Delicious, healthy Banana Bread
Last time we talked about pizza. Well, I am from Austria (that’s my excuse anyhow) and I was born with a very sweet tooth. It didn’t help matters that everyone in my family was an avid cook and even more avid baker. To top it all off, my mother – in order to run a restaurant – took up classes and ended up a pastry chef!
Nowadays, as I add years to my life (whoever gets old anymore!) I have to watch what I eat. I love sweets, but I realize that health is more important, and keeping at a healthy weight most certainly is, too. I also have a very close friend who has diabetes, and so I am always trying to adapt a tried and true recipe so she can have it as well.
Again I have to think about one of Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s trademark sayings, “Don’t treat your body like a trash can! You put the best gas in your car, you have to put the best food into your body!”
Actually, she has given me some of the best advice ever on the topic of healthy weight management. Everything in moderation and balance….something we learn a lot about in our Martial Arts classes at Jung SuWon as well.
So, to satisfy all the sweet teeth out there, yet don’t provide empty and/or damaging calories, here is a recipe I came up with for what I think has got to be the best banana bread ever. Hey, it’s my blog, so I can claim it’s the best! Because to me, it is!
Ingredients:
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4 cups flour, total. I use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup raw wheat germ, 1/2 cup crushed flax seed, 1/2 cup Amaranth flour, and the rest white flour, mixed with a little bran. You can leave out the Amaranth flour and use just more white flour instead, or if you want it less healthy, use less whole wheat flour – just as long as you end up with 4 cups total and not too much flax seeds since they have an overwhelming taste
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cinnamon, cloves, vanilla – if you so desire. You could also add some lemon peel and a few squirts of lemon juice
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2 tsp baking soda, or baking powder, I have used either one successfully
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1 cup very soft butter (no substitutes here unless you get some very high quality margarine)
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1 1/4 cup brown sugar, or raw sugar
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4 eggs, beaten (if you want a lighter version of the bread, seperate the eggs and add the beaten whites at the end together with the flour, but this is certainly not necessary)
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4 1/2 cups mashed up bananas
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1 1/2 cups walnut pieces
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How to put it all together:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan, or bundt pan.
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mix all the different flours and dry ingredients together
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cream butter with sugar and egg (or just the egg yolks if you want to add the beaten egg whites later)
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Add mashed bananas
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add flour, a little at a time, and don’t overmix at this point. More like, gently fold into it, don’t beat it any more.
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Put into pan(s) and bake, about an hour, depending on what size and shape of pan you use. Don’t overbake! You can also make little cupcakes or muffins from this, and your kids will love you for the lunch snack!
Now, sit back, relax and reward yourself with your home made treat. It’s good for you, and you are going to work it off in your next Jung SuWon class anyhow!
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