Banana Nut Bread

By Misa Misono

Do you ever wonder what you’re going to do with the bananas rotting on your counter, neglected, ugly, and untouched? The bananas you forgot to bring to school, day after day?

Those overripe bananas are just waiting you to unleash their full potential -- they are culinary gold!

Banana nut bread is the ultimate comfort food. It is the bread that my grandmother, the best cook in my family, made for me when I was a child, and I’ve never had another quick bread as satisfying. Warm, inviting, and very easy to make, it’s the perfect treat to start of the year.

In light of many of our new year’s resolutions to be more health conscious, I modified the recipe, eliminating butter and adding whole wheat flour. Applesauce replaces the butter and makes the recipe require less sugar. My grandmother might not approve, but I know my waistline (and yours) will. You can even ask my ILE team if the healthier version tastes like a diet bread – they served unwittingly as my guinea pigs for the recipe.

Every time I take a bite, experiencing the bananas’ sweetness combined with the satisfying crunch of walnuts, I am transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen – before the 8-5, student loans, the Green Lot, and of course, before Cranberries. While this bread probably won’t make you reminisce about your childhood, it will be a delicious addition to your week and complement your new workout schedule. And of course, give those rotting bananas a chance to shine.

Shopping notes:
If you can’t find plain, unsweetened applesauce, pick one with low sugar content and reduce the sugar listed in the recipe to ½ cup.

Cooking tools: 8x8x2 baking dish

Tip: If you don’t have whole wheat flour, you can make the bread with all white flour. (But you will lose some of the health benefits!)

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 cup whole wheat all purpose flour
2/3 cup white or turbinado sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup of unsweetened smooth applesauce
1 egg
½ cup walnuts
3 overripe bananas (the blacker the better!)

Non-stick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottoms and sides of pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, applesauce, and egg until completely incorporated. Add both flours, but do not stir. Add pinch of salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir with large spatula, wooden spoon, whatever you have on hand. In a separate small bowl, peel bananas and mash with a fork. Scoop mashed banana into large bowl and stir to blend. Add walnuts and blend. Pour into baking pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry, with no wet batter attached.

Makes 9 large squares