I love quick breads baked in a bundtcake pan. I love that crunch on the outside, and the bundt pan gives you more surface area to celebrate that caramelized crust.

So the other day, a friend of mine posted a picture on IG of a plate of banana bread she was eating. It was warm and slathered with butter. It looked rich and sweet and darker than any banana bread I’ve seen. A couple days later, I was still thinking about it, so I asked for the recipe. It was Bon Appetit’s Best Banana Bread.

Dang, it’s good! Dark brown sugar gives it a deep hue, and Greek yogurt lightens up the fat content. With only 1/4 cup of butter in the recipe, I didn’t feel too guilty about eating half the loaf in the first couple hours of its short life. (*Discuss with your doctor before embarking on this or any diet based entirely on baked goods.) Another note about the dark brown sugar – it masks the typical banana-y goodness you expect. This may or may not suit your predilections. And it also screams out for a handful of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chunks and possibly some pecan pieces. But alas, I baked mine plain. I’d be lying, though, if I told you I didn’t poke some chocolate pieces into the last few slices and heat them up before washing them down with a glass of cold almond milk. Oh, yes I did.

In my version, I used full fat traditional Greek yogurt, since it’s what I’m eating these days anyway. And, a little afeared of it being too sweet, I reduced the dark brown sugar to 3/4 cup. And it was still delectably sweet. Of course, I live by the rule that if the fruit flies aren’t swarming the bananas on the counter, they must not be sweet enough yet.

Bon Appetit’s Best Banana Bread

Photo credit: Bon Appetit