Really Scrumptious Banana Nut Bread

Take a bite out of this! My daughter came home for spring break last week; and after we exhausted ourselves shopping we decided to get to work! Like me, my daughter loves to cook and when we felt like eating some rich delicious bread, we decided to remake everyone’s favorite- banana bread. We added nuts, cut the fat, and created a delicious healthy treat.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups coarsely mashed ripe bananas or plantains

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached white flour or whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup honey or maple syrup

½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or pecans are good) nuts are optional!

¼ cup chopped prunes

½ cup chopped dates

¼ cup applesauce

½ cup almond milk or orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons ground flax seed, mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Topping:

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350˚

Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl. Stir in honey, mashed bananas, applesauce, prunes, and dates. Add vanilla, ground flax seed mixture, almond milk and nuts. Mix well and pour into loaf pan (sprayed with cooking spray if desired). Top with brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes until toothpick put into center of loaf comes out dry.