Two very ripe bananas and one package of blueberries were sitting on my counter, so naturally I had to make a banana bread with blueberries. I wanted something different from the banana bread recipe I used a couple of weeks ago, so in addition to blueberries, I also added Greek yogurt. Well, adding the Greek yogurt was sort of a necessity (as opposed to creativity), since I only had 2 bananas while the recipe called for 3, so I measured that 1 mashed banana equaled 1/3 cup in volume, and that’s how much Greek yogurt I added to replace the missing banana.
Blueberries add so much to banana bread! In addition to the berry flavor, they almost make the banana bread even more moist, without letting it lose the texture. Biting a slice of banana bread with blueberries is very much like having a slice of a berry cake: juicy and fruity, but without all the butter. I still can’t believe that this moist loaf of bread has only 1/3 cup butter, the rest of butter replaced by Greek yogurt and bananas. I need to make recipes like this more often!
I also realized something while making this banana bread and that one: the key to a moist and flavorful banana bread is to use very ripe bananas. Before I even consider using the bananas in baking, I wait until they turn black on the outside and get really soft to the touch. When peeled, such bananas are still white inside but very soft and mushy, not really holding their banana shape. Mashing such bananas with a fork is very much like stirring the smoothie: effortless! That’s when bananas are at their sweetest!
Banana bread with blueberries
Total time: 1 hour
Adapted from Simply Recipes.
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe bananas, smashed
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 1/2 cup blueberries
1) Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2) In a large bowl, mix mashed bananas, Greek yogurt and melted butter, using wooden fork or spoon. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix just enough to blend the ingredients; do not over-mix, the lumps will work themselves out.
3) Add chopped walnuts and whole blueberries to the batter and mix them in to distribute evenly through the batter.
4) Butter a 4×8 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, butter the parchment paper too. Pour the batter in the pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.
Note: lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper ensures that the bottom of the bread will not get stuck.
