Banana Bread

I have wanted to make banana bread for so long! I discovered it's deliciousness only a little over a year ago, and since then I have wanted to make my own. Yes I have gone to the store and used the boxed quick bread, but that doesn't count as making it from scratch. My only problem was that I was too impatient to wait for the bananas. There were a few bananas I had that were at the perfect ripeness, but I got busy and didn't get to them before they went bad. I should have put them in the freezer till I had the time. Well, I didn't so I had to wait once more for bananas to get to that perfect point. A few days before I made the bread I bought three bananas specifically for this reason. I looked online on how to quickly ripen bananas and I found the brown bag trick. You know what I'm talking about. You place the bananas in a brown paper bag with a tomato or apple, and the bananas should ripen within 24 hours or so. Well, I don't know what I did wrong but nothing happened to those bananas. I kept them in that bag for almost 2 days and, nothing. So I found another method online. If you place your bananas in a oven preheated to 300º for 10 minutes they should blacken. While they definitely blackened. This method brings all the natural sugar forward and gives the fruit a more sweeter taste. Even though this method sounds odd, the bread turned out great. I tasted nothing wrong. I'm sure if you just waited for the bananas to get there on their own, the bread would be even more delicious!

Banana Bread
Cooking Light Complete Cookbook


Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stirring with a whisk.
3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
4. Spoon batter into an 8x4 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350º for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack, remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. 

Makes 14 servings

Nutrition: (1 slice) Calories 187; Fat 4.3g; Protein 3.3g; Carb 34.4g; Fiber 1.1g; Cholesterol 40mg