Cookbook of the Month Recipe – Banana Breakfast Bread

I’m late getting this week’s cookbook of the month recipe up – mainly because I just finished it!!

The 24th of July is a state holiday in Utah – celebrating when the pioneers first came into the valley. A lot of people get the day off of work, but unfortunately, not me. I only get days off when the stock market is closed. But I thought it would be a good time to take some vacation time, especially since we don’t have anymore vacations planned this year, and I have a decent amount of PTO that I need to use up. So I’ve been off since yesterday, which has been great – giving me time to do a little baking.

I feel like my cooking has become a little boring lately. Probably because I am just cooking (or mostly eating since there’s not a whole lot of cooking going on) to survive. I’ve been really wanting to get back into the kitchen lately, but then my tiredness takes over. I’m heading into the second trimester, though, so I’m going to plan a few meals, hit the grocery store, and hopefully I will be getting some energy back!

Speaking of boring, I know this is just another banana bread. But I had some bananas that really needed used, and I have so many in the freezer already that I didn’t want to throw more in there. Plus, this banana bread recipe stood out to me because it is a bit healthier than the one I usually make. It only has 2 tablespoons of butter, and it’s made with whole-wheat flour. It calls for half a cup of sugar, but I’m sure you could even cut that down. The only thing I did differently is that I didn’t add the dried fruit bits, as I didn’t have any on hand.

I was actually quite surprised at how much I liked this recipe. It doesn’t taste “healthy” like I expected. I cooked mine in a round cake pan, and after I had it in the oven, I realized that wedges aren’t as easy to slather with butter as slices are. But really, this bread doesn’t even need that extra slather of butter.

A delicious bread great for breakfast!

Banana Breakfast Bread
from Southern Living Annual Recipes 2007

Makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 medium-size ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 (7-oz.) package dried fruit bits
Vegetable cooking spray

Place pecans in a single layer in a jelly-roll pan.

Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in pecans and fruit bits. Pour mixture into an 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool on wire rack 2 hours or until completely cool.

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