One of the things I miss most about college life is having this thing called Spring Break. Oh what a time to look forward to, when for a full week in the middle of the second semester, school work and p-sets and projects and tests came to a halt and allowed for some time for me to do nothing and everything at the same time! Glorious days they were.
While sadly the working world doesn’t recognize any form of Spring Break as a legitimate holiday, I had the great fortune of having my little brother travel all the way from the west coast to come visit me for his break last week. This naturally meant that I had to take some time off and thus was able to enjoy a mini break of my own! Unfortunately, his visit and my little vacation basically translated into an unending food tour of Manhattan during the three days he was here. Oops!
When it comes to getting back on track and toning down the 5000-calorie days (I may or may not be exaggerating, you decide!), I believe in the importance of starting my day off well with a healthy breakfast. And all the better if that breakfast happens to be a hearty slice of fluffy and moist banana bread! A few weeks back, I had a bunch of ripe bananas went banana-crazy; I baked 2 loaves of banana bread (to test out different recipes), 36 banana oatmeal cookies, and 1 banana cream pie. Needless to say I had too much for my own good, but I now have this delightful recipe to share—no white sugar, no butter!
It’s a happy way to start of any day, and possibly everyday since bananas are virtually in-season all year long! :P
-E
- 1 C mashed bananas, ripe
- 1-1/2 C flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C Greek yogurt, plain or vanilla
- 2 eggs, large and beaten
- 1/4 C brown sugar, dark
- 1/4 C maple syrup
- Preheat oven to 350F
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt.
- In a large bowl, mix mashed bananas, beaten eggs, yogurt, maple syrup, and brown sugar together until well incorporated.
- In thirds, fold in dry ingredients until well mixed and no streaks of flour are present; take care not to over-mix!
- Pour mixture into a prepared 9x5 loaf pan.
- Bake in center of middle rack for 37-42 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice into 16 pieces and enjoy warm!
- A slice goes especially well with a smear of chocolate hazelnut spread!
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