I'd like to share this recipe given to me by my awesome friend Peg.
A couple tips:
I buy shortening in stick form because it's so much easier to deal with.
I bake very moist breads in mini loaf pans (4 for this recipe) so the middle gets done before the outside burns.
If I make this bread without the mixer, I cut the shortening in with the dry ingredients before adding wet.
Banana Bread (the moistest I've ever had)
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar (I use less)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk** (or whey)
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of nutmeg
I like adding 1/4 cup flax seeds, 1/3 cup of nuts or chocolate chips, and sometimes a 1/4 cup of peanut butter.
**You can always freeze buttermilk in cubes to thaw later, or buy powdered buttermilk. You can also make buttermilk in a pinch with milk and vinegar or lemon juice.
In mixer bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients and beat on low till combined.
Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Pour batter in pans, no more than 3/4 full.
Bake @ 350° for 30-35 minutes or until knife comes out clean from being inserted in the muddle of the loaf.
Cool 10 minutes then remove from pans.
Try not to eat it all at once:)
Also, this weekend, I made this healthy snack:
Flatten a piece of bread and spread with peanut butter. Drizzle with honey. Wrap bread around a banana half. I also added a bit of cream cheese to the peanut butter, but the PB wouldn't stick as well, so if I did that again I'd spread PB on one side and cream cheese on the other. I made six of these Saturday, and they were gone in the blink of an eye! I think you could stretch it even further if you cut the banana in half lengthwise as well.
Do you have a healthy snack idea to share?
