Sometimes life gets in the way of a good thing – even something as beloved as this little blog! Between holidays, illness and overtime, I have sadly neglected my baking. Luckily Mel has come to my rescue and provided plenty of lovely recipes to keep me going in the meantime. This is the first cake I have baked in 2013 and it will come as no surprise that it’s an old favourite- banana bread!
You could be forgiven for thinking I’m a little bit obsessed with banana bread. Between Mr t2k’s love of bananas, my love of an easy bake and the way a baking loaf perfumes the house with a blissfully domestic fug, it is a regular favourite in our kitchen.
While I have twice showcased Nigella’s banana bread (both original and chocolate versions), and I still feel there can be no recipe more decadently delicious, sometimes restraint is called for, even in banana bread.
While Nigella does many things well, restraint in baking is not one of them so, for this recipe, I have had to search high and low across the world (well, the internet). What results is a damply moist, tasty and satisfying loaf with only 120 calories per piece. And with only 20 pieces in a loaf, they are decently sized serves, not wafer-thin morsels of disappointment.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups plain flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar, divided 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbs butter, softened
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup plain no-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 heaped tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 level tsp nutmeg
Preheat oven to 180ºc. Generously grease and line a large loaf pan with cooking spray or butter.In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 c of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mash bananas and mix in vanilla and yogurt. Set aside. (you’ll need a total of three bowls for this recipe but it’s worth it!).
With your stand mixer or in yet another bowl, beat together remaining sugar (1/2 cup) and softened butter for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time.Turn the mixer to low and add a third of the banana mixture. Let mix until just combined. Add half of the dry ingredients. Continue alternating until all the ingredients are combined, scraping down sides as necessary. Try not to overmix.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Using this recipe, each serving (1 loaf divided by 10 slices) is 240 calories. That’s compared to a standard banana bread recipe at 320. I usually cut the slices in half again which makes each piece only 120 calories.
A Tale of Two Kitchens 