Greek Yogurt Banana Nut Bread

You know you can never have enough banana bread recipes! Here's another one that I'm adding to my list. This bread was so moist and delicious. It made 2 loaves and I was able to bring a loaf into daycare with me when I dropped off the kids. There's no way I want to have 2 loaves of bread laying around the house, especially since I work at home now! Pretty much defeats all the working out and healthy eating I've been doing since August.

If you don't want two loaves of bread, you could easily cut this recipe in half. I did the two since I had yogurt to use up this week and had some frozen bananas taking up space in my freezer.

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup applesauce
3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1 cup nonfat vanilla greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla (can be omitted but I liked the vanilla flavor the bread had)
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cut the butter into small chunks and add both sugars. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the eggs and applesauce and mix until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the mashed bananas, yogurt and vanilla and stir to combine.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and spices. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The batter will be thick. Fold in the chopped walnuts. Take care not to overmix the batter.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn the loaves halfway through baking.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pans. Remove from pans and place on a wire cooling rack to completely cool. Serve warm with a dollop of butter.

To keep moist, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator if you'll be keeping it longer than a few days.

Source: The Shiska in the Kitchen