Banana Bread for Breakfast

For Easter, I tried a whole wheat banana bread recipe I saw on NYTimes.com. It turned out really well - not too sweet, but very substantial and satisfying. I changed the recipe slightly, using two cups of whole wheat flour instead of one cup whole wheat and one cup all-purpose white flour. As a frosting, I used strained yogurt, which ends up tasting like a cream cheese frosting, that my mom has been making for years. I put fat-free yogurt in a cheesecloth for about a day to strain all of the liquid out, mixed it with maple syrup until it was sufficiently sweet, and then added two drops of red food coloring to make it pink, for Easter. It made the perfect breakfast on Easter morning!




Here's the recipe with my slight alterations:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup raw brown (turbinado) sugar or packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1 cup mashed bananas (2 very ripe bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with pan spray, and line the bottom with parchment. Spray the parchment.

2. Sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

3. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sugar until thick; they should "ribbon" when lifted with a spatula, five to eight minutes. Beat in the oil, the yogurt or buttermilk, bananas and vanilla.

4. At low speed, beat in the flour in three separate additions. Fold in the nuts.

5. Scrape into the loaf pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the bread is firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Yield: One 9 x 5-inch loaf (about 15 slices)

Advance preparation: The bread freezes well if wrapped air-tight. It will keep for several days, but put it in the refrigerator after three days.