cinnamon toast crunch banana bread

The cereal namesake of this recipe occupied many a childhood bowl. Really, even teenage and college-year bowls. So, in homage, I went full-circle and infused this nostalgic, timeless breakfast flavorpile into a loaf of surprisingly nutritious banana bread. How about that?

I bake with Greek yogurt frequently because, for one, I eat a ton of it, so the fridge is always amply stocked. As a runner who doesn’t eat much dairy in general, calcium intake is of utmost concern: good healthy bones are imperative to performance and recovery, and stress fractures are an issue I’d like to shun in my training. Sure, one doesn’t need dairy to thrive, but I enjoy yogurt and it contains a high daily value of the nutrient, so why not? Fun story: my breakfast of choice is a bowl of yogurt, a cup of honey nut o’s, banana, berries, and peanut butter. Little peek into my food diary. The probiotics help the case for Greek yogurt, too. I have a finicky gut and since I’ve incorporated more of the stuff into meals and snacks, my stomach seems much calmer.

Greek yogurt can replace oil or butter in a recipe, usually in a 1-to-1 ratio up to one cup. I find that other flavors, like spice or toppings or a bevvy of chocolate chips, provide enough tastiness to render the fats unnecessary. This banana bread has a simple, soft, sweet layer of cinnamon streusel atop that I could happily peel off and munch on its own. It is SO tasty.

So while we’re still somewhat isolated at home and the kids want to dig their hands into anything and everything, make some banana bread to pass a weekend. Full on flavor, less on fat and sugar and other stuff that might make your throat sticky. Give it a try and tag me on Instagram when you do!

Other fun baking projects:

Chai Spiced Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Swirl Muffins

Soft Double Dark Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Print

cinnamon toast crunch banana bread

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Oil-free (except for the streusel, and it's a tiny amount), nourishing, healthy, fun, flavorful, nostalgic. I have not tested with flax eggs, but I'd imagine it could work quite well, albeit with less of a rise than the egg version. If you try, please let me know how it goes! Regular plain yogurt, skyr, and nondairy yogurts taste lovely if Greek isn't your jam.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 large bananas, brown and soft
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran*
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon powder

Crunch Streusel

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, solid but scoopable

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bread pan generously with oil or butter spray.
• In a bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, maple syrup, yogurt, and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat until combined.
• Add all dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. You may have some small chunks of banana – that is okay! If they're very large, break them up with the spatula.
• Make the streusel. In a small bowl, toss all ingredients under "crunch streusel" tab with a fork until clumpy but combined. You want it to be the texture of unbaked granola.
• Pour banana bread batter into prepared loaf pan. Top thoroughly and evenly with streusel. Bake for 45-60 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then turn onto a wire baking rack and cool at least 20 minutes. Slice and serve warm with butter, peanut butter, jam, or honey.

Notes

* I wanted to make this recipe with wheat flour at the time, but did not have any – so, I added wheat bran to my all-purpose flour for more nutrients. The bran gives the banana bread a really lovely chewiness. Feel free to omit, or use whole wheat flour in place. All ways are delicious!