Resolution-Friendly Banana Bread

12 servings
Total cost: NY $ 2.20/ 3.93
Cost per serving: NY $0.18/0.32


Banana bread is one of those great traditional budget recipes, as its an excellent way to use up bananas that are too far gone to just eat by themselves. This iteration goes easy on the oil, using buttermilk in its place, and calls for part whole wheat pastry flour. (Don’t be tempted to use regular whole wheat flour instead of pastry, as its too heavy for this light loaf, and you’d end up sifting out all the grains anyway.) This bread has all the delicious fragrance and warmth of the original, yet with a lot less oil and fat, so it doesn’t involve blowing your New Year’s resolutions. (We’ve got at least another week or two before we start giving up on those, right?)


Ingredients

• 2 large eggs (NY $0.31)
• ¾ cup sugar (NY $0.42)
• 4 very ripe to overripe bananas (NY $0.89)
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (NY $0.16/ NY $1.89 for a quart)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (staple)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract (staple)
• 1 cup all purpose flour (NY $0.21)
• ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour (NY $0.21)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (staple)
• 1/8 tsp all spice (staple)
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg (staple)
• ½ tsp salt (staple)
• 2 tsp baking powder (staple)
• ½ tsp baking soda (staple)

Directions

Preheat over to 325. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and dust with flour. Mash the bananas in a small bowl with a fork. Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick, about 4 minutes. Add bananas, buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract and mix again until well combined, about 1 minute. Sift in remaining dry ingredients, and beat until blended, about 2 more minutes. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake about 1 hour, or until golden brown on top and fork inserted in center comes out clean. Turn out onto rack and let cool. Slice and enjoy!


Adapted from Bon Appetit, August 1997

Nutritional Info
Amount Per Serving

Calories 179.3	Protein 3.9 g	Magnesium 6.4 %
Total Fat 2.6 g	Vitamin A 1.9 %	Manganese 22.7 %
Saturated Fat 0.6 g	Vitamin B-12 1.6 %	Niacin 6.6 %
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g	Vitamin B-6 13.6 %	Pantothenic Acid 3.4 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g	Vitamin C 6.1 %	Phosphorus 7.9 %
Cholesterol 41.1 mg	Vitamin D 1.3 %	Riboflavin 9.4 %
Sodium 243.9 mg	Vitamin E 2.2 %	Selenium 17.6 %
Potassium 212.2 mg	Calcium 5.9 %	Thiamin 9.3 %
Total Carbohydrate 36.1 g	Copper 4.4 %	Zinc 3.1 %
Dietary Fiber 2.2 g	Folate 8.6 %
Sugars 17.6 g	Iron 6.7 %