Healthy Banana Bread

Monday, February 22, 2021

I’m all about everyday traditions.

Most of us have them: the little, habitual acts that we perform day in and day out, scarcely thinking about them and even more rarely consciously appreciating them, but which nevertheless get us through the day.

Your morning workout, that cup of coffee on your desk, the satisfying click of shutting your laptop for the evening.

One of my favorite daily rituals is too often neglected in the hustle and bustle of the workday but has become very important to me in promoting a healthy work-life balance. I am speaking, of course, of The Lunch Break.

In college, I got into the not-so-wonderful habit of just working through my lunch, eating an apple or a granola bar without ever looking up from my textbook. I carried this practice with me into my 9-to-5, rarely, if ever, actually socializing in the cafeteria at noon. Instead, I’d plunk my lunch sack next to my keyboard and eat a salad with one hand while answering emails with the other.

Then the world got a little more topsy-turvy, and I, like many of you, started working from home. If leaving work at the office had been difficult before, it was now even harder — how could I “leave it at the office” when I never actually left the office?

This was when I came to appreciate the true beauty of the lunch break.

I no longer work straight through the middle of the day. Instead, around 12:30 PM, I close my laptop, get up from my desk, and go to the kitchen. I assemble my lunch, move to the couch, and read a book for half an hour. Then I mark my place in the story, wash my dishes, and return to my desk.

It’s painfully mundane, unbearably dull to describe, and one of the absolute best parts of my day.

One of my go-to lunch themes is salad and a carb: maybe it’s broccoli salad with crackers and hummus, or a spinach salad and slice of banana bread. I’ve been craving the latter lately, so today, I’m sharing one of my favorite healthy banana bread, perfect fuel for an afternoon Zoom meeting.

Though I have a few favorite banana bread recipes, this one comes to us from the fabulous Cookie and Kate. While some of the quickbreads in my rotation are more cake-like (one of these days, I’ll share my other favorite banana bread, a decadent loaf of browned butter, cinnamon, and whiskey), this wholesome lady is a perfect midday power-up. Moist, tender, richly banana-flavored, and only lightly sweetened, she’s delicious with a cup of coffee in the morning or a mug of hot cocoa as a late-night snack.

Might I recommend a thick slice for lunch today?

Healthy Banana Bread (adapted, just barely, from my beloved Cookie and Kate)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup (75 grams) extra virgin olive oil (or melted coconut oil, vegetable oil, or melted butter)
• Scant 1/4 cup (75 grams) honey (or equal volume maple syrup) (you can also double this to get a slightly sweeter, but still definitely reasonably sweet, loaf)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (225 grams, ~2 large) ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup (56 grams) milk of choice (I used unsweetened soymilk)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee/espresso granules (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 + 3/4 cups (220 grams) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

Protocol:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease/butter and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and honey until well-blended.
3. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in mashed bananas and milk.
4. Add the baking soda, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and instant coffee (if using), and whisk to blend.
5. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the flour until just combined — some lumps are okay! If using walnuts (or other mix-ins), fold them in now, reserving a few nuts to sprinkle on top, if desired.
6. Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with a little more cinnamon and reserved nuts, if desired.
7. Bake for 45–60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Mine took closer to 45 minutes.
8. Let the batter cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes. You may need to run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Happy snacking!