Banana Bread: A Healthy and Delicious Treat

This Banana Bread is made with cottage cheese instead of oil and dates instead of sugar. Despite what you might think It is irresistibly soft, moist, and full of banana flavor. In fact, the banana flavor is popping!!! It's lower in sugar and higher in protein compared to a traditional banana bread recipe! Saving those calories one banana bread loaf at a time!

How to make this high protein banana bread

Any type of bread seems like it might take tons of time and be difficult to make, but not this banana bread. We used a small food processor to make this. The dates were chopped up first, and then we added the cottage cheese, eggs, and vanilla.

The star of the dish is the banana. Make sure to use ripe bananas. Chop the ripe bananas with a fork in a meduim sized bowl

Coarsely chop the dates in a food processor. Add ⅓ cup of water to the dates and blend. This will make a paste with the dates and water.

After the dates and water are blended, add the cottage cheese, eggs, and vanilla. Blend this until smooth. Note that the dates will have some small chunks, and that's ok.

Add the cottage cheese/date mixture to the mashed bananas. Stir together.

Stir in the dry ingredients. Don't use a whisk. I discovered the hard way that the whisk does not work well! It made kind of a mess - Haha. Use a spoon and mix together.

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and then pour in the batter. Place it in a preheated 350-degree oven and bake for 55 minutes. Use a toothpick to see if the bread is done. The best way to tell if it's ready is to insert a toothpick in the middle of the loaf. If any of the dough sticks to the toothpick, it's not finished. If the bread is not done yet, tent the bread with foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, then check again. It should be done by then, but if not, keep baking covered with foil to prevent the top from getting too dark.

Tip for baking the banana bread the next day

If you are not ready to bake the banana bread, it can be placed in the refrigerator overnight. Just make sure to cover the banana bread with some Saran Wrap to keep it fresh. Bring the banana bread to room temperature before placing it in the oven to bake.

Enjoy! We like to have ours with cream cheese. Here's a little tip: take the cream cheese out of the fridge ahead of time so it can warm up to room temperature. This small step makes the cream cheese much easier to spread on the bread, making this bread even more delicious. And its really good with bacon. . .but isn't everything!!!

How to tell if Bananas are ripe:

I am not a huge banana lover but there are times where I really want a banana. Sometimes I get muscle spasms and have found that eating a banana helps them go away. I know I could take a potassium vitamin but we always try to solve issues without using medication first. Anyway, I do love banana bread and banana milkshakes. For making banana bread its best to have a really ripe banana you know when the peeling is mostly brown/black. I know it seems like the banana would be spoiled but that isn't the case.

According to Google AI search, this is how to tell the different stages of banana readiness for eating or use. Bananas are ripe when they turn bright yellow, often with brown sugar spots, and feel slightly soft to the touch. They are ideal for eating when mostly yellow, while heavily speckled or fully brown, soft bananas are best for baking. Green, firm bananas are underripe, while pale yellow ones with green tips are just beginning to ripen.

Dates vs Sugar

Using dates is such a delightful way to replace sugar! They add a wonderful flavor and help save calories, too. I really enjoy this because I don't like my bread to be overly sweet, so this was a great addition. Typically, banana bread calls for ¾ to 1 cup of sugar, which is about 580 to 750 calories. By swapping out that cup of sugar for 10 to 12 dates, you're only adding around 25 calories per date. That means you can save approximately 500 calories, which is definitely a big win in my book!

Bonus dates have some protein in them. Not a lot, but hey, every little bit helps. it's only about 3.6 grams of protein but sugar doesn't have any protein!

Tips for making this cottage cheese Banana Bread

• Puree the Dates in ¼ cup of water. It helps chop up the dates and makes it close to a paste.
• Blend the cottage cheese - The cottage cheese will melt, but there can be small chunks of cottage cheese so
• Make sure to measure the flour. . .don't guess, you could end up with too much and it won't be as moist. The best way to measure the flour is to put the flour in a measuring cup and then level it off using the side of a table knife.
• If the bread starts to brown too much on top, cover it loosely with foil until it is done in the middle.
• The bread can be ahead of time. Just cover the bread dough with Saran Wrap and place it in the fridge. It should be cooked within a day.

Below is my grandma's banana bread recipe that we used as our base to make this cottage cheese banana bread. We did leave out the nuts because one of us is allergic to tree nuts.

Banana Nut Bread

• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 heaping Tablespoon Oil (Not sure how to have heaping Oil but...)
• ¼ t salt
• ½ Cup chopped walnuts
• 3 mashed bananas
• 2 Cusp flour
• 1 teaspoon soda (I believe this baking soda!!!)
• Beat eggs, add sugar, oil salt and walnuts. Add mashed banans mix well. Mis in flout and soda. Pour in greased bread tin.
• Bake in 325 degree oven for one hour

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