Whole wheat banana bread with granola and Greek yogurt

i think i've only met one person in my life who didn't like banana bread.

that person & i are not friends. i have standards after all.

the thing about banana bread is that there are an insane amount of variations. healthy, not healthy, dense, light, with chocolate chips, without, nuts (gag), no nuts (yay), etc etc.

well this one is healthy. chock full of awesome things that you read about in healthy living magazines. it's also only 255 calories per slice (a nice thick slice @ that)- & that's a win in my calorie counting book.

Whole wheat banana bread with granola and Greek yogurt (adapted from eat travel write)
You Need:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats*
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar*
1 tsp molasses*
1/2 cup Greek Honey Yogurt
2 tblsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup granola*
3 ripe medium banana, mashed*

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 & lightly oil a 9inch loaf pan
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, flax seeds, baking powder & salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, eggs, brown sugar, molasses, yogurt & oil.
Add both eggs to the mix & then stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.
Stir in the bananas & granola.
Pur the mixture into the prepared loaf pan & bake for about 40 minutes (until a toothpick inserted comes out clean)
Cool in the loaf pan for 5-10 minutes before removing & slicing. Enjoy warm or room temp.

*A few things
1. i actually forgot to add my oats. My bread took around 1 hour to cook & this is probably why. it was still perfectly good without the oats so if you don't have them on hand or you don't like them, feel free to leave them out & bake a little bit longer. i like oats though so next time i'll be sure to add them.
2. you can use Dark Brown Sugar instead of light brown sugar + molasses. i only used molasses + light bs because i ran out of dark bs.
3. use any kind of granola you can find. all i had on hand was some Archer Farms Cherry, Chocolate & Hazelnut granola cereal & i used that. still incredible.
4. i always keep a bunch of ripe bananas in the freezer. take them out 30 minutes before you need them & they thaw & slide into your recipe quite nicely.

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

You Need

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup Nutella, microwaved for 15 seconds to soften

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix well. Fold in the bananas & sour cream until just combined.
3. Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Drop spoonfuls of the Nutella over the top of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter. Use a knife to swirl the batter around in the loaf pan.
4. Bake for 60 minutes or until baked through.

my suggestion? add even more Nutella. because Nutella is boss.

i like this warm with butter. because butter makes things better. like Nutella. so yeah.

Banana Bread

i'm always looking for new banana bread recipes. i've YET to find the PERFECT one- seriously. i've never had the most perfect piece of banana bread.

one day- anyway. until then, this one is actually pretty good.

the first batch i made i used a VERY ripe (like, omg is that bad?!) banana & i forgot the baking soda.
the bread was good, but very dense. it tasted like banana- but there were no tell-tale banana squiggles (you know what i'm talking about)- it was odd. but good.

the second/third batches i made i used thawed (not quite as ripe when frozen) bananas & i remembered the baking soda. this time it actually looked like banana bread- and it's more fluffy. and good- so either way it was a win.


Banana Bread

For the bread:
1 cup plus all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
coarse salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup buttermilk (you can use plain yogurt if you want)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large banana, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
1 tblsp brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the topping:
1 tablespoon room temp butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour
pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º Butter (or use cooking spray) a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Stir in the melted butter and the buttermilk. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute. Add the brown sugar to the banana & stir- then add the banana and vanilla to the mix. Stir until well combined. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

Make the topping by mixing together the tablespoon of butter with the tablespoon of flour, the brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Distribute the topping evening over the batter (i used my fingers & kind of clumped it around like so)


Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until cake tester or toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cut and serve from the pan.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Aunt Mary’s Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread (allrecipes)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon of cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*
1/2 teaspoon allspice*
2 tablespoons raw sugar*

In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, vanilla, spices and bananas until thoroughly blended.
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon into a greased 9-in.x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan (my loaf dishes are slightly smaller- but they still work) Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar & bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes or until the bread tests done with a toothpick. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

*i added these spices- i like my bread to have some spice.

i also did 2 batches- 1 with choc chips & 1 without.

Enjoy & God Bless.