As fall approaches, I remember that I love nothing better than the smell of freshly baked banana bread wafting through my house. This recipe is one of my favorites because it elevates a classic banana bread. Familiar banana bread flavors (cinnamon, banana and chocolate) pair nicely with this recipe’s additions (date syrup, yogurt and walnuts). If your family’s banana bread recipe feels boring, try this one for a sweet, textured twist.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ cup. brown sugar
¼ cup. butter
¼ cup. Greek yogurt (I used Fage 5 percent Greek Yogurt)
1 tbsp. pure date syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
¼ cup. chopped walnuts, plus 1 tbsp. for topping
½ cup dark chocolate chunks, plus 1 tbsp. for topping
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or a small amount of oil.
- Sift the all-purpose flour into a large bowl. Add the baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix dry ingredients with a spatula until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, beat brown sugar and room-temperature butter with a hand-held or stand mixer until creamy.
- Once combined, add yogurt, date syrup, eggs and vanilla to the mix.
- Mash the bananas with a fork. Do not mash them completely; leave some chunks.
- Chop walnuts into small pieces.
- Fold about ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula. Repeat until the dry ingredients are fully mixed.
- Add bananas, chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts. Fold together until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and top with 1 tbsp. of chopped walnuts and 1 tbsp. of chocolate chunks.
- Bake for 60 minutes. To ensure the loaf is fully baked, insert a toothpick into the loaf’s center. When you remove the toothpick, there should be no wet batter on it.
- Let the bread cool for 20 minutes, and enjoy!