Cottage Cheese Banana Bread

If you’ve made my Greek yogurt banana bread, you’ll recognize this batter. Same trusted base, same reliably moist and tender crumb, just with blended cottage cheese standing in for the Greek yogurt and extra-virgin olive oil for those healthy fats.

• All-purpose flour: I wanted this loaf to be approachable for almost everyone, and most of us already have all-purpose flour in the pantry. No specialty ingredients required.
• White and brown sugars: White sugar aerates the batter for a lighter crumb and better structure. Brown sugar is a moisture magnet that keeps the bread tender for days. You can scale back the white sugar slightly if you prefer a less sweet loaf, but avoid swapping in liquid sweeteners like honey or maple syrup, as they add extra moisture to an already moist batter and can make the bread gummy.
• Baking soda: For lift.
• Overripe bananas: The darker and more speckled, the more flavorful your loaf will be. Need to speed things up? Check out my guide on how to quickly ripen bananas. And yes, frozen (and thawed) bananas work great, too!
• Eggs: For structure.
• Cottage cheese: Adds moisture and protein without adding much flavor of its own. Read: no one will know it’s the secret ingredient! Any variety works here (full-fat, low-fat or fat-free). If you love baking with cottage cheese as much as I do, check out my full collection of high-protein cottage cheese recipes, including these cottage cheese blueberry muffins that my kids go absolutely crazy for.
• Olive oil: Adds richness, depth of flavor and healthy fats. If you prefer a lower-fat option, you can swap in unsweetened applesauce. Just know the loaf will be slightly less rich and may dry out a little faster than the olive oil version.
• Vanilla extract: For flavor.
• Mix-ins: You can add up to 1 cup of your favorite mix-ins or leave the loaf plain. My family loves chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts. You could even add berries, like in my mixed-berry banana bread, or peanut butter chips, like in my peanut-butter banana bread version.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Quick Tip: Use Your Blender

Here’s a two-for-one trick: use your blender for the wet ingredients. It mashes the bananas effortlessly AND blends the cottage cheese completely smooth, so there are no white chunks visible in the finished bread, which is a big RED FLAG to my kids! Everything goes in: bananas, eggs, cottage cheese, olive oil and vanilla. Two minutes later you have a completely smooth, silky mixture with zero evidence of anything suspicious.

You don’t necessarily HAVE to blend the cottage cheese, but I prefer to. If you’d rather skip the blender, just whisk all the wet ingredients together in a large bowl and continue with the recipe as directed. But if you have picky eaters at your table—blend, blend, blend!

Expect a Thick Batter

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined (overmixing develops the gluten and can make your loaf dense and tough). This batter will be noticeably thicker than a traditional banana bread.

Lastly, fold in your mix-ins or leave the loaf plain. Chocolate chips or chunks are always a must in my house, and I like to add chopped pecans or walnuts, too. Sometimes I’ll stir in diced apples like in my apple cinnamon banana bread, or add a thick chocolate swirl like this chocolate swirl banana bread. And for an extra special treat, turn slices into banana bread French toast topped with butter and maple syrup!

My #1 Tip for Baking Banana Bread

If the top is getting too brown but the center still isn’t baked, tent the loaf with foil at the 45-minute mark and continue baking. The foil shields the top from the heat while the center finishes cooking through.

How to tell when your banana bread is done: Insert a toothpick into the thickest part of the center. It should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. If it comes out with wet batter, it needs more time. Every oven is different, so start checking at the 50-minute mark and go from there.

Can I Use Frozen Bananas?

Yes, and I do this often! Thaw frozen bananas at room temp, then drain off any excess liquid before adding them to the blender. The riper they were when you froze them, the more flavorful your bread will be.

Can I Make This Into Muffins?

Yes! Line a muffin pan with baking cups or coat the cups with nonstick cooking spray. Fill each cup 2/3 full and bake at 350°F for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.