Guest Chef Time!

by

Tiffany is a newer member of the Bumbling Band & already an active & vocal one.

I was thrilled she was willing to share her food musings with us as was my anythingBANANAadoring Toddler Tornado.

Just recently I have ventured into the nearly endless world of baking and I can defiantly say that it is a learning experience. My first baking project turned into a running joke in the family and no amount of healthy/delicious recipes will let me live that incident down! I am a notoriously bad recipe follower and I added (just a bit!) too much baking soda to the recipe. Needless to say, the first bite of the cake fizzled in your mouth, leaving a soapy tasting aftermath that no one seems to forget!

Baking has such a bad reputation in the nutrition world, full of the notorious criminals —sugar and fat. But, that doesn’t mean this reputation can’t be cleaned up a little! Baking can be a treat that you can enjoy without having to worry about squeezing into those jeans the next day! Now I’m not recommending that just because the recipe might be healthy…to eat baked goods like veggies! But you can have baked goods without feeling guilty or really “splurging”! Here are just a few healthy substitutions when baking that can turn a whole recipe around:

Instead of..

1 cup cream use Skim milk or soy milk

Oil use Unsweetened Natural Applesauce

Stick margarine use Small amounts of olive oil, canola oil

2oz Mild cheddar cheese use 1 oz reduced-fat sharp cheddar

Sugar as a sweetener use 1 tsp. Honey

1 Oz. chocolate use 3 tbsp cocoa

Cream Cheese use Low fat ricotta + yogurt or light cream cheese

2 eggs use 1 egg + 2 egg whites or egg substitute

Sour cream use Plain Yogurt

1 cup whipping or heavy use 1 cup evaporated skim milk cream

Now I know in my house Banana nut bread is something that is simple to make, but is gone before I barely get a piece (so much for cook appreciation!) and it is also something that can be baked healthy without losing the moist, yummy goodness that it is! I would love to share with you guys a healthy spin on this hassle-free and easy bread!

Banana Nut Bread

Serves – 12

Prep/Time – 10 min. / 90 min.

Tips- Choose bananas that are really ripe, the browner they are the tastier the bread is (now don’t go and get a black banana. Yuck). Once all the ingredients are mixed together put it in the oven right away, the baking soda will start to lose its “power”. Use the right sized loaf pan, we don’t want doorstop looking breads, this happens when the pan is too large. And lastly, yes, the bread is supposed to crack in the middle, it means you’ve done a good job!

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg and 2 egg whites
  • 1 1/4 cup mashed bananas
  • 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 cup hot water
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts ( easily left out if your not a nut fan )
  • 1/4 cup raisins (also easily left out you picky eaters!)

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2.) In a large bowl, beat applesauce and honey together.

3.) Add in egg/egg whites and mix well.

4.) Stir in bananas and vanilla.

5.) Stir in flour and salt.

6.) Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter.

7.) Blend in chopped nuts and raisins.

8.) Spread batter into a greased ( I lightly spray PAM in it ) 9x5in.loaf pan.

9.) Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or try the toothpick trick (Insert a toothpick in the middle and it should come out clean)

10.) Cool on wire rack for 30 min. before slicing!

Thanks Tiffany! You were a Bumbling Band member already——so Ill just add I hope youre here to stay!

POSTS BY EMAIL

Never miss a post. Enter your email to get my latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Comments

  1. That sounds delish, thanks for sharing! I love bananas. I wonder (as banana is such a good binding agent on its own) whether I could leave the eggs out and it would hold together? I suspect it might….always thinking of the vegan boyfriend….

    TA x

  3. and *I* love the phrase binding agent. It’s like James Bond but sticky and in fruit form.

    I think it would work TA—but hopefully Tiffany will swing by and letcha know.

    M

  5. I was planning on making some banana bread tonight- weird…. 🙂 Maybe I will give this recipe a try? Thank you 🙂

  6. I have been absolutely craving banana bread lately, and this looks amazing and healthy! I popped it into a nutrition calculator and at only 125 cals/serving, I can safely make it and eat two pieces 🙂 Thanks – will give it a try!!!

  7. Great tips, Tiffany! Thanks for sharing them. We have some bananas on the way out, so I’ll be giving your recipe a go in a few days!

    I’ve also heard, although I’ve never tried it, that you can substitute canned beets for oil as well. Weird, I know, but I saw it on a cooking show.

    I must admit, I too have used too much baking soda. It’s easy to do a tbl instead of a tsp!

  8. oooh Gena now that you’ve said that I recall hearing the same about the beets (mainly because it made me throw up a little in my mouth at the time)!

    Already off for the day & not at computer so I can’t check/give amounts.

    M.

  9. The Banana Nut Bread sounds great. I’ll try it. Everytime I make it, it comes out mushy. Maybe I’m using too many bananas, although I follow the recipe.

  10. Sounds really good…. won’t be baking for awhile, though, as we are heading (yet again!) into another heat wave so don’t want to turn the oven on. Might have to put up an umbrella over the outdoor oven and give it a go out there!

  11. ooooh. good idea BL.

    I was *so* not gonna make these and send the Toddler Tornado outside to play in the 100+ degree heat with the pan strapped to her noggin.

    totally wasnt.

    Miz.

  12. We are big banana bread —anything bread ;P—fans here. I have been making the same substitutions recently. I love to bake so rather than turn away from something I am passionate about, I am finding ways to still give my family what they love in a more nutritious way. Thank God they ALL love raisins and any kind of nuts 😉

    Thanks for sharing your recipe….I was just telling hubby last night that I was going to bake today. Now I know what it will be!

  15. Thanks for the recipe, Tiffany!

    I like to feed my family healthy food, but I don’t want to sacrifice the fun and yumminess of baking. My kids and I will try this recipe for our next baking session.

    Thanks Miz!

  16. I am allergic to bananas – it “lacks in quality” if you know what I mean.

    But I do like zucchini and pumpkin bread and I bet both can be made much like the banana.

    Have a nice day.

  17. Thanks for sharing this recipe! I have just recently started using honey instead of sugar in recipes and really love the result.

  18. this looks way healthier than the three samples of choco chip banana bread I snatched from the Strbucks counter two days ago. It was GOOD -don’t get me wrong. But so dense, I bet they actually specicially chose all the “before” ingredients Guest Chef mentioned!

  21. That sounds almost exactly like the Banana Bread I made a month or so ago. I love how light it was, both in flavor and in texture.

    Those options are terrific for baking. You can cut so much fat and cholesterol out of your diet that way.

  23. We love banana bread around here. I have a healthier version that I don’t love, so I am going to try this one out.

    Oh- and you can substitute beets for oil in some cases. I gag at the thought of beets, but in this bread recipe I have, you can’t even tell.

  24. if by CAN’T EVEN TELL you mean it’s a horrifying shade of red?

    (Seriously. Is it?!)

    😉

    Miz.

  25. Oh, that sounds really good. My kids would be thrilled they love banana bread. Anybody every tried stirring some PB2 into breads? Wondered if you would be able to taste it? Peanut butter banana bread would be sooo good!

  26. Another great substitution I just learned about is Pumpkin instead of oil or applesauce or beets. A friend of mine tried it just to see if it would work and it did. And you couldn’t even taste the pumpkin. We all know how good pumpkin is for us.

  31. This really inspires me to take up baking again. I used to make the most awesome chocolate chip cookies EVER, but I quit making them because I could eat half of them right out of the oven! I may have to play around with my recipe and see if I can “health it up” a bit.

    And banana bread? Big Yum!!!!

  33. It is so good to find someone else who a) has a weird desire to change every recipe they see, b) has issues with baking even though they love it, c) uses as many healthy substitutions as possible, and d) adores banana bread.

    Thanks for all of those great suggestions!

  34. That looks awesome, I have all the ingredients too so I shall make that for Sunday morning breakfast!

  35. Looks great!

    I have definitely made banana bread without eggs many a vegan time. Since I have not tried this recipe (yet!) I can’t guarantee it would work but I’m thinking the honey is gonna help keep it moist enough. Maybe a little extra flaxseed? You can never go wrong tossing in ground flaxseed. It’s almost like pb that way, except pb is just deliciouser :).

  37. that’s an interesting idea, tfh.
    I like to toss flax in everything anyway.

    or, if youre DARING, you could try this CLICK HERE in *gel* form!

    That’ll surely give some extra goostickage to anything!

    🙂

    Miz.

  38. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm. I want to make some PB2 peanut butter banana bread. Actually, I want someone to make it for me (any volunteers?).

    I’m a big fan of bran–I wonder how this would work as banana bran muffins . . . .

    Maybe I’ll find some baking time this weekend.

  40. Thanks for sharing this! I make one very similar. I did use pecans on time but it is much better with walnuts.

    I also make “healthy” cookies with oats, honey, flax, etc. Much like these ingredients. My kids love then and don’t realize they aren’t super sinful. Enough cinnamon and they think they are regular cookies.

  41. Yay, I am so glad everyone liked the recipe ♥! I hope that no one makes the same baking blunders that I am used to doing 😉

  42. Jill, have you tried adding some oatmeal to your cookie recipe?

    I’m currently playing around with protein powders and as soon as I get something yummy, and without any strange aftertastes, I’ll share it.

  47. Oooh, thanks so much sharing… I am a newbie to your site and love it…

    I am always on the hunt for healthy recipes – especially for baking…. I think the Commander ((2-years)) will love the banana bread recipe…

  49. Flax fans: you can sub eggs for flax seeds ground up with water. Blending flax and water results in a goopy egg-like mixture that works well as a binder in baked goods. As a rule..

    1 TBSP Flax Seeds ground with 3TBSP Water = 1 Egg

    I use the applesauce trick all the time, especially in cornbread. Thanks for the recipe! I have two bananas going black in my fruit basket as I type!

  51. thanks monica!!
    Id forgotten a vegan friend makes a concoction (the technical term) of flax meal & water in the blender and then keeps in her fridge to use as a substitute.

    now Im wondering how long that flax meal/water mixture would or SHOULD ‘keep’ but she uses it pretty fast…

    M.

  52. Thanks for the tips! Stevia is another good substitute for sugar in baking. I typically substitute it for half the sugar in a recipe at the rate of 2 packets of stevia per 1/4 cup of sugar.

  53. I made a very similar bread last weekend, except I did half banana & half shredded (and drained) zucchini. I love zucchini season – so many exciting new recipes. 🙂

    Thanks for all the substitutions though – I hardly ever remember to think about them before I bake.

  54. Great list of substitutions – thanks.

    I tend to do everything full-fat, and limit quantities when actually eating the stuff. 🙂

  55. I love the substituions – I just sent it to my mom who is FINALLY getting on the healthy band wagon. I have only been *nagging* her for 2 years.

    My life isn’t really as exciting as it seems in photos or on my blog. ha ha.

  58. About the beets- I thought it would be red, but the cooking mellows the color out. It is like a slightly reddish shade of brown when it is all said and done. I thought it would have been cool to be eating pink bread!

  62. I’m so excited to try some of your substitutions! I’m going to try them out and not tell everyone what I did. We’ll see if they can tell a difference. 😉

  63. Laura, I have no idea WHY it works (and Ive usually used half oil and half unsweetened applesauce or a prune puree) but I tried it in chocolate chip cookies and it didnt.

    might be because the applesauce makes the cake or bread ‘cakier?”

    anyone know *why* it works as an oil substitute?

    Miz.

  64. I’ve always wondered why it works too. With some products (perhaps cookies? haven’t tried it) it helps to add some cornstarch, maybe a teaspoon or so, for each egg that you are replacing with applesauce or banana. I only tried it once and never got to the actual baking stage because the raw product was so damn good (and no salmonella risk!) so I don’t know if it actually would have made for the right texture…

  65. These are so great, especially for a non-cooking type person such as myself. I tend to follow recipes EXACTLY, sure that disaster waits if I deviate from them. Of course, sometimes there’s disaster anyway, but I still try once in a while. 🙂

    Thanks for the tips!

  67. Wow…Thats amazing ♥ Thanks so much Miz..I can’t believe this post took flight like it did!! BTW…the brown sugar was left out of the directions =(

  68. Mine is in the oven right now… I was confused by the brown sugar being missing, but just added it after step 3 since that’s where it fell in the ingredient list. I can’t wait to try it!!! Also, if anyone wants to see the nutritionals for it, I just created an entry on Daily Plate: CLICK HERE . However, I will note that I used a bit less sugar and honey than the original recipe.

  71. Just the other day I said, “Why don’t I ever make banana bread?” The answer is because my husband makes a smoothie EVERY morning and we typically run out of nannies before I get the chance. But there are three in the kitchen bordering on black… and they’re mine!

Trackbacks

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This