan, it will work fine but your loaf won’t be quite as high, so you will want to reduce the baking time slightly. If you use a dark non stick pan, your bread may bake more quickly.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 155kcal Calories from fat 15 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 2g | 3% |
| Saturated Fat 1g | 5% |
| Transfat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 32mg | 11% |
| Sodium 191mg | 8% |
| Carbohydrate 32g | 11% |
| Dietary Fiber 2g | 8% |
| Sugars 15g | |
| Protein 4g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
