John's Banana Bread

I am a terrible patient!  All this sitting around my house with my feet up and watching other people play on the floor with my kiddos is driving me crazy!  Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for the help!  And I know that I am very lucky to be home from the hospital minus one very infected appendix... but still!  I am ready to be recovered!  This afternoon during naptime, I could take it no longer.  My kitchen MISSED ME!  Seriously, it was calling me, "Lindsay get off the couch and bake something...there are 3 overripe bananas in your fruit bowl waiting to become bread!"  Now maybe it was the pain meds, but honestly I just had to get off my butt and bake!  So I did!  I am resting again now :)

In this post I shared my family's love of bananas, how we always have bananas in the house, and how I love to bake with bananas!

One Overripe Banana = Healthy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Two Overripe Bananas = Sunny Days Muffins 
Three Overripe Bananas = Banana Bread

Well, today there were three bananas!

My husband loves banana bread!  He will eat almost an entire loaf to himself.  When we got married, I started baking a banana bread recipe out of one of my many cookbooks.  And it was delicious, but unhealthy - think white flour, a whole stick of butter, white sugar and brown sugar, etc.  So I decided to take what I knew about baking and bread making and create a simple and healthy banana bread recipe!  There is no butter or oil in my recipe!  I use whole wheat flour!  There can also be no refined sugar if you choose to leave out the chocolate chips, but I always put in the chocolate...life's too short!

Here's What You Need to Make the Banana Bread:

• 3 very ripe bananas 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional) 

Now Let's Make the Banana Bread:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 one pound loaf pans
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine bananas, applesauce, eggs, and honey
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until combined (do not over mix)
5. Fold in chocolate chips
6. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans
7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (until top springs back when touched)
8. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes
9. Turn bread out onto cooling racks to cool completely

Sweet B's First Taste of Banana Bread

I have no words!  She loved it!  She is in the bathtub as I type! 

Enjoy this bread with a nice cup of coffee!  Your family can eat one loaf and you can share or freeze the second loaf...or you can do what we do and eat both loaves so fast that it will be gone within 3 days!!!

I use two of the Gold Touch One Pound Loaf Pans (below) from Williams Sonoma to make this bread (and all of my quick breads).  I swear by these pans, and the bread comes out perfect every time!