Healthy Banana Bread

Name: Healthy Banana Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 3, well spotted Overripe Banana; 1 Egg (Whole, Raw); 2 tablespoons, vegetable Soybean Oil; 1/3 cup, skim Milk (Nonfat); 1/3 cup Sugars; 1 1/2 cups Wheat Flour (All-Purpose, Enriched); 1 teaspoon Baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder; 1 tsp Salt

Banana bread sweetened with honey and overripe bananas instead of a cup of sugar — 198 calories a slice.

198kcal per serving

4gprotein

35.9gcarbs

4.3gfat

201 mgsodium

Sodium is calculated without salt added to taste.

Per 1 serving of 8 — 1 thick slice. Estimated; may vary.

Prep15 min

Cook50 min

Total65 min

Makes8 servings

DifficultyMedium

Banana bread lives or dies on the bananas. This is a USDA MyPlate recipe, and it carries only 1/3 cup of sugar for a whole loaf — which works because heavily spotted, almost-black bananas bring their own sweetness. Underripe ones will leave it flat.

One slice is 198 calories. It is a twelve-serving loaf, so the quantities below are for the whole thing rather than for one portion.

The other rule is not to overmix. Stir the flour in for about twenty seconds and stop while the batter still looks a little rough — worked longer, it builds gluten and the crumb turns tough.

Ingredients

Amounts below make 8 servings, one serving is 1 thick slice.

Overripe Banana3, well spotted (354 g)
Egg (Whole, Raw)1
Soybean Oil2 tablespoons, vegetable (27 g)
Milk (Nonfat)1/3 cup, skim (82 g)
Sugars1/3 cup (67 g)
Wheat Flour (All-Purpose, Enriched)1 1/2 cups (187 g)
Baking soda1 teaspoon (4.6 g)
Baking powder1/2 teaspoon (2.3 g)
Salt1 tsp

Cook’s tips

Use bananas that are heavily spotted, almost black. Underripe bananas give you neither the sweetness nor the moisture, and this loaf has only 1/3 cup of added sugar to lean on.
Stop mixing the moment the flour disappears. Overworked batter builds gluten and the loaf comes out tough and tunnelled.
It keeps 3 days at room temperature wrapped, or freezes in slices for 3 months — toast them straight from frozen.
Contains: eggs, milk, wheat.
Dairy-free swap: any unsweetened plant milk works in place of the skim milk; the loaf is otherwise unchanged.

Method

Wash your hands and all surfaces before you start.
Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan, or line it with parchment.
Peel the bananas into a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork. Leave a few lumps — fully pureed banana makes the loaf dense.
Add the egg, oil, milk, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix well with the same fork.
Add the flour and stir just until it disappears, about 20 seconds. Stop while the batter still looks slightly rough.
Pour into the pan and bake 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto a rack. Slicing it hot tears the crumb.

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