Cottage Cheese Banana Bread
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My cottage cheese banana bread is super moist and fluffy with a gorgeous, tender crumb. Made without oil or butter, this recipe is perfect for a wholesome dessert or snack.
I love a good, wholesome banana bread, and this one has to be my new favorite, thanks to a secret ingredient- cottage cheese.
Yes, I know the idea of using cottage cheese in a sweet bread sounds odd, but it makes the banana bread extra moist while adding extra protein and reducing the fat. It doesn’t taste healthy, but it’s incredibly easy to make.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Quick and easy. Everything is made in one bowl, and the ingredients are pantry staples.
- It’s healthier. No oil, butter, or excessive sugar is needed. It’s higher in protein and lower in fat.
- No cottage cheese flavor. The cottage cheese adds moisture and richness to the bread without any flavor. Trust me, I would run the other way if I could taste it.
- Easy to customize. I like to keep the banana bread plain, but you can add chocolate chips, nuts, or any mix-ins you like.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“This cottage cheese banana bread is sensational. It’s so moist and tender.” – Carol
Key Ingredients
- Bananas. I prefer using spotty, over-ripe bananas, as the sweetness of the banana bread depends on them.
- Cottage cheese. I tested this banana bread with both full-fat and regular non-fat cottage cheese, and the former yields a more tender loaf; however, the difference is negligible. What I do recommend is blending the cottage cheese (also known as whipped cottage cheese) to mix into the dough seamlessly.
- Unsweetened applesauce OR oil. To make this bread low in fat, use applesauce. If you prefer a more flavorful, richer loaf, use your favorite neutral-flavored oil.
- Sugar (white or brown). Adds extra sweetness to the bread. Adjust the sweetness to your taste preferences. I prefer a less-sweet bread, so I use around 1/3 cup, but you can go up to a full cup.
- Eggs. Room temperature, please.
- All-purpose flour. Sifted to ensure there are no clumps.
- Baking powder. To ensure that the bread rises sufficiently.
- Salt. Just a pinch to balance out all the other ingredients.
How to make cottage cheese banana bread
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1- Mix the wet. Mix the bananas, cottage cheese, unsweetened applesauce, brown sugar, and eggs.
Step 2- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Step 3- Assemble. Transfer the batter into a lined pan.
Step 4- Bake the bread for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Do not overmix. This is the #1 reason why a banana bread isn’t moist and soft in the middle. When you overmix a quick bread batter, gluten develops, which yields a gummy loaf. You want to mix everything until everything is ‘just’ combined.
- Don’t overbake. In testing, I found that the banana bread will continue to bake as it cools in the pan, so remove it from the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Prevent browning early. Depending on your oven’s make and model, you may notice the tops of the banana bread browning early, around the 20-25 minute mark. If this happens to you, I recommend covering the pan with tinfoil so it doesn’t overbrown.
- Make it gluten-free. I had several readers asking if this bread can be made gluten-free. I had success when I tested this with Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour.
Frequently asked questions
I tested this banana bread with whole-wheat flour and found it too dense. I also tested it with almond flour, which worked, but wasn’t as moist and had a lighter crumb (top).
Technically, no, but I find the bread bakes so much better if it’s blended or whipped first.
More desserts with cottage cheese
- Cottage cheese muffins
- Cottage cheese brownies
- Cottage cheese cookies
- Cottage cheese cheesecake
- More cottage cheese recipes
- Or if you love healthy banana bread recipes, try my protein banana bread, banana bread with yogurt, and low-calorie banana bread next.
Cottage Cheese Banana Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 3 large bananas overripe
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese * See notes
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or neutral flavored oil
- 1/2 cup sugar ** See notes
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 9 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, add the mashed bananas, cottage cheese, applesauce, sugar, and egg and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until combined.
- Transfer the batter into the lined pan.
- Bake the banana bread for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. If you notice the tops of the banana bread browning too quickly, cover with tin foil.
- Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Cottage cheese: Full-fat cottage cheese is best, but low-fat and non-fat are fine. I recommend blending the cottage cheese first (whipped cottage cheese).
- Sugar: I typically use 1/3 cup of brown sugar as I prefer my banana bread to be less sweet. 1/2 cup is ample, but if you prefer super-sweet bread, you can go up to 1 full cup.
- Leftovers: Keep at room temperature (covered) for 3 days or in the fridge for 5 days. You can also freeze it for 6 months.
Nutrition
If you tried this Cottage Cheese Banana Bread Recipe or any other recipe on The Big Man’s World, please rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below. It really helps others thinking of making the recipe.
My husband doesn’t like banana bread BUT loved this one…very moist and delicious. thank you 🙏
You are so welcome, Christina! I’m so glad to hear he enjoyed it 🙂 Thanks for the lovely rating and review.
Can this be made into muffins, if so how long to cook them.
Thanks
Hi Anna Marie! I don’t see why not- I’d bake them for about 17 minutes and see how they are- if they have risen and feel firm on top, they are done. You can also do the skewer/toothpick test. Ket me know how you go!
This recipe is amazing. Moist and flavorful.
Love to hear that, Carmie. It’s such an easy way to add cottage cheese to a baked good with no cottage cheese flavor 🙂
The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 is it didn’t brown well. No big deal. I just popped it under the broiler for about 4 minutes.
It tastes delicious and it’s moist.
I did change it a little. I only had medium eggs so I used 3 of them.
I added a splash of Mexican vanilla and folded in about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts.
Hi Chelle- no worries, thanks for the honest review 🙂 Thanks for the lovely feedback for it. I love that you added Mexican vanilla- it’s such an underrated extract and adds the best vanilla flavor. If you can find Saigon cinnamon, switch to that for all your cinnamon needs- it’s so good!
Can I add protein powder to increase total protein?
Hi OkieMom- I haven’t tried for this recipe myself, but I’m experienced with baking with protein powder, so my first recommendation would be to swap out half a cup of protein powder for the flour (so 1 1/4 cups flour plus half cup of protein powder). I do recommend using either brown rice or casein, as whey protein could dry it out. Let me know how you go!
Recipe looks great!ithank you
Let us know how you go!
Love your recipes.
Thanks, Diane!
Armen,
Can I use maple syrup or coconut sugar as the sweetener for this banana bread? I’d like to forgo the white sugar.
I would use coconut sugar, as it is still granulated 🙂
I’m so confused! I followed the recipe exactly and it came out very light on color and the exterior was kind of tough? Not like any other banana bread I’ve ever made. Thoughts?
Hi Jenny- I’m sorry to hear that. I’m wondering if you changed up any of the ingredients? This is quite a popular banana bread recipe and I’ve never had any results like you mentioned, so I’d like to troubleshoot for you! 🙂
Really tasty and not near as sweet and heavy as some I’ve made in the past. I did add a teaspoon of baking soda as well as baking powder and a teaspoon of vanilla and about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Alexandra. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I’ve made a note on the sweetness, I didn’t want it to be overpowering like other banana breads 🙂
This cottage cheese banana bread is sensational. It’s so moist and tender.
Thanks, Carol. I appreciate you leaving a lovely review and rating 🙂
I love this cottage cheese banana bread. I used allulose instead of sugar.
Allulose is my go-to swap for sugar- glad it worked well for you!
Hello could you make this with coconut or almond flour please
Not coconut flour, but almond flour should be okay- it’s a 1:1 substitute for all-purpose flour.
Would it work with almond
Flour?
I haven’t tried it with almond flour, but for swapping with all-purpose flour, it’s typically a 1 :1 cup, so should be fine. It won’t rise as much and won’t have as tender as a crumb 🙂
This was so easy! I added a little vanilla for some extra flavor too.
Thank you, Bernie. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I haven’t made it yet I think it
will be just what I need. Health.
5th
Looks wonderful! Can I skip the eggs? Any substitute?
I haven’t tried, but you could experiment with an egg substitute.
I just tried this cottage cheese banana bread and it was sensational- I did use the full cup of sugar but I will cut back next time, as it was quite sweet! Lovely!
Yes, I do find the full cup to be a little much. Try 1/2 cup of even 2/3 cup.
How to make this eggless?
I haven’t tried, but you could experiment with an egg substitute.
Do you know the sweetener measurement if you use that instead of sugar?
Yes, allulose will be the same amount.