Now’s the time for comfort food. This banana bread relies on a few twists — oil instead of butter, half whole-wheat flour (which imparts a nutty goodness) and an exact measure of banana mash, just 1 cup!
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cups white flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs or flax eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup very ripe bananas (2 to 4 bananas, the riper the better)
¼ cup chocolate chips (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a loaf pan or line it with two pieces of parchment paper. See how at tinyurl.com/loaf-lining.
Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Beat the eggs with an electric mixer in a second, larger bowl until the mixture is a pale yellow.
Add the sugar and beat until well combined.
Beat in the vegetable oil, vanilla extract and banana until well combined.
Mix in the flour and other dry ingredients. Don’t overmix.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
Sprinkle the optional chocolate chips on top of the batter in the pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Start checking the bread after 45 minutes. (A knife inserted into the middle should come out clean with no wet batter sticking to it. Cover with foil if it begins to look overly brown on top.)
Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack.
Slice the bread while it’s still warm, if desired, and serve.
Sarah Jackson is an avid procrastibaker and the editor of Minnesota Parent.
