Banana Bread

Tonight I made banana bread for my family. My Dad loves bananas, but is unfortunately allergic to them raw.

I made this for him to take to work, as a nutritious convenient breakfast. For only 180 calories per serving, it is definitely a healthy and delicious way to start the day!

I let the bananas ripen until they were covered in dark spots and so sweet that the smell of them mashed, wafted through the room.

First I added the sugar and butter to the blender. I then mixed this until creamy and incorporated the egg, banana, and vanilla.

The result? A beautiful yellow batter, that tasted as good as it looked. It was slightly chunky when I put it in the oven, but came out moist and delicious.

I used apple sauce instead of yogurt (Because we didn't have this on hand). I really think that's one ingredient that's interchangeable.

Yum!


Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light:

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Information
Calories:187 (21% from fat)
Fat:4.3g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.3g)
Protein:3.3g
Carbohydrate:34.4g
Fiber:1.1g
Cholesterol:40mg
Iron:1mg
Sodium:198mg
Calcium:20mg