Healthy Banana Bread: Recipe

In my continuing effort to eat more whole grains, I have been using King Arthur's organic white whole wheat flour. Let me just say right off the bat, this stuff is amazing! It has a milder flavor and lighter more delicate texture than traditional whole wheat flour which makes it it terrific for baking. It's milled from high protein, hard white spring flour.

King Arthur Flour suggests you replace 1/3 all purpose flour with white whole wheat in your baking, but I've found in most quick breads and cookies I can replace half the all purpose flour with white whole wheat and barely notice a difference in taste or texture of the finished baked goods. I wouldn't use it for something super delicate, like a pie crust or angel food cake, but experiment for yourself.

I was looking for a recipe for a cake made with fresh guava, and read that you can actually substitute guava for banana in banana bread. I've now tried this bread with guavas and with a combination of guavas and bananas, and I've tried it using half white whole wheat flour. It is very low in fat and fairly low in sugar as well. It's not an oily greasy style banana bread. It's good fresh out of the oven, and toasted the next day and spread with cream cheese. If you happen to have fresh guavas around, this is a great way to use them.

King Arthur white whole wheat is available in organic or conventional varieties in a 2 pound or more convenient 5 pound bag. Look for it in stores before ordering it online.

Healthy Banana (or Guava) Bread
1 loaf

Ingredients

2 cups flour (I use 1 cup white whole wheat, 1 cup all purpose)3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup mashed very ripe banana (or peeled and mashed fresh guava or combination)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then add the egg and fruit, mix well with a wooden spoon. Scrape batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer plunged into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!