Healthier Yogurt Banana Bread

Submitted by Sharon123

"This is an adaptation of Sour Cream Banana Bread which I posted, then found out it was a duplicate. The difference is you use yogurt instead of sour cream. You may use plain, or be adventurous and try vanilla, lemon, or your choice of flavors! Or go ahead and use sour cream if you wish. I even used part mayonnaise once in a pinch. For the nuts, use whatever nuts you wish. So here is the recipe,I hope you enjoy! I used to make this for the Colonial Pines Inn in Highlands, NC. It was always well received, and the customers could buy a loaf to take home, which they frequently did!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 1 large loaf

ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1⁄2 cup margarine (you may substitute half applesauce to make it healthier!) or 1/2 cup butter (you may substitute half applesauce to make it healthier!)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1⁄2 cup plain yogurt or 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3⁄4 cup white flour (or try oat flour)
• 3⁄4 cup whole wheat flour (or use all white flour if you wish)
• 1 tablespoon wheat germ (optional)
• 1 tablespoon wheat bran or 1 tablespoon oat bran
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2-3)
• 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1⁄2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

directions

1. Grease one 5x9-inch loaf pan, or use 3 mini loaf pans. Some people even double the recipe and bake it in a bundt pan. Spray with cooking spray to coat pans.
2. Cream margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
3. Add dry ingredients, then mashed bananas, nuts, and yogurt or sour cream. Add chocolate chips, if using. Mix well.
4. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour. If using mini loaf pans, cook for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Reviews

[The Flying Chef]

I made this yesterday and upped the recipe so that I could send it with my son whilst he is on the road with his basketball team. So really this isn't just being reviewed by me who of course kept a couple of slices behind to try.. :) It has been given a 5 star rating from an entire bus load of basketball players and their coaches about 28 people.. This loaf turned out so moist and totally delicious.. I used the yogurt, apple sauce over butter and added all the optional extras along with a little cinnamon.. What a fab banana bread recipe this turned out to be.. The funny thing is I hate banana's and even if they put a slice in a drink I can taste it and send it back but for some reason I love banana bread. This has gone way up there in my top 5 recipes for banana bread, in fact I would probably say this is my second favourite.. For my son and the team the addition of the chocolate was perfect and I chose to add it for this reason.. If I was just making for myself, I would omit and just make the rest as is, with the added cinnamon.. I too thought it did not rise as much as other banana breads I have made but I do not see why this has been mentioned in other reviews. For me the moist cake and taste alone, which to me is what you are looking for, is so superior, the rising of the cake itself does not matter as it is not like it is flat or anything.. Ok have prattled on but just wanted to get across how much we enjoyed this.. A big winner for us Sharon

 

[naturalhealthtaylor]

FABULOUS! I've made this bread twice now - doubling it each time - and we love it. I replaced the sugar with honey for the first batch but used sugar the second time around. I used applesauce to replace all the butter, oat flour instead of all purpose, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and chocolate chips. The first two loaves were thoroughly enjoyed by all. I froze one of the loaves from the second batch and will share with my husband and mother-in-law when they come this weekend. This recipe will replace the one I've used for many years. The only thing that some people may not like is that it did not rise at all for me. I do not have a problem with that - it was easier to cut - but others will be bothered by no rising........perhaps there needs to be an increase in baking soda???

 

[katew]

I made this as muffins for school lunches with great success. I left out the choc chips but chopped some fresh strawberries through mixture. They smelled beautiful cooking and are moist and yummy so thanks for posting such a versatile recipe.

 

[PaulaG]

This has a wonderful texture and flavor. I made it using with part applesauce/butter and a combination of Splenda and sugar. I did take your suggestion and processed oats to make oat flour. The nuts were pecans and I left off the chocolate chips. My only issue was that the loaf was rather flat and not rounded which may be due in part to some of the substitutions. Like I said it was very moist and full of flavor. Thanks Sharon for a healthy alternative to banana bread.

 

[Engrossed]

WOW is this GOOD! I've just gotten into "healthier" baking with whole grains and this is one of the BEST recipes I've made so far! I made 12 muffins. I used 1/4 cup Splenda granular and 1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend...I probably could have even used less as my bananas made this sweet. I used 1/4 cup margarine and 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce and that worked great! I used fat free plain yogurt, oat bran, whole wheat flour, wheat germ and wheat bran. I omitted the walnuts and chocolate chips and added 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon. I sprinkled the top of the muffins with wheat germ. YUMMY! They baked for 30 minutes and were nice and soft and sweet and you can't even tell that they're "healthy"! I love recipes with options! I may play with this some more and post my own version...THANKS! Made for Zaar Tag.