I love eating bananas. Sadly, the Husband does not. What ends up happening in our household is that I buy a bunch of bananas and one of them ends up getting overripe. That overripe banana gets tossed into the freezer to be put to use later. This week, I realized that half my freezer (I have a very small freezer) was taken up by bananas. That means its time for Banana Bread!

This time, I didn’t want to make my standard banana bread. I wanted it to be a bit more healthy than normal. So I came up with a new concoction that involves whole wheat flour and flaxseed meal. I also substituted some of the butter and added walnuts for some healthy fat. In the end, I think I have created a pretty tasty banana bread. I find that it is the perfect denseness, but it does have a “whole wheat taste.” It is also not nearly as sweet as my normal banana bread. You can choose to adjust the recipe to make it a bit sweeter, if you need yours to be sweet.

One lesson learned: this was my first time using a silicone bread loaf pan that I got on sale from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I now know why those particular ones were on sale. The walls were a bit too flimsy and my loaf expanded out to the sides. Still a tasty banana bread, but a bloated looking one.

Enjoy!

A Better Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup vanola oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 medium overripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flours, flaxseed meal, baking powder baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in eggs, spices and vanilla. Add the mashed bananas until well blended.
4. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Stir in walnuts until evenly distributed. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.