Start by preheating your oven to 350°F (175°C). This ensures that the bread bakes evenly and turns golden brown on top.

Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with a little butter or non-stick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal once the bread is baked.

In a medium-sized bowl, mash your ripe bananas with a fork or potato masher until they’re smooth with just a few small chunks left. The riper the bananas, the easier they’ll mash, and the sweeter the bread will be.

Add the cottage cheese, eggs, honey, and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas. Use a whisk or fork to blend everything together until smooth. If you prefer a silkier texture, feel free to blend the cottage cheese first.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, whisking them together until well blended. Make sure everything is evenly mixed to avoid any lumps of flour or baking soda in your bread.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring gently as you go. Be careful not to overmix—just fold until combined. This ensures your bread stays light and tender.

If you’re adding walnuts, chocolate chips, or seeds, fold them into the batter now. These additions bring a lovely texture and extra flavor.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, spreading it out evenly with a spatula. Smooth the top for a neat finish.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 55–65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Because ovens can vary, begin checking for doneness around the 50-minute mark to avoid overbaking. If the top is getting too dark, you can loosely cover it with foil to prevent burning.

After baking, take the bread out of the oven and let it rest in the pan for around 10 minutes. Next, move it to a wire rack to cool fully before slicing. This allows it to set properly, ensuring cleaner, neater slices.