Monday, February 15, 2010

BANANA BREAD SUCCESS!!!

As promised, I'm sharing my recipe for banana bread. It's really one of the best I've personally found. And the great part is it's a little on the low-cal side. Annnddd there's even substitutions listed to make it even more low-cal!


I have a few other recipes I've used, but they're either heavy with the oil or sour cream or some other fat/calorie laden ingredient. This recipe is very good, moist and comes out perfect every time.


Can you tell by the soiled, crumpled page that I've referred to this recipe a lot!

The book the recipe is from is "Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen" by Kathleen Daelemans. It's a great book with recipes for healthy weight loss. The author/chef, Kathleen, was once over 200 pounds. The introduction of the book tells her story of healthy weight loss in the food industry. She also used to be a Food Network star about 9 or 10 years ago.


It's blasphemous to throw out over ripe bananas in my house!



Wet ingredients combined.


Dry ingredients "sifted".


Combining the two. Almost there!


Mixing thoroughly, but don't over mix.


Ready for the pan!

So many of her recipes are easy to prepare, tasty and healthy. She also adds a little story to each recipe which really personalizes the book and recipes. It's neat!


I like using my 4-in-1 stoneware baking pan from Pampered Chef just in case there's that slim chance it doesn't all get eaten, I can freeze a small loaf or two for a quick treat at another time.

I really think I should start referring back to her book a lot more than I have recently. I'm still struggling with some very unwanted poundage since the holidays and our girl's weekend away. It's feeling like a "battle" may be brewing!


Mmmmm . . . fresh from the oven! Smells so yummy.

Hope you try this recipe. I really don't think you'll be disappointed. Enjoy!


GREAT-GRANNY'S BANNA NUT BREAD
(makes one 9 inch loaf)

2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large or 4 medium bananas
2 eggs
1-1/2 tbsp yogurt or milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. In a large nonreactive mixing bowl, cream butter, yogurt or milk, lemon juice, salt and pecans (if using). Mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Start testing for doneness after 50 minutes.

Kathleen says:
To reduce the calories and sugar, use 1 egg plus 2 egg whites instead of 2 eggs.
Use 1/4 cup butter and another 1/4 cup bananas instead of 1/2 cup butter.
Use 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 cup.
But there's nothing like the real thing. So, if you really don't have room for banana bread calories, don't make it today. Wait until you do!


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4 comments:

Hopemore Studio said...

Carla, This recipe is a must try for me, thank you. I love good recipe for anything using bananas...mostly because DH worked for Chiquita years ago and we always had more around than we could eat. I can't wait to try the healthy version...anything to cut a few extra calories this winter.

So glad your baking took a better turn today.

Angie

Darlene said...

Morning Carla,

That banana bread recipe sounds delicious and your mini breads...YUM!! I haven't heard of her before and it sounds like a great book. Thanks for sharing.

Hope you have a great day today.♥

M.L. @ The House of Whimsy said...

YUM!!! I'll be right over. I had to giggle at your Cupcake Disaster post. We've all made "aircraft carriers" at least once in our lives. Ha!
I loved scrolling back to see all the Retreat photos. Looks like you gals had a wonderful time! And thanks SO MUCH for the 'explosion album' tutorial. Great job!
M.L.

Jen T said...

First time stopping by! Can you email me some of that banana bread as an attachment?? Smells good.

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