July 20, 2012
We’ve reached that point in the summer where relaxing has morphed into being too lax— the standard kid snack around here has slid from fresh from the garden berries to bright berry-red popsicles straight out of the freezer. We’re not talking the fruit fresh, homemade with wholesome love variety, but the ice cream center, cellophane crackling in a bright yellow box variety.
Feeling a burst of gotta-be-a-good-mommy energy, I went to the blog and pulled up my favorite “skinny” banana bread recipe to make some muffins. In doing so, I came face-to-face with my past; my bad, truly amateur photography past. It was a lone photo of a poor, little skinny banana bread muffin that looked too sad to eat.
So, here’s a mid-summer reboot. This is a fresh post for a great, easy recipe. It feels like a treat, but it’s definitely better than a constant stream of creamsicles. Hopefully, my photography skills have improved enough to entice you to try this rendition of banana bread— you can bake it in a loaf or make muffins.
If we need to find a deep thought in all of this, I guess it’s that it’s always good to be reminded of how far you’ve come and how far you’ve still got to go. Might as well make it taste good!
Skinny Banana Bread
This recipe yields 1 large loaf, 4 small loaves or 16 muffins.
1 ½ cups white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 very ripe bananas
Preheat oven to 350. Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.
Add dry ingredients and with a spoon or silicone spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate. Add yogurt and vanilla then bananas – I just add them whole and let the paddle of the mixer chunk them up; stir well.
Pour into a well buttered 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan or several smaller pans. Bake 1 hour for the large loaf and 40 minutes for the small loafs and 25-30 minutes for the muffins.
