…of the lower fat variety no less.
I’m not crazy about bananas. But they are one of only a handful of fruits I can eat without the inside of my mouth inflaming and itching like a son-of-a-mother and my lips getting puffy. (Fun times, believe you me.)
So I eat them.
Additionally, I’m really not crazy about bananas mixed with other things. Unless we’re talking a strawberry-banana smoothie—I’m all for those. But anything else mixed with banana flavor? I have a tendency to gag. Even covered in chocolate.
I know.
I’m not normal.
I think it all stems from a time when I was a kid and I was on some sort of antibiotic for an extended period of time (I have no recollection of what the ailment actually was but I remember the meds). The medication was a powder that you mixed with water to drink. It came in tiny, individual dose, plastic bottles and it tasted very strongly of banana. Medicinal banana. I still remember the taste. It’s not a pleasant memory.
I’m pretty sure it was that, that tainted bananas for me for all time.
But I still eat them. Because I’m not allergic to them. And one fruit is better than no fruit. So I’ll chalk that one up in the victory column.
I came across this recipe for banana bread of the lower fat variety. Which is difficult to come by as far as sweet breads go. So I tried it. And it makes a good breakfast.
Low[er] Fat Banana Bread
4 (very ripe) bananas
1 & 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp applesauce (or an additional 2 Tbsp butter if you don’t have applesauce)Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1.) Peel bananas and mash them in a large mixing bowl. (Use a fork or a hand mixer to mash.)
2.) Add remaining ingredients and mix well. (I like using an electric mixer to make sure it’s all properly combined.)
3.) Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. (Or an 8×8 Pyrex dish.)
4.) Bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour. Individual ovens vary, test with a toothpick in the center if you’re not sure.
Found here.
As with most sweet breads, it’s much better the next day after it’s had a chance to sit.
I like to sprinkle a cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top before baking to give it a little extra something.
I don’t have a loaf pan as I’m still building my kitchen over here. I improvised and tried my 8×8 Pyrex (oh beautiful Pyrex) dish and it’s the perfect size.
The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of apple sauce, but we so rarely have applesauce in the house, that I took the advice of a comment on the original post to substitute an additional 2 tablespoons of butter. It adds to the fat and all, but it’s still considerably less than a lot of other breads. Someday maybe I’ll remember to put applesauce on the grocery list and try the recipe that way.
For not being crazy about bananas (mixed with other things no less), I like this bread. It makes a nice, quick breakfast option and it’s easy to throw together then bake while you do something else for an hour. Like kill time on the intarwebz clean your kitchen.
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