Treat of the week for work: Banana Bread

Last week, if you'll recall, I brought in Blueberry Oat Bars to work for my team mates. I also told them a little bit about this blog, adding that if they had any special requests for favorite home-baked goods I would be more than happy to oblige. And, after trying one of the bars, I overheard one of them sort of whisper "banana bread" as a suggestion, so given the shorter amount of time I had to bake today and my desire to please :-) I thought these would be fun to try out.

I'd had this recipe in my binder for a couple weeks now, but I had never been willing to surrender my daily bananas for oatmeal, for a banana bread. Now this recipe was fairly unassuming and I definitely had low expectations due to its simplicity, but that's what made it even more wonderful when it came out of the oven! It was buttery and sweet-smelling, with no added cinnamon to funk up the smell (Did I mention I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon? Like, at all? I always leave it out of recipes when called for, with the exception of oatmeal raisin cookies- and even then I half it!). So this bread was moist and just right, even when I only made half what the recipe called for.

Heavenly Healthy Banana Bread

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour's website)

Yields 1 loaf; 8-10 servings (depending how thickly you slice)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 small bananas will do)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and salt.
2. Add the bananas, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour stirring until smooth.
3. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan, smoothing the top. Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
4. Bake the bread for 33 minutes. (Check how the bread is baking after 25 by inserting a long toothpick and seeing when it comes out clean)
5. Allow the loaf to cool completely in the pan. (About an hour)

***As a side note, I'm proud to say this is my 20th recipe of the summer! 20 and still going strong- I can't wait to see all the baking I accomplish throughout the next few months!***

Happy Baking!

Jessica