I know it is not apple season (in fact, it’s quite far from it), but I do love the fact that apples seem to be easy to find all year long. My children are huge fans of bananas, as I have mentioned before, but they have also recently decided apples are pretty amazing too. That means that we almost always have a full stock of the two fruits lately.
As a mom, I have discovered that toddlers go through very quick-changing favorite food phases, though. If they like a food today, there is absolutely no guarantee that they will like it tomorrow, the next day, or one week from now. One day my kiddos can go through three bananas in one meal, and then they won’t even try one single bite of them the next day. This results in random and unpredictable amounts of ripe fruits that I need to use up. Not to mention, I have learned that creativity in how the food is presented seems to help out a lot!
So, I found myself with a surplus of apples and one ripe banana one day recently. Many recipes I find online use two or more bananas, so this recipe is a great way to use just one… along with a decent amount of apples. The apples get diced up and folded into the banana bread batter – so there will be delicious bits of apple in every bite.
This apple banana bread also uses applesauce for more apple flavor, as well as plain Greek yogurt. I have been experimenting with yogurt in baked goods more and I really like how it adds moisture in a more healthy way. (If you are not a fan, there are substitutes you can make instead.)
This apple banana bread won’t disappoint – it is moist, flavorful, and full of healthy ingredients! It is also kid- and husband-approved! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Apple Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups plus 1 tbsp bread flour, divided
- ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar, divided
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 small/medium apples, diced (about 1½ to 2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and liberally spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, ¾ cup sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together. Set the bowl aside.
- In a large bowl, add the banana, applesauce, buttermilk, egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir well to make sure everything is well-combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients from the medium bowl into the large bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Set this bowl aside.
- In the now-empty medium bowl, combine the diced apples and 1 tbsp of flour. Stir well to coat the apples in the flour. This helps the apples not sink to the bottom while the bread is baking.
- Add the flour-coated apples to the other ingredients in the large bowl. Fold the apples into the mixture.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar over the top.
- Bake the bread for about one hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a plate to finish cooling before serving.
