Banana (and everything else) Bread

Mark and I try to maintain healthy eating habits. Because of our work schedules, we subscribe to emeals, an online weekly meal planner. Every Thursday we receive a list of 7 clean eating dinners. The ingredients are natural and simple and the portion sizes are moderate. We don’t have much “junk food” in our house and we rarely have an after dinner treat except when dining out or having a dinner party with friends. On occasion I do stumble upon a new recipe that I want to try, or have a craving for something specific (usually salty, fried, sweet or a combination of). 

I like experimenting with adaptations of banana bread because the possibilities are endless. It is an opportunity for me to be creative and to use up a few things in the kitchen. For this version I added chocolate chips, peanut butter, and walnuts to the ingredients.  My inspiration for this derived from the skinny chocolate-caramel banana bread recipe by Recipe Girl (there’s no caramel in my banana bread but whatever).

We are prepared to manage my random cravings, so our cabinets are stocked with the baking essentials-flour, sugar, baking soda, vanilla extract, etc. We buy bananas when shopping but by the end of the week, we were out (only a small obstacle). On Friday after work, Mark and I picked up a few very ripe bananas. Unfortunately I got distracted that evening and all day on Saturday and did not make the banana bread until Sunday afternoon.  No worries though; the blacker the banana, the sweeter the banana bread.

2 cups stone ground whole wheat flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

3 medium bananas mashed

½ cup egg whites (or 2 large eggs)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

½ cup creamy peanut butter

Place the rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Toast the walnuts on an ungreased baking pan for 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Because I don’t weigh my dry ingredients, I use a dry measuring cup to take a big scope of the ingredient and then I use a butter knife to scrap off the excess. Don’t pack it in. 

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the bananas, peanut butter, sugars, applesauce, sour cream, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract.

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and fold together with a rubber spatula until combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (reserve a few chocolate chips and walnuts to sprinkle on top).

Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips and walnuts on top. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick or sharp knife inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs or clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Place a piece of foil loosely on top of the loaf if to browns too quickly.

Cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes and then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you can believe it, Mark and I waited until that evening to indulge ourselves in the banana bread. After I finished baking, we made anti-Super Bowl chorizo and shrimp quesadillas with smoky guacamole. The serving size was for four and we failed to reduce the recipe in half, so we were full! We saved the banana bread for a no dinner dessert.

Mark and I loved the banana bread! It was dense like a bread should be, and moist but not too cake like. We could taste the banana, chocolate and walnuts in each bite...but not the peanut butter. Where'd it go? We don't know. Next time I will increase the peanut butter to 1 cup. This recipe was easy fun and combined a few ingredients that we both love.

-Michelle