Go Bananas for a Healthier Banana Bread!

I’m always looking for healthy recipe ideas. When I saw a little tip from America's Test Kitchen yesterday about how to hasten the ripening of bananas to make them perfect for banana bread, I decided healthy banana bread would be my mission! Even though bananas are naturally super sweet, most recipes call for 2-3 bananas per loaf plus a tonnnnn of added sugar.

The recipe I made contains 4 super sweet bananas (thanks to the Test Kitchen tip of microwaving the bananas to release their "syrup"), white whole wheat flour, and it has about 1/3 of the added sugar of a traditional banana bread. It still tastes sweet and is very moist! This loaf is perfect for breakfast with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and a cup of coffee, for a quick snack, or as a healthy dessert!

Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

4 ripe bananas, the riper the better!

1 large or jumbo egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp brown sugar (light or dark will work)

2 tbsp white sugar (or try agave)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour

2 tbsp melted unsalted butter

add-ins can include: walnuts, pecans, dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray cooking spray and/or line parchment paper in a 9x5 loaf pan.

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl with a fork. Add in the egg, vanilla, both sugars, and cinnamon.

In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Add this into the wet mixture. Towards the end of mixing, add in the butter and any add-ins. Try not to over mix!!!

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. The bread is fully cooked when a toothpick or butter knife comes out of the center clean!