Banana Bread

I obviously wrote this post prior to last week, but I'm sick of talking about bed rest :)

I don't mean to brag, but this is the best banana bread ever.  Other people say it, so that's how I know it's true and I'm not just biased.  It can be found here in its original form, but I have made a few changes to the recipe over the years, and that is what you will find here.

Here is what you will need:

•  2 c flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• 1/8 t nutmeg
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 c apple sauce
• 4 lg bananas (okay, so I know these bananas look disgusting - this is after I removed them from the freezer and let them thaw for several hours! Brown bananas are the best for banana bread!)
• 1 c sugar

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  (I always eyeball the cinnamon and nutmeg...and it's possible I went a little heavy on the cinnamon!)

 2.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.

 3.  Beat the eggs and add sugar.

The original recipe calls for oil, but I have recently discovered that applesauce can substitute for oil in baking and is considered a healthier alternative.  I decided to try it out!  So instead of the 1/2 c oil, I used 1/2 c applesauce.  (This is cinnamon applesauce, but I figured it would be fine since cinnamon is one of the ingredients.)

 Add to the sugar and eggs.

Now for the bananas.  I usually use bananas that have turned brown or ones I've thrown in the freezer that have turned completely brown.  Either way, I peel the bananas and put them in my Magic Bullet.

 Like this.

 After a few seconds, they look like this:

Add the bananas to the eggs, sugar, and applesauce, and mix well.

4.  Pour the mixture into the center of the well.

 Stir until moistened.

5.  Pour batter into greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350.  Since I have four small loaf pans, half an hour to forty minutes is plenty of time.  If you are using one large loaf pan, bake for 50 or so minutes.

And when it's all done, it's ready to be eaten or wrapped up and frozen for another time!  Delicious!