Cottage Cheese Banana Bread
The ultimate banana bread with a boost of protein. Try this healthy and delicious cottage cheese banana bread made by a dietitian. You’ll also love my cottage cheese pancakes, blender banana muffins, and whole wheat focaccia.
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There’s a secret ingredient that makes banana bread extra moist and tasty.
It’s a dietitian favorite because it’s high in protein, super filling, and a well-known health food for weight loss. It’s cottage cheese! And it’s what makes this banana bread recipe extra satiating, nutritious, and yummy.
This recipe for cottage cheese banana bread doesn’t taste healthy. It’s higher in protein than most banana bread recipes, and a little lower in sugar, too. And it just so happens to be ridiculously easy to make.
Save this simple recipe for amazing banana bread (I promise, you won’t taste the cottage cheese) and thank me later!
Why you’ll love cottage cheese banana bread
Super simple: Novice cook or expert baker, you’ll be able to master this easy and straightforward recipe.
No weird chunks: We blend the cottage cheese in this recipe so the batter is smooth and the final product is drool-worthy.
Easy to find ingredients: No coconut oil or arrowroot flour here! I designed this healthy recipe with simple, everyday ingredients that are budget-friendly.
Healthy: Each slice of this cottage cheese banana bread has 6 grams of protein. It’s also lower in sugar and fat than many other recipes.
So freaking good: You’d never guess this banana bread was healthy — it’s sweet, moist, and heavenly.
Why use cottage cheese in banana bread?
As a Registered Dietitian, I love to use cottage cheese in baked goods and desserts because it’s a whole food source of protein.
In fact, it’s a great source of protein with over 24 grams per cup. When you add cottage cheese to baked goods, you’re boosting protein and making them more blood sugar balanced.
I also love adding cottage cheese to muffins, breads, and other baked goods because it adds a nice salty flavor. This doesn’t mean your banana bread tastes salty — it just means it has a nice balance of salty-to-sweet.
Cottage cheese also helps make this banana bread more moist and tender. That’s especially helpful in a healthy recipe like this, because it means we can use less butter, sugar, and/or oil. Win, win, win!
Ingredient notes
Here’s what you’ll need to make cottage cheese banana bread.
- Very ripe bananas: You’ll want to use three medium sized bananas that are overly ripe. This is important for flavor and sweetness, but also to add moisture to your cottage cheese banana bread. Your bananas should have considerable browning on their peel and be soft. If you’re struggling to mash them, they’re not ripe enough!
- Cottage cheese: I use 2% cottage cheese from Nordica, but any brand will work! You can use a higher fat percentage, but do not use non-fat. Cottage cheese will make your banana bread more tender and moist. And don’t worry, the cottage cheese gets blended so you won’t notice the texture.
- Large eggs: Brown or white, any large eggs will work!
- Unsalted butter: Butter adds delicious flavor and moisture to this recipe. If you’d prefer, you could substitute butter for olive oil, avocado oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil. I prefer the flavor of butter, but they’ll all work!
- Vanilla extract: You could also use vanilla paste if that’s what you have on hand.
- Granulated sugar: I used granulated sugar (aka white sugar) in this recipe because it’s easy, inexpensive, and lasts a long time in your cupboard. I kept the sugar in this recipe to 1/2 cup to make sure the banana bread was nutritionally balanced and not overly sweet.
- Whole wheat and white flour: I use a blend of whole wheat all purpose and white all purpose flour. That way, you get some extra fiber from the whole wheat flour with the satisfaction of white. You could use all whole wheat flour if you’d prefer, but the banana bread won’t be quite as soft and moist.
- Baking soda: Make sure you’re using baking soda and not baking powder.
- Salt: I always like to be a little heavy handed on the salt in baked goods for a good salty-and-sweet balance. I used Kosher salt for this recipe, but table salt would work too.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is added for flavor. Feel free to measure this with your heart!
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: You can leave these out, but I think banana bread tastes best with a little bit of chocolate. Semi-sweet chocolate will offer the best balance of sweetness and bitterness, but you’re welcome to use dark, milk, or even white chocolate, too. I recommend reserving 2-3 tablespoons of your chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of your banana bread before baking.
Other mix-ins
Instead of using chocolate chips, try these other mix-ins:
- Mini chocolate chips
- Chopped chocolate bar
- Chopped walnuts
- Chopped pecans
- Coconut flakes
How to make cottage cheese banana bread
Grease your loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside. Position your oven rack to the middle and pre-heat to 350 F.
Add bananas, cottage cheese, and eggs to your blender. Blend until completely smooth, about 15-20 seconds.
Transfer the blended banana mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add melted and cooled butter, vanilla extract, and sugar. Whisk until smooth.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips if desired, reserving 2-3 Tbsp.
Pour your batter into the prepared loaf pan. If needed, gently spread the batter to reach the edges of the pan with a spatula. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cottage cheese banana bread is golden brown and completely set. A toothpick placed into the center of the bread should come out mostly clean, with a few moist crumbs.
Allow banana bread to completely cool in the pan before removing and slicing.
Storage instructions
Wait for your cottage cheese banana bread to reach room temperature before slicing.
Slice and store in an airtight container or bag on the counter. It will stay good for up to four days. I recommend you microwave each slice for 10-20 seconds before eating, until just warmed through.
To freeze, slice your banana bread and place in a freezer-safe bag. If desired, you can separate slices with parchment paper to avoid sticking. Defrost in the fridge overnight before enjoying each slice. Your banana bread can be stored in the freezer for up to three months.
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How to serve cottage cheese banana bread
Cottage cheese banana bread makes a delicious snack or dessert.
You can serve it on its own, or top with a pat of butter. You can also drizzle each slice with peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter for a booth of healthy fats.
For a blood sugar balancing snack, pair a slice of cottage cheese banana bread with a source of protein. It would go well with Greek yogurt, nuts, or a protein shake.
Top tips
- Make sure your bananas are very ripe, if not overly ripe. If they’re not, your banana bread won’t be sweet or moist enough.
- Do not use fat-free cottage cheese.
- Blend your cottage cheese, eggs, and banana until there are no chunks. This may take up to 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of your blender as needed.
- Test the temperature of your oven before baking. If your oven runs too hot, your cottage cheese banana bread might burn.
- Use the spoon and level method to measure your flour. Measuring your flour improperly may lead to a dry and tough banana bread.
- Be careful not to overly mix your banana bread batter.
More healthy sweet treats
Kodiak Cakes muffins
Carrot cake baked oats
Protein berry crumble
Blender banana muffins
Protein banana pudding
Cottage cheese chocolate mousse
Chocolate peanut butter protein bars
Did you try this recipe?
Leave your rating and review below! And don’t forget to post a picture to Instagram, and tag me @real.life.nutritionist.
Cottage Cheese Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe medium bananas, peeled, make sure they're brown and spotty
- 3/4 cup cottage cheese, use 2% fat or higher
- 2 large eggs
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole wheat all purpose flour
- 1 cup white all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional), reserve 2-3 Tbsp for topping
Equipment
Instructions
- Grease your loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside. Position your oven rack to the middle and pre-heat to 350 F.
- Add bananas, cottage cheese, and eggs to your blender. Blend until completely smooth, about 15-20 seconds.
- Transfer the blended banana mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add melted and cooled butter, vanilla extract, and sugar. Whisk until smooth.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips if desired, reserving 2-3 Tbsp.
- Pour your batter into the prepared loaf pan. If needed, gently spread the batter to reach the edges of the pan with a spatula. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cottage cheese banana bread is golden brown and completely set. A toothpick placed into the center of the bread should come out mostly clean, with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow banana bread to completely cool in the pan before removing and slicing.
What size loaf pan
Standard size! 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches 🙂
This is delicious!!! I used olive oil instead of butter, and it is still very tasty!
Obsessed with this recipe! The banana bread came out super moist and we couldn’t tell at all that there was cottage cheese in it. My new go-to recipe!!
How many serves should the cake be sliced into for the nutritional info provided? Thankyou
10 slices! 🙂
Flavor was fantastic! Texture was a bit dense and gummy. It rose beautifully in the oven and came out nice and rounded on top. But as soon as it started cooling, it completed deflated. Flavor was great though, not sure where I went wrong as far as texture. Maybe over mixed?
Oh no I’m so sorry! Is it possible you needed a bit more baking time? It’s a big loaf so it’s possible the center wasn’t fully cooked and collapsed when cooking.
Can you sub almond flour for whole wheat
I haven’t tested this swap so I am not sure. Let me know if you try!
Is the nutrition information for the whole loaf or for a slice? If so how many servings are there?