Name: Banana Bread (Reduced Sugar)
Total time: 3 h
Ingredients: 7 tablespoons (2½ ounces/71 grams) Sucanat; 2 cups (10 ounces/283 grams) all-purpose flour; 3/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 large very ripe bananas , peeled and mashed; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled; 2 large eggs; 1/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 cup walnuts , toasted and chopped (optional)

Why This Recipe Works

Since we were decreasing the amount of sugar, we wanted to take advantage of the abundance of natural sugars found in overripe bananas to provide sweetness as well as deep banana flavor. To create great flavor without negatively affecting texture, we needed to figure out how many bananas we could include in our recipe. Three turned out to be the magic number; any more and the bread baked up gummy and wet, but with fewer the banana flavor was lost. We replaced the granulated sugar found in many recipes with Sucanat, since its pleasant molasses flavor married well with the other flavors in the bread. A teaspoon of vanilla rounded out the baked bananas' subtle boozy, rum-like flavor. Butter gave our bread a nutty richness while toasted walnuts added a nice textural contrast that tasters liked.

Before You Begin

Learn more about Sucanat in this article. Be sure to use very ripe, heavily speckled (or even black) bananas in this recipe. The test kitchen's preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness 5 minutes earlier than advised in the recipe. You can skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1; however, the bread will have a speckled appearance.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan. Working in 2 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.

Whisk ground Sucanat, flour, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla until combined. Gently fold banana mixture into flour mixture with rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in walnuts, if using. (Batter will look thick and chunky.)

Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 55 to 65 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool for at least 1½ hours before serving.