Banana Bread

As part of my effort to eat in a more healthy way, I've been trying to get more fruit in my diet. So, some weeks I'll buy a bunch of bananas and have a banana as part of my breakfast each day.  For some reason though, bananas ripen in my kitchen at an alarming rate (the AC is set to 72/73 so I am not sure why).  Sometimes by the end of the week, they inevitably get brown and nasty and not fit for consumption in their current form.  Enter...banana bread!  Banana bread is at its most awesome when it has really ripe bananas in it.  In fact, if you try to use unriped bananas it's bad news all around (trust me, I tried making muffins once with decidedly unripe bananas.  Not a good idea).

So without further delay, here is my recipe for banana bread, slightly adapted from this recipe from Cooking Light.  I adapted it to be even healthier than the Cooking Light people and I think it still tastes great.  (And my friend Joe agrees since he always eats it immediately when I make a batch!)

Ingredients 

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1 cup whole wheat flour (the last time I made it, I used 1/2 cup all purpose and 1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat and it tasted great.  So feel free to vary this.  I would hesitate to go all whole wheat in case it turns out too chewy though).

3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup sugar 

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (if you buy the little cups, they are 4 oz each and therefore 1/2 cup)

2 large eggs or the equivalent in Egg Beaters

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas) 

1/3 cup plain non or low-fat Greek yogurt (like Fage)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Cooking spray

Place sugar, canola oil, and applesauce in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add the salt and baking soda and mix well.  Add flour a little bit at a time; beat at low speed just until moist. 

Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Or evenly distribute into a pan that makes several miniature loaves (I have one, and it's great for meatloaf too!).

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

My mini loaf pan.  This is after I removed some loaves. 

Delicious mini loaf.  Good at breakfast or for a snack!