Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I know, I know. Another banana bread recipe. 

I'm sorry. It's just that lately I'm a woman obsessed. I wake up dreaming about fresh pineapples and banana bread.  And not necessarily in that order. I've tried to appease my cravings for the latter but so far it hadn't worked as far as finding a whole-wheat version was concerned. So I've been compiling a list of recipes to try out and, needless to say, we are going through plenty of loaves of banana bread at my house. Isn't there something so comforting about waking up to the homey fragrance of baked bananas on a winter morning? 

I think I have finally found a one-bowl recipe that is moist & delicious enough that you might want to leave your bananas to blacken on the kitchen counter just so you can try it out. I've made a couple of minor adjustments to this  recipe that I stumbled across on the King Arthur Flour website. Also, I baked mine as muffins instead of a loaf quite simply because its a less crumbly option for the kids' lunch boxes. The chopped dates are a last-minute addition because I wanted to sneak in some extra iron and fiber and also because I have at least a few kilos on hand and quite simply have no idea what to do with them. Any suggestions?

(Note: I've made this recipe several times over with great success substituting both canola oil and coconut oil for the butter. It works very well with both & I no longer make it with butter).

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

(adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Serves 18

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

a pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (I used 3 large)

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds

1/2 cup chopped dates

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with 2.5" baking cups. 

Beat together the butter and sugar till smooth. Add in the vanilla, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and bananas. Beat till smooth. 

Beat in the honey and eggs. Stir in the flour, nuts and dates (I dusted my dates with half a tsp of flour so they wouldn't clump together). Spoon into lined muffin tray and let rest at room temperature, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Bake 30 minutes. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning muffins on to a rack to cool completely before serving. 

Baking With Dorie: Honey Nut Scones

Monday mornings are my favorite day of the week. It's the only time I have the house completely to myself & so I allow myself the luxury to move about in slow motion; letting dishes accumulate &dust gather while I catch a couple of hours of reading & lazy day-dreaming.

Freezing-cold Monday mornings are perfect for snuggling up on a favorite couch & celebrating the moment with freshly-baked scones and tea.

These scones have just a hint of sweetness & so they'd pair perfectly with any kind of jam. I was out of unsalted walnuts & other nuts so I made mine nut-less. I am sure the walnuts would have added a nice texture & so I'll be sure to make them with nuts next time. I loved them! Soft on the inside with a pleasantly crunchy exterior and barely-there sweetness. A complete winner in my books.

The recipe was chosen by Tina. Please head over to her blog at My Domestic Bliss for the recipe, or turn to page 31 of Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. This week we were joined by a new member - welcome to BWD Rivki! Please check out the blogroll here to see everyone else's posts.

Next up we're baking Brrrr-ownies (page 103). If  you'd like to join our baking challenges, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. We'd love to have you bake along with us!