This lightened-up Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Banana Bread is made without butter or oil, but so soft and tender that you’d never be able to tell! Not quite pumpkin bread, not quite banana bread, it combines hints of both to create a healthy and delicious fall-inspired snack.
Allow me to introduce you to the product of my indecisiveness — also known as pumpkin banana bread. Because why force yourself to decide between pumpkin bread and banana bread when you can have both in one ridiculously soft and tender loaf, amiright? And why go through the hassle of making two separate loaves when when you can combine the two and have the best of both worlds?
That, my friends, is what we call winning at life.
Actually… that’s what we call spur-of-the-moment “toss everything into a bowl and hope for the best” baking experiments gone [mercufully] right… but it sounds so much better when I act like I actually planned for things to turn out that way.
The truth is that I was originally planning on sharing a pumpkin pancake recipe with you guys today… until a few things got in the way of my carefully scribbled out plans.
First, the weather. I don’t know how things are looking in your neck of the woods but we’ve had a handful of cold and rainy fall-like days that have made a warm and toasty kitchen feel that much more inviting. And, yes, I know you make pancakes in the kitchen as well, but the oven has always felt infinitely more comforting than the stove.
And it produces infinitely tastier things… just saying.
Then there was the issue of finding myself in the unfortunate position of having to use up both the leftovers from the can of pumpkin I opened earlier and a bunch of overripe bananas that the fruit flies were attacking.
Can we talk about pumpkin can sizes for a second? Because they seriously need to start selling pumpkin in different sized cans so you can buy as much as you need without having to worry about having a bunch of extra squash hanging around after everything is said and done.
Need half a cup? Here’s a half-cup sized can for you. 1 cup? We have that too! None of this 15 oz. nonsense where you use less than half and need to figure out how to get rid of the rest. If you do find yourself in that unfortunate position, though, this is my answer for you…
Greek yogurt pumpkin banana bread. A deliciously healthy snack that kills two birds with one stone and tastes pretty freaking fabulous as a result.
Not quite pumpkin bread, not quite banana bread, it combines hints of both to create a soft and tender bread that’s subtly sweet, subtly spiced, and loaded with flavour.
And if that wasn’t enough, then what about the fact that it’s made without butter or oil and only 1/4 cup of refined sugar? A lot of pumpkin/banana breads call for epic amounts of oil and sugar to help make them moist and flavourful, but I’ve found that you can cut back on both dramatically without sacrificing on flavour by making a few simple swaps; namely, by adding Greek yogurt and maple syrup.
So if you’re looking for a healthy and delicious snack — or a way to use up leftover pumpkin and/or overripe bananas — give this pumpkin banana bread a try!
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 1 loaf, 12 slices 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (150 g) all-purpose flour*
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 medium-size ripe banana, mashed (100 g or 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup (120 g) pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (115 g) plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup (85 g) chocolate chips/raisins/nuts/etc.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF (176ºC), and lightly grease a 9 x 5 (23 x 13 cm) bread pan. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir until well combined and set aside.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add mashed bananas, pumpkin, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently. Do not over mix. Fold in any add-ins you wish to include.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan, spreading it out evenly, and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. After 45 minutes, you may wish to cover with a sheet of tin foil to prevent the top from getting too brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
* You could also make this with whole wheat pastry flour or sub our 1/2 of the all-purpose with whole wheat.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
Looking for more recipes using Greek yogurt? Try one of these!
Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
Greek Yogurt Banana Bread
Apple Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
One Bowl Greek Yogurt Apple Oat Bread
Greek Yogurt Banana Oat Bread
hi sounds like a great recipe! Was wondering if greek yogurt was reduced ft, full fat or low fat
Wondering about baking as cupcakes rather then a bread. Would that work with this recipe?
Yes that should be totally fine, Jamie. I would reduce the cooking time to about 22-25 minutes though.
Just wanted to say that they come out fabulous as muffins. Super easy to just grab one and go. I’ve made this recipe as muffins 4 times now. Family and co-workers loved them!
That’s great to know, Jamie! Thanks for letting me know.
Will this hold up to freezing? I would like to take this along on a trip next weekend, but I won’t have time to make it right before we go. I know a lot of quick breads are freezer-friendly.
Can you use white whole wheat flour?
Looks delicious!! Do you think it’s ok to skip brown sugar or replace it with a low calorie sweetener? Thanks!
I don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to baking with low-calorie sweeteners, but as long as it behaves like brown sugar, it should be totally fine!
Thus recipe looks great but I just wanted to ask is it required to use Greek yogurt or can I use regular plain yogurt?
Regular yogurt should work as well, Stephanie!
Hi, I just made this bread and it is very delicious and my house smells so wonderful! I am in Northern CA, so it really isn’t very fall-like yet, but this bread makes if feel like fall. I used whole wheat flour instead of white and used 1/2 cup of coconut palm sugar instead of 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup of maple syrup (I don’t like maple), used 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice instead of the different spices listed and I added dried fruit juice sweetened cranberries. I had a very ripe banana but I kept seeing pumpkin all over the stores so I thought I wonder if anyone has tried to make pumpkin-banana bread, and I found this recipe. I will say it is more “bread-like” than most quick breads which are more cake-like. I wonder if it is the omittance of oil?
Thanks, https://medium.com/healthy-seasonal-cooking http://healthyseasonalcooking.blogspot.com/?view=classic
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Linda! And thanks so much for taking the time to share your substitutions. The bread is definitely meant to be on the healthier side, which would be why it was more bread-y.
Hi! I just tried this recipe and it turned out great! Moist, flavorful, and right texture. I’ll definitely be making it again.
However I did have one problem: The loaf came out beautiful right out of the oven but as it was left in the loaf pan to cool for about 10-15 minutes, the whole loaf sank/fell (not in the middle but the whole loaf) in height. Do you know what may have caused that?
Thanks!!
Hi Blues! There could actually be a few reasons that your loaf sank. Was your baking soda and baking powder fresh? Those only tend to be good for a few months after they’ve been opened, and older products won’t be as effective at giving you nice tall bread. Another reason might have been the ratio of wet to dry ingredients. I use a kitchen scale to measure out ingredients so that they’re always exact, especially when working with a lot of wet ingredients like this recipe has. If the batter feels too runny to you, you can try adding up to 1/4 cup of flour to the recipe. Another reason might just be variation in ovens, which might have resulted in the bread not being cooked for long enough. Were you using a gas oven? I’ve found that those can be tricky sometimes.
I had the exact same problem! Looked beautiful, then after a few minutes it completely sank. I used a scale for all the measurements. And my soda and powder are fresh…. Hmm… I’ve made many loaves in the past, including ones with yogurt and no oil, and never seen this happen. I’m bummed. Hope it still tastes good, I’m sure it will!
Hi, hope you are well.. Thank you to share with us your great recipes. I have to try this recipe so please can you give the quantities in grs.. Here in France we bake and cook in grs.
Hi Nini. All of my newer recipes have metric conversions, but I haven’t gotten around to converting all of my older ones. I just did it for this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Amanda, thank very much for your quick help…
“All of my newer recipes have metric conversions…” I noticed and I really really appreciate… This demonstrates the quality of your commitment to your blog👍🏻 Now it’s time to bake, right ?
Can I leave banana out? Not a fan.
I have a similar recipe that’s just pumpkin bread, Bernadett – http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2016/08/30/one-bowl-greek-yogurt-pumpkin-bread/
It’s hard to believe that banana bread without oil will be moist, but this recipe is very moist and tasty. I made it into two smaller loaf pans (one to keep and one to share). Based on previous reviews I buttered and floured both pans so the loaves released smoothly. The banana and pumpkin flavors blended together beautifully. I’ll probably reduce the cinnamon just a bit since there are so many flavors intermingling, but otherwise this recipe is a keeper!
Note: I planned to give this 4 stars but had to give it 5 because the system would not allow me to change the star rating. Interesting.
I made this today but made it into muffins rather than bread. The taste was good, but with no oil in the recipe it stuck to the paper muffin liners like crazy! Just a FYI in case anyone else wanted to try muffins- it didn’t turn out so good.
This is amazing!!!!! I made it tonight and couldn’t believe how delicious it turned out. Yummmmmm
LOVED this & so did my whole family- from my sceptical hubbs to my picky toddler, we all loved it!
I used only WW pastry flour & 2 TB honey+2 TB maple syrup for sweetener, which was perfect for us.
I honestly could do with out the chocolate chips & just do all walnuts but my family probably wouldn’t agree. I’ll be making this again soon…like, tonight soon 🙂 thank you!
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed it, Farah! Thank you for taking the time to leave such a wonderful comment!
Mm mm, this bread is baking away in my oven right now and I can’t wait until it’s ready! Two things I usually do with the leftover pumpkin are make Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats and freeze some in an ice cube tray to give to my dog as a treat. It’s a win-win for both of us so we’re never unhappy about the leftover purée! Thanks for the great recipe!
Great tip about freezing pumpkin, Diana! I hope you enjoyed the bread.
THANK YOU for this recipe!! Finally some bread that is guilt free 😉
Just made this…it was amazing. Thanks for brightening up a grey and rainy day Amanda! And fueling me for what is looking to be a very grey and rainy 1/2 marathon Sunday.
A healthy pumpkin-banana snack is all I’ve been craving, and this is absolutely perfect! so excited to make this, but I’m wondering, the maple syrup is substituting for a sweet taste right? Would it be possible to substitute applesauce in place of the syrup?
It would work as far as texture goes, but applesauce isn’t as sweet as maple syrup so the bread would be a lot less sweet as a result. It all depends on how sweet you like things!
This was amazing!!! I made it last night and brought it to work. Huge hit, very excellent. I’m going to make it again for sure. Thank you!!
I’m glad you liked it, Lisa! Thanks so much for letting me know!