Bananananananana Bread! April 28, 2009

By popular demand – my new, low fat, low sugar all taste Banana Bread recipe!

It's low fat and high fiber, but I won't tell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 3 danged ripe bananas, mashed very well
• 1/4 cup oil (such as canola)
• 5 tbsp vanilla yogurt (I use the fat free, sugar free kind)
• 3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute, such as splenda, if you’re diabetic, like my dad)
• 2 tbsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, or 1/4 + 1/8 cup liquid egg whites
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method:

1. Mix together mashed bananas, sugar, vanilla, oil, yogurt, egg whites (or eggs) & vanilla in a bowl
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon & salt in another bowl
3. Pour dry ingredients into the wet, all at once, stirring until moistened, but not over-mixing.
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 60 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Enjoy!

Seriously, this is a deadly simple recipe, takes all of 10 minutes to put together (including mashing the bananas), and is full of fiber and healthy goodness!

I took a standard banana bread recipe, and lowered the fat by using egg whites in place of eggs, replacing half the oil with yogurt, and adding more banana in place of buttermilk. Because the yogurt I use is sweetened, I also reduced the sugar so it wouldn’t be too sweet. However, if you want to use unsweetened Greek yogurt, or you may want to increase the sugar back up to a full cup.

You can also add things to really make this yummy – try a cup of sultana raisins, chopped pecans, or even… peanut butter chips. The thought of peanut butter, cinnamon and banana together is seriously amazing.

Someone make this and stir in a cup of peanut butter chips and let me know how it turns out!

French Toast With Red Pear and Ume Syrup September 1, 2008

Ingredients:

6 slices bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp brown sugar

Sauce:
2 red pears, sliced
3 tbsp butter/margerine
1 oz Ume (Japanese plum wine)
3 tbsp brown sugar

Method:
1. Mix up eggs, milk, cinnamon and brown sugar very well and put into a shallow bowl. Set aside.
2. In a small frying pan, add sliced pears and butter, and sauté until soft.
3. Add sugar and plum wine, and cook on high heat (7 out of 10) until it cooks down into a sauce the consistency of maple syrup. Keep warm. (I put mine in a 250 oven in a bowl with tinfoil on top.)
4. Dip bread into reserved egg mixture and fry until the French toast is done.
5. Cut each slice in half diagonally and arrange on a plate. Top with half of your warm fruit and syrup mix, and whipped cream.

This is very fancy fare, and you can also serve the pear and syrup on top of ice cream. If you don’t have Ume, you can use Marsala.