Don’t let the lack of yogurt stop you from making the best banana bread of your life!
While yogurt can add moisture and tang to the recipe, there are plenty of other substitutes that can achieve similar results.
Let’s find out the best banana bread yogurt substitutes.
Why Use Yogurt in Banana Bread?
There are several reasons why most people prefer to use yogurt in banana bread. Here’s why:
Increases Moisture
Yogurt helps to keep the bread moist and tender, resulting in a more satisfying flavor that’ll tickle your taste buds.
Moisture is crucial because bananas can sometimes dry out the bread during baking, which may lead to a less-than-perfect texture.
Adds Desirable Tangy Flavor
Depending on the type of yogurt, it can add some tanginess to the bread. The tanginess helps balance the sweetness of the bananas and other ingredients, creating a more complex flavor profile.
Two types of yogurt enhance the tanginess of banana bread: plain yogurt and Greek yogurt.
Plain yogurt, with its natural sourness, is the most common type of yogurt used in baking banana bread. It’s the better choice if you prefer a more subtle twist.
On the other hand, Greek yogurt is known for its tartness, giving you thicker and tangier bread.
Helps With Leavening
Yogurt contains acid, which can react with baking soda or baking powder in the recipe to create carbon dioxide.
This gas helps the bread to rise, creating a lighter and fluffier texture. Not just that, but the air pockets within the bread allow the batter to rise evenly along your baking pan.
Healthy Ingredient
In addition, yogurt is a healthy ingredient to include in banana bread. It’s a good source of protein and calcium, both of which promote healthy bones and muscles.
It also contains beneficial bacteria known as probiotics that can do wonders for your digestive health.
Reduced Food Waste
If you have leftover yogurt and don’t know what to do with it, making banana bread is a great way to use it.
What Are the Substitutes of Yogurt in Banana Bread?
There are plenty of substitutes that could give you the same heavenly taste as yogurt could offer when making banana bread.
1 – Sour Cream
Sour cream has a slightly thicker consistency than yogurt, which creates a denser and more velvety texture in the bread.
Moreover, sour cream has a more subtle tanginess due to its lower lactic acid content. This provides a smoother and more mellow flavor.
If you prefer a rich and slightly less tangy flavor, sour cream is a good substitute for yogurt in banana bread.
2 – Buttermilk
The tanginess in buttermilk comes from its acidity, which is mild compared to yogurt.
This mild tanginess in buttermilk enhances the flavor of the banana bread without overpowering it, creating a well-balanced and delicious result.
Additionally, buttermilk has a thinner consistency than yogurt, which makes the batter slightly more liquid. This would result in a lighter and airier texture.
3 – Cottage Cheese
You can enhance the banana flavor even further with cottage cheese. It also provides a good source of moisture, similar to yogurt and buttermilk.
Compared to yogurt, cottage cheese has a different texture, which is less on the creamy side.
That’s why it’s best to puree the cottage cheese before adding it to the batter to avoid any lumps or chunks in the bread.
4 – Mayonnaise
Believe it or not, mayonnaise can substitute for yogurt in a banana bread recipe.
Mayonnaise can provide moisture to the bread, similar to yogurt. But it may also add a slightly different flavor profile due to its ingredients.
Some mayonnaise brands contain vinegar, which has almost the same acidity as yogurt. Other types of mayonnaise may have lemon juice, giving it a completely different taste.
Remember that mayonnaise is a high-fat ingredient that contributes to a denser and richer texture in the bread. For this reason, use mayonnaise in moderation because it can make your bread heavy and greasy.
5 – Applesauce
You can use applesauce in banana bread instead of yogurt if you want to avoid dairy.
Applesauce has the same properties as the other substitutes above. The only difference is that it has a slightly sweeter flavor, which can complement the banana flavor in the bread.
It may not provide the same tanginess as yogurt, so the bread will have a slightly different flavor profile. Additionally, applesauce is a fruit puree, which could make the bread denser.
6 – Cream Cheese
If you’re looking for a richer flavor, you can use cream cheese to replace yogurt in banana bread.
Cream cheese makes the bread more dense and moist, which some people would prefer.
Its consistency is thicker than yogurt and has a lower moisture content than buttermilk, sour cream, and applesauce.
To prevent the bread from becoming too dense, use a smaller amount of cream cheese and add some milk to the batter to maintain the appropriate consistency.
7 – Milk
Milk works if you don’t have yogurt or other substitutes. Whole milk doesn’t add the same tanginess as yogurt or sour cream, but it can still elevate the moisture content of the bread.
Just add the same amount of milk as yogurt to your banana bread recipe.
You may want to consider adding a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk, as this will create a tangy flavor similar to yogurt.
The bread may be slightly denser when you use milk in the recipe, but it will still be as delicious and moist.
Final Thoughts
Making banana bread with yogurt can result in a satisfying taste that’s just right for people who don’t like their bread too sweet. But if you don’t have yogurt at home, you’re welcome to use several alternatives.
Substitutes for yogurt in banana bread include sour cream, buttermilk, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, applesauce, cream cheese, and milk.
Remember to use each substitute based on consistency, taste, and texture.
Now, you can give one of these replacements a shot and discover a new twist on this classic comfort food!
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.