Banana Bread

I have always had a hard time with banana bread. With every recipe I have tried, I can't get the center to cook all the way without overcooking the edges unless I made mini loaves...that is until I found the recipe below in the Relish magazine that comes in the paper. Last night I made this recipe again and added chocolate chips - boy was it tasty!

Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/3 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees. Coat an 8x4inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir well.
3. Combine banana, sugar, egg, egg whites, buttermilk, and oil; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just evenly blended. Pour into pan.
4. Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack. Serves 12

Just FYI - if you use yogurt, be sure to use plain yogurt. I used vanilla yogurt once thinking that it would be close enough, but the bread had a weird aftertaste to me. I usually make buttermilk to use in this bread (see tip below).


Cooking Tip: If you don't have buttermilk on hand, use 1/3 cup milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before adding to the recipe. (I have heard you can use vinegar instead of lemon juice, but have never tried it)

~Samantha