Better-for-you Banana Bread

 

There is a grocery store near us that has bananas for 25 cents a pound on Thursdays. This is a steal compared to the 54 cents I have been paying recently! As smoothie enthusiasts, we consume a lot of bananas in a given week, so we are always looking for good deals!

Last week we went to the grocery store to get our banana deal. Both my husband and I planned to go through and get 5 pounds (the limit you can buy at once). But while we were carefully weighing our bananas to get the correct amount, we noticed some bananas that were reduced for quick sale - also 25 cents a pound, but with NO LIMIT! Since bananas freeze well, I just grabbed ALL of the clearanced bananas. (Our total purchase weighed in at about 34 pounds! I got some funny stares from fellow shoppers and the clerks, but I reassured them all that I didn't want the bananas to be thrown out, so I was rescuing them!)

It took me awhile to peel all the bananas, cut them in half, and put them in a bag for freezing. While I was doing this, I wondered... could I make a healthy banana bread with them? (By the name "banana bread", one would assume it is healthy, but usually such sweet breads are more of a dessert, high in sugar, oil, and fat.)


I searched for "healthy banana bread recipes" and I found this one, which was close to what I wanted... but I modified it to make it even MORE healthy! Here is my modified version:

Rachel's Better-for-you Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 Cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 Cup local, raw honey
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ C natural apple sauce
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ½ C nuts or raisins, optional
• sprinkle of cinnamon (we love cinnamon, so I used a generous sprinkle!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°; grease one loaf pan. 
2. Mash bananas and set aside.
3. Combine wet ingredients. Stir in baking soda. Add flour. Just stir until combined; don't overmix.
4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake on center oven rack for 50 mins – 60 mins (until inserted tooth pick comes out clean)
5. Let cool in pan for 5 mins; then remove from pan and cool bread on cooling rack.
6. Eat and enjoy!

The consistency of the bread is a little different than regular banana bread, but it is still very tasty!