About those bananas ...

I know you've all been there before.  The bananas you bought last weekend with oh so good intentions of eating are still sitting in your fruit basket when the week ends.  And they sure aren't looking as appetizing as they did in the middle of the week when the peel was still bright yellow and devoid of brown spots.

You probably contemplated eating one at that moment. But then opted for Swedish Fish. 

Oh wait, that was me.  My choice of an unhealthy snack over a healthy snack is also what led to the surplus of browning bananas on my counter last weekend.

Now,  about those bananas.

What to do, what to do?

Then, I remembered that one of the universally agreed upon best uses for very ripe bananas is to make banana bread.

And that is exactly what I did last Saturday.

I've made a lot of banana bread in my day using many different recipes.  I was baking the bread during my son's naptime and therefore couldn't hit the store for ingredients.  I also needed a recipe that was healthier than some I had made in the past so it would be a good snack for both me and my son.

The recipe I used cut the amount of vegetable oil dramatically but suggested using buttermilk.  Since this isn't the days of Little House on the Prairie and hence, I don't keep buttermilk readily available, I used non-fat plain yogurt as a substitute.

As I've expressed in the past, I get nervous about healthifying (is that a word?) recipes but this modified recipe was a home run!

If you find yourself with a pile of overly ripe bananas this weekend, give this recipe a try.  I bet it will be your new banana bread recipe.

When presented with the choice of a naptime snack of my freshly baked banana bread or the remaining Swedish Fish, I opted for the bread.

Now that's saying something.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2-3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Details 

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a standard loaf pan; dust with flour.

Using electric mixer; beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and light, about 5 minutes.

Mix in mashed bananas, yogurt, oil and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over mixture; beat until just blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake bread until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Adapted from Bon Appetit