An American bakery-style banana bread: butter and oil, brown and white sugar, Greek yogurt, and both baking soda and powder give a light, tender, open crumb. Sweeter and less banana-forward than the creamed, honey-and-walnut Banana Bread, and built by the muffin method (melted butter, no creaming) for an even softer crumb.

Ingredients

   
293g all-purpose flour
4g baking soda
5g baking powder
1g ground cinnamon
2g kosher salt
113g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
110g granulated sugar
150g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
4g vanilla extract
340g very ripe banana (black-spotted), mashed
55g neutral oil
60g Greek yogurt

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or baking spray and line with parchment.

  2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl.

  3. In a large bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and melted butter until combined. Whisk in the eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla.

  4. Whisk in the oil and Greek yogurt until smooth.

  5. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, folding with a spatula (or whisk) just until no dry streaks remain — a few lumps are fine. Don’t overmix.

  6. Scrape into the pan and smooth the top. Draw a shallow line lengthwise down the center with a knife for a clean split.

  7. Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour, until a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs and the center reads 200–205°F. Start checking at 55 minutes.

  8. Cool in the pan on a rack 5 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.

Analysis

Total batter weight: 1237g

Component Amount %
Structure solids (flour + banana fiber) 305g 24.7%
Fat (butter, oil, egg, yogurt) 161g 13.0%
Sugar (granulated, brown, banana) 330g 26.7%
Liquid (banana, egg, yogurt, butter water) 407g 32.9%
Egg/dairy/fruit protein 22g 1.8%

A sugar-forward, double-leavened loaf. Fat lands at ~13% (from butter and oil), close to the loosened Banana Bread, but this one carries noticeably more sugar (26.7% vs ~20%) from the granulated-plus-brown blend, and less of its liquid comes from banana — so it reads sweeter and less banana-forward. Greek yogurt adds acid and tenderness, and both baking soda and baking powder keep the crumb open and fluffy. Structure sits at the high end for a quick bread (24.7%), giving it the sturdy-but-tender bakery-loaf chew.

Notes

  • Measure the banana. 1½ cups mashed ≈ 340g — depending on size that’s 3–5 bananas, so weigh or measure rather than counting. Too little and the loaf bakes dry; too much and the center gums.
  • Go by temperature. Quick breads are hard to skewer-test cleanly; the center should read 200–205°F. About 1 hour at 350°F, but start checking at 55 minutes.
  • Ripeness drives flavor and moisture. Use heavily brown-spotted to nearly-black bananas. Not there yet? See Ripening Bananas.
  • Why it’s tender. Melting the butter (rather than creaming it) plus the added oil means little gluten develops and the fat stays soft at room temperature — the crumb reads loose and moist. Fold the flour in just until the streaks vanish; overmixing turns it tough and tunnelly. This melt-and-whisk method is the main structural difference from the creamed Banana Bread.
  • Yogurt swaps. Greek yogurt adds fat, moisture, and a little acid (which tenderizes and feeds the baking soda). Sour cream subs 1:1; plain whole-milk yogurt works too, or 60g heavy cream or milk for a milder tang.
  • Pan. A 9×5 loaf is the default; a narrower pullman tin gives a taller loaf — either works, just give a taller loaf a few extra minutes.
  • Storage. Keeps 2–3 days well-wrapped at room temperature (the oil and yogurt hold moisture longer than the lean pound-cake style), and freezes well sliced.