classic bones, one upgrade: greek yogurt instead of extra butter. stays wet for 3 days.
ingredients (1 loaf, 12 slices)
- 3 very ripe bananas (~330 g peeled), the uglier the better
- 100 g butter
- 150 g greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 90 g brown sugar
- 200 g flour
- 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla
- 70 g dark chocolate 70%, chopped (50 g if you add nuts)
- 60 g walnuts or pecans, chopped rough (optional)
- flaky salt + 1 extra banana halved lengthwise, for the top
instructions
- oven 175 °C. line a loaf tin. if using nuts, toast them 6-8 min at 175 °C first, then chop rough.
- melt butter in a light pan, keep going past melted. foams, then smells nutty, then brown specks appear. off heat immediately. cool 5 min.
- mash bananas rough (lumps = good). whisk in butter, yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla.
- dry stuff on top, fold until just combined. stop early. overmixing is the only way to ruin this.
- fold in ¾ of the chocolate and ¾ of the nuts. batter into tin, rest of chocolate and nuts on top, lay the halved banana cut-side up, press lightly.
- bake 50-60 min. skewer clean-ish. tent with foil at 40 min if it’s browning fast.
- flaky salt while hot. cool 20 min before slicing or it falls apart.
notes
- bananas not ripe? 20 min at 175 °C in the peel, skin goes black, sugars show up.
- toasting the nuts matters. raw walnuts taste like cardboard in a wet crumb.
- pecans are ~the same numbers, sweeter and softer. walnuts give more bitter contrast against the banana.
- chocolate + banana on top is already a lot going on, so nuts are optional, but they belong. drop chocolate to 50 g so it doesn’t get crowded.
- swap 50 g flour for oat flour, nuttier, denser.
- don’t skip the salt on top. that’s the whole “fancy” part.
- freezes sliced, toaster brings it back.
macros
per slice (1/12):
| classic | + nuts | protein version | |
|---|---|---|---|
| kcal | 230 | 263 | 180 |
| protein | 5 g | 6 g | 7 g |
| carbs | 29 g | 30 g | 24 g |
| fat | 10 g | 13 g | 6 g |
| fiber | ~2 g | ~3 g | ~2 g |
whole loaf, classic: ~2750 kcal / 57 P / 353 C / 125 F
nuts delta (60 g walnuts, per slice): +33 kcal, +0.8 P, +0.7 C, +3.3 F
protein version swaps: butter 100→50 g, sugar 90→60 g, yogurt 150→200 g (0%), flour 200→150 g + 40 g vanilla whey, chocolate 70→50 g. slightly drier crumb, still good.
estimates from standard values, will shift with your banana size and chocolate brand.