PUMPKIN BANANA BREAD
I have had a very ripe banana sitting in my fruit bowl for a few days and I keep thinking I should make some banana bread or banana waffles or banana something. I finally decided I would bake today with it since it isn’t 90+ degrees (it has been REALLY hot for the last few days– today it is a nice and comfortable 72 degrees according to my phone). So back to the bread…I then stopped by Trader Joes after my morning workout and saw Pumpkin everywhere! Whole pumpkins, pumpkin in a can, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin crackers, pumpkin pasta… so I thought maybe I could find a recipe that combines banana and pumpkin. While searching online I stumbled upon a recipe entitled Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Banana Bread from Runningwithspoons.com. This recipe was exactly what I was looking for. I modified it a bit so I will list it as I modified it and if you want to cook it as it was originally written follow the link above. Thank you Amanda from Runningwithspoons.com for the recipe and inspiration.
While this aromatic recipe was baking I can’t even begin to explain how heavenly the house smelled…mmmm!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (if that is not available then use 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup plain greek yogurt
• ½ cup of sugar of your choice (the original recipe used ¼ cup of brown sugar and ¼ cup of maple syrup — I don’t like maple syrup, soI used palm coconut sugar, but honey or brown sugar would be fine as well or a combination)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• ½ cup of dried cranberries (look for the ones that are only fruit juice sweetened, otherwise they can have a lot of sugar added)
PROCEDURE:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir with a whisk.
3. Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add mashed banana, pumpkin, Greek yogurt, sugar, vanilla and cranberries. Stir well with the whisk until combined and not lumpy.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Don’t over-stir.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread it out evenly. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You may need to cover lightly with foil after 45 minutes to keep the top from getting too brown.
6. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
