Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread with Blueberry Butter

Banana bread and blueberry muffins are two of my favorite things.

So I combined them into one heavenly matchup.

The bread is ridiculously moist, soft, and bursting with blueberries in every bite. It’s like blueberry coffee cake with the comforting, homey qualities of banana bread.

I have 40 banana bread and banana recipes nor do I lack for blueberry muffin or blueberry coffee cake recipes. I don’t know why I haven’t paired blueberries and bananas until now. Better late than never.

It’s a one-bowl, no-mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes. I adapted my Banana Yogurt Muffins and Little Banana Bread Loaf recipe. I stuck with Greek yogurt, but changed up the sugars. Rather than using any granulated sugar, I used both light and dark brown sugar.

Light brown sugar typically has about 1 tablespoon per cup, whereas dark brown sugar has about 3 tablespoons. The extra molasses adds moisture and creates a richer flavored, amber-hued bread.

The recipe uses Greek yogurt to provide moisture and richness without adding as much fat as sour cream, although it can be substituted.

There’s no butter in the bread, and for the fat source I used coconut oil. I love baking with coconut oil and the bread doesn’t taste like coconut. Rather, it adds a nearly imperceptible undertone that’s sweeter and more fragrant than canola or vegetable oil, but those may be substituted if you’re concerned.

I got the coconut oil, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, flour, baking powder, and baking soda from Vitacost. It’s nice to be able to save money on my shelf-stable dry goods and pantry staples, and they show up on my doorstep which is great. One less grocery trip to make. Vitacost has a huge array of items from organic cinnamon to Organic King Arthur All-Puprose Flour, my favorite brand.

All my readers who use this link will get $10 off your first Vitacost order.

I used frozen blueberries since they’re readily available and inexpensive. Not being reliant on fresh berries is nice, but if you have them go for it. Keep the berries frozen when adding them to the batter because they run and bleed less if kept frozen. I haven’t tried with fresh, but baking time would be reduced.

The batter is extremely thick. I used 2 cups flour because I knew that the frozen berries would release a fair amount of juice while baking, so created an extra-thick batter to compensate. If you’re using fresh berries, start with 1 3/4 flour and use your judgment.

The bread is falling-apart soft and tender and even though the batter is very thick before baking, the bread turns out soft and fluffy with just the right amount of density.

The cinnamon and nutmeg gently perfume the bread, and when served with a smear of blueberry butter, it’s total comfort food worthy of your ripe bananas.

Best banana-anything I’ve ever made.

Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread with Blueberry Butter

The bread is ridiculously moist, soft, tender, and bursting with blueberries in every bite. It's like blueberry coffee cake with the comforting, homey qualities of banana bread. It's a one-bowl, no-mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes. Greek yogurt and coconut oil keep the bread extra moist, and the bread doesn't taste like coconut, but use another oil if you're concerned. Both light and dark brown sugars create a richly flavored, amber-hued bread. I used frozen blueberries, but fresh may be substituted, and baking time will be reduced. Tent the pans with foil in the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking if the tops are browning faster than the interiors are cooking through. When served with a smear of blueberry butter, it's total comfort.

Yield: two 8x4-inch loaves

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: about 40 to 45 minutes

Total Time: about 75 minutes, for cooling

Ingredients:

Bread
1 large egg
6 ounces plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (sour cream may be substituted))
1/2 cup liquid-state coconut oil (canola or vegetable oil may be substituted)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste
1 to 1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 small/medium)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
about 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries (keep them frozen and don't thaw; fresh may be substituted)
Blueberry Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), very well softened
about 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, make sure they're well-drained)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 8x4-inch loaf pans with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pans; set aside.
2. Bread - In a large bowl, add first 8 ingredients (through nutmeg), and whisk to combine.
3. Add the bananas and stir to incorporate.
4. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, optional salt, and fold with spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don't overmix. Batter is extremely thick.
5. Fold in blueberries with a spatula.
6. Turn batter out into prepared pans, smoothing the tops lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
7. Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes (if using fresh berries, baking time will likely be reduced), or until the top is domed, golden, and the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. I baked 42 minutes total, and during the last 5 minutes, tented the pans with a sheet of foil so tops wouldn't get too browned before centers cooked through. Baking times will vary based on moisture content of bananas, blueberries, climate, and oven variances. Bake until done; watch your bread, not the clock.
8. Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving. While bread cools, make the Blueberry Butter.
9. Blueberry Butter - In a small bowl, combine the butter, blueberries, and whip vigorously with a spoon to combine. Optionally, instead of blueberry butter, try Strawberry Butter, Honey Butter, Cinnamon-Sugar Butter, or Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Blueberry butter will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Adapted from Banana Yogurt Muffins and Little Banana Bread Loaf

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

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This post was brought to you by Vitacost. Recipe and all opinions expressed are my own.

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