banana bread

I bought bananas at the grocery store last weekend and I have been anxiously and impatiently waiting for them to get overly ripe so I can brush up on my baking skills.  
This is a pretty basic banana bread with a few little tweaks to turn this classic dessert bread into a guiltless indulgence.  Rather than adding oil and whole eggs, I substituted pureed pumpkin and egg whites to cut back on the fat and cholesterol.  And instead of using white enriched flour, I swapped it for whole wheat flour, increasing the fiber content.   It is a little denser because of the whole wheat flour, but overall I think it turned out pretty well. 


Banana Bread (makes 10 servings)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 large egg whites
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup almond milk (or whatever you have in your fridge!)
1 tsp vanilla extract 
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 8in x 4in loaf pan (or 9in x 5in).  
In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon).  In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, egg whites, pumpkin, banana, milk, and vanilla extract until well blended.  Next stir in dry mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts and pour into loaf pan.  
Bake for 55-65 minutes if using a 8x4 pan or 45-55 minutes if using a 9x5 pan, or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely before slicing, ~1 hour (if you can wait!). 

*Just as an aside... If there are any meals, desserts, snacks etc. you'd like to see me revamp and blog about, leave it in the comments below!