Whole Grain Banana Bread

Whenever we buy bananas, somehow the last 2 or 3 gets too ripe before we could finish them.  So I have been looking for a recipe to use up these ripe bananas, and also for a healthy morning breakfast option.

So when I saw this recipe for wholegrain banana bread on http://www.texanerin.com/, I jumped on it.  For this recipe you need really ripe bananas, they have to have dark spots and be real mushy. Otherwise the bread is not going to be sweet enough. Since there is very little sugar, you want the sweetness for the bananas.

The bread smelled wonderful! It was so moist and dense and sweet! We had one slice every morning and it was divine! I packed a slice, and asked Hubby to pass it to a colleague of his. She is also a good friend of mine, and loves my creations, so supportive of all the craft work I do. So when she ate the bread, she couldn’t believe that it was homemade, and made from scratch.

So go ahead give this healthy wholegrain banana bread a try for your next week breakfast, and let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) whole wheat flour or whole spelt or whole wheat pastry  

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (100 grams) unrefined sugar, or normal brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup (85 grams) honey
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 medium bananas, mashed

Optional:

1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped walnuts
Cinnamon sugar (1 tablespoon unrefined sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

Directions:

• Grease a 10.5" x 3" (27cm x 8cm) pan and grease it well. Sometimes the bananas like to stick to the pan. I have a weird sized pan. If you use a different size, which I'm guessing you will, just adjust the time.
• This is an extremely moist bread, so if it comes out dry, you'll know it was in for too long. Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C.
• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.
• In another medium-sized bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add honey, canola oil, vanilla and mashed bananas.
• To prevent more dish washing, I put one banana at a time in the liquid mix, and mash it with the bottom of a glass. If they're ripe enough, really TRULY ripe enough, this will be easy. You can also puree the bananas. Add the nuts if using.
• Add the wet mix to the dry mix, but just until combined. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remember to adjust the time accordingly depending on pan size. The time between the toothpick coming out wet and coming out dry is very small.
• Remove to a rack to cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto the rack to cool completely.
• If you live in a humid environment, refrigerate this after a few days. It's incredibly moist and humidity isn't its friend.