Banana Bread!

I've have been searching high and low for a good, healthy banana bread recipe.  I made my chocolate protein banana bread, which isn't bad.  But it's hard to appreciate it unless you are on a very strict diet or competition diet, and pretty much anything that isn't chicken or a vegetable tastes good to you! 

Finding a healthy banana bread recipe is hard to do - yeah you can sub the flour for whole wheat flour, use splenda, etc...but what really makes the banana bread so good besides the bananas?  The sugar and butter!  So I had to come up with something that still had that taste, but is a lot nicer to your waistline!

Well, I dabbled around a little and finally came up with one that is quite tastey!  I checked several different recipes, and sort of merged my own. My husband told me "it was like a party in his mouth."

Here is the recipe:

BANANA BREAD
3-4 very ripe bananas
1/2c applesauce
1/2c Splenda or stevia (I used Stevia in the Raw, but Splenda is ok if you like it)
1/4c Splenda brown sugar blend - probably the least healthy ingredient, but better than regular. 
1TBSP egg whites
1/4c Greek yogurt
1/4c skim milk or almond milk (unsweetened)
1 1/2c whole wheat flour
1/2c oats or oat bran (I used oat bran because it is higher in fiber and protein)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4c ground flax seed

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a medium bowl mash up bananas.  Add in sugars and mix well.  Add in applesauce, egg whites, greek yogurt, and milk and blend well.
2.  In a seperate bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, flax, cinnamon, and nutmeg
3.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until moistened
4.  Spray 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spay and spoon mixture into pan.  Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of loaf comes out clean.  Serve warm with butter spray, light butter, or olive oil butter.

This bread is the bomb!  And it's loaded with goodies!  You can also add 1/2c of any of the following:
Walnuts
Dark chocolate chips
Almonds - slivered
Pecans
I added dark chocolate chips to mine and it turned out wonderfully!  Give it a try and let me know what you think - I think the whole family will love it!  Feels like a cheat, but it's healthy!  These would also be great as muffins for breakfast or a pre or post-workout snack.  Enjoy!