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Friday, August 27, 2010

Banana Blueberry Bread

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I admit it. I purposely buy 2x the bananas we need, just so I can have a freezer stocked with brown bananas. Lately, I've been making a lot of green monsters on weekend mornings after I work out. While those are delish, sometimes you can't beat a warm piece of banana bread. It might not be as healthy as a spinach-packed smoothie, but I adapted this particular recipe to be completely butter-less and oil-less! The buttermilk, the applesauce, and the bananas provided plenty of moisture to this fairly dense bread. Ryan & I loved the flavor the cinnamon and nutmeg gave this bread--very different from our favorite banana bread.

This was good warm, from the oven or microwaved, but after a day or two we stuck in it the fridge and I really liked it cold as well.


Banana Blueberry Bread
adapted from Eating Well


Ingredients:
-3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
-3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
-1/4 cup applesauce
-2 large eggs
-1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)
-1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tbsp wheat germ (optional)
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
-1 1/4 cups blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease a loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, and eggs. Stir in mashed bananas until well-mixed.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined. Fold in blueberries and pour batter into pan.
5. Bake for 50-60 minutes until top is brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.