Banana Bread

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to a play date with several of our close friends.  I generally try to bring something for the host and for the kids to enjoy, so tonight I made a quick batch of banana bread.  The kids always love it and so do the mamas. 

In my version of the classic bread, I replace half the oil with applesauce, reduce the sugar, and add in a little yogurt for a wonderful moist texture.  You could also substitute half of the flour with whole wheat flour. 

Banana Bread

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients:

½ C vegetable oil

½ C applesauce

1 ¼ C sugar

1 t salt

1 ½ t cinnamon

4 eggs

¼ C vanilla yogurt

2 t vanilla extract

3 C flour

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

7 ripe bananas mashed

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans or line with parchment paper.  In a mixing bowl, combine oil, applesauce, and sugar, mix well.  Add the salt, cinnamon, eggs, yogurt, vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and bananas, mix well.  Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Tip:  Store over ripe bananas in the freezer.  When you want to make banana bread, pop them out and let them thaw a bit on the counter.  In a pinch you can defrost them in the microwave.  Then simply pull the top off by the stem, and squeeze out the ripe banana.

I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Happy summer!