I love banana bread! I like to use bananas that are very ripe with lots of brown splotches; they give a sweeter flavor. However, the bananas in my house are usually eaten before this stage. Not the case this week! I noticed the bananas in the fruit bowl were getting awfully brown, so, hey, it was time to make banana bread!

I knew I had a relatively healthy banana bread recipe; I wrote "yummy!" at the top of it. I decided, however, to experiment with this loaf and try to make it even healthier. Here is my healthier banana bread recipe:

• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 4 egg whites, beaten
• 1 ½ cup bananas, mashed
• 2 cups oat flour (you can use regular, white flour if you'd prefer)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Mix sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Add bananas. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir dry ingredients into banana mixture. Pour in bread loaf pan (9×5×3 inches) or muffin tin.

Bake 45 minutes for loaf. 20-25 minutes for muffins.

Notes: I added a mixture of chopped walnuts, dry oats, and cinnamon to the top of the loaf right before putting it in the oven. You may have to adjust your oven's temperature and/or cooking time depending on how powerful the oven is. Insert a knife in the middle of the loaf. If the knife looks pretty clean when you pull it out, the bread is done.

I turned down my oven since it's got some power to it. I didn't want the sides of the bread to burn and the middle to be gooey. I also baked the bread for 50 minutes.

The result: Better than I expected! The bread was moist and had a sweet flavor from the bananas, but not overly so. The walnuts added a toasty, nutty flavor as well. I hardly noticed the oat flour.

I enjoyed a warm slice as a treat instead of cookies or something far more sugary that I tend to eat. The bread was satisfying and calmed my sweet tooth, so I'd say this recipe is a winner.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think. And feel free to experiment with it. I'd love to know what changes you make and your results.

Originally posted 2008-04-10 10:00:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Diet Friendly Fats A fat that can help you lose weight - that sounds like a contradiction to me! After all, fats add extra calories to my diet - not good. Yet, fat makes food taste delicious - very good! Another contradiction! Well, apparently diet friendly fats do exist (unfortunately not in the......
• Beating the Sugar Addiction - Steps 4-7 The steps I summarize here are discussed in more detail in Potatoes, Not Prozac.  If you feel you have a strong attachment to sugar that is keeping you from living freely and healthy, you may want to give this book a read. Click on the following links if you wish to......
• This Week's Progress Report I had an "interesting" week, as far as eating and exercising go.  I experienced the winter blahs, was unmotivated to exercise, and had a few battles with the sugar monster.  The results:  I slept in more than getting up to exercise this past week.  I ate mini Twix and Milky Way......
• Healthy Meals on the Go I have absolutely no time for a sit down dinner tonight, let alone prepare one! My schedule has me going from work to singing lessons and then off to a concert. I still need to eat dinner, though. :) We all have hectic schedules sometimes.  But instead of making a run to the fast......
• Stuffed Peppers Now on to the recipe (it doesn't involve cupcakes)... I concocted this version of the stuffed pepper while playing in the kitchen one day and was pleased with the results. I used brown rice for a healthier twist and chose lean, ground sirloin. Tofu would work as a replacement for the meat,......

Related Websites

• Banana Muffins This is a great low fat recipe for muffins that we've been making for years. We've read on frugal blogging sites never to throw away bananas that are getting too ripe, keep an eye on them and if a number will be ready faster than they'll get eaten, put them......
• Save Time, Money and Space in Over 80 Ways If you're looking for handy gadgets, tools and various items that can save you time, money or space (or all three!) this list of more than 80 top products is just what you need. Everyone's got saving money on their minds these days. Some of us are always looking to......
• Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe Lemon Meringue Pie Ingredients 1 baked pie shell 1 1/4 cup sugar 6 tablespoons corn starch 2 cups water 1/3 cup lemon juice 3 eggs (separated) 3 tablespoons butter 1 1/2 lemon extract 2 teaspoons vinegar Directions for Lemon Meringue Pie Mix sugar and corn starch together in top of......
• Shirley J Recipe: Potato's Au Gratin Positively the most versatile, economical item in the kitchen, our add water mix blends perfectly with no lumps and in only minutes will give you a perfect silky, seasoned sauce for use in countless soups, sauces, casseroles and gravies. Anyone who can stir and boil water can make a perfect...
• Making Bread From Scratch With Organic Ingredients - An Easy Recipe. After I mentioned somewhere that we were making our own bread at home instead of buying it at the store, a reader emailed me and asked for the recipe we were using. So I figured that if one person was interested, maybe a few more might be as well! We......

Online Stores

• Guides, Recipes, Games Barware Collectibles

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.


Categories:

Cooking/Recipes

Tags:

banana bread, healthy banana bread recipe, low fat banana bread