"Less Bad" Banana Bread

I thought of several names for this in order to try and shorten the name. One possibility was "healthy" banana bread, but it's got artificial sweetener in it. Another possibility was "low(er) calorie banana bread", but that doesn't really fit either. I don't think any baked good can really be low in calories because flour is rather calorie-dense. I also really wanted to get something in the title about "whole wheat", but gave up because adding that would have made this "Whole Wheat, Low-Fat, Sugar-free, Banana Bread." I settled for "less bad" because it's a completely useless name and I think throwing your hands up in futility should be reflected in the title.

At any rate, I wanted to make a quick bread that wasn't over 200 calories per slice and I found a recipe which looked ripe for modifying. The original recipe is here on myrecipes.com. The original called for flaxseed, which I don't have and is very high in calories. I used an egg to make up for the loss of flax. The original used a half and half white and whole wheat flour mixture which I converted to all whole wheat. I also didn't see the point in using baking soda and used only baking powder. I substituted granular Splenda for the sugar and omitted the nuts because I don't like nuts in quick breads. One of the good things about quick breads is that the ones which use fruit or vegetables in them have enough moisture that you can usually get away with sugar substitutes without a big hit to texture. Finally, I added vanilla and cinnamon to boost the flavors.

Here's the recipe I used:

• 3 small to medium bananas (mine were on the smaller side)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plain (unsweetened) yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup Canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup granular Splenda (or just use sugar)
• 1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Put the bananas in a small bowl food processor and puree them to goo (or mash them well with a fork). Add the egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla to the banana and process until well-mixed (or whisk into the mashed banana). Pour the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir in the Splenda, salt, and cinnamon until thoroughly mixed. Sift the whole wheat flour into the bowl then gently push the flour around until most of it is moistened. Withhold the baking powder. You are not mixing it at this stage but just getting the flour to sit and soak up moisture. Allow this mixture to sit for between 15-30 minutes then add the baking powder and stir until it is mixed in. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C. (340 degrees F., or 350 if your oven doesn't have such increments).

Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Note that I used a glass baking dish and mine took 55 minutes. Using glass may have made the baking time longer. If you use metal, I'd recommend checking at the 45-minute mark.

This turned out very flavorful and had a good texture, though obviously it wasn't as fine as one would get from white flour. I think I didn't do the best job of mixing in the baking powder for fear of overworking the gluten in the whole wheat flour. Next time, I think I'll be a little bolder about how I mix it. Still, I was very pleased at how this turned out and I'd make it again without modification. That being said, I may have used more baking powder than necessary, but I have a vat of it from Costco and am not exactly in need of conserving it and the flavor didn't affect the banana bread.

This was fine plain, but really shined when toasted (like a normal piece of bread) and spread with butter or margarine.

Note that the entire loaf is about 1500 calories. This is rather substantially less than normal for a quick bread.

by Shari (Orchid64)