Thursday, August 27, 2009

Amazing banana bread

I know, I know, I am totally biased, but this stuff is good. Really, really good. It does take more time than most things I make, but you know you want some. When I have bananas that are too soft to eat, I wait for them to turn all brown and throw them in the freezer. Then, when I have 3 or 4, I make this. I know some of you will leave out the coffee, but if you are willing to try a fake flavoring, I would recommend that because it gives the bread a much richer flavor. You can decrease the butter to 3 tablespoons, or you could up it to 6 tablespoons if you're feeling wild and too skinny. The original had 1/3 cup. This isn't quite as low-fat as most of my stuff, but I think it's worth it. If you want more nutritious, last time I used half wheat flour (with brewed coffee) and it worked really well.

Banana bread!!
Serves: 1 if you can keep it away from others! Ok, should be about 8 real-people servings, and 16 if you go by what most recipes say it should be.


3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules*

3/4 cup sugar (reduce to 2/3 cup if using sweetened coconut)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

* instead of instant granules, you can use 3 ounces of STRONG brewed coffee - add 2 tablespoons of flour if you do this.


- Preheat the oven to 350°F

- Mash bananas in a large bowl, then mix in butter and coffee.

- Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

- Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

- If you have a food processor, process the coconut until it is completely chopped up.

- Add the flour and coconut to the bowl and mix until fully incorporated.

- Pour mixture into a greased 4x8 inch loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

- Cool on a rack if you are patient, but I always cut into it while hot to enjoy it immediately.


Nutrition info for 1/8 of recipe (using 1/4 cup of butter): Fat - 8.4g Cal - 275 Carbs - 48 Protein - 3.8g

I sort of feel bad after putting this nutrition info, but then again Emeril's recipe, here, has 28.7g of fat and 508 calories for 1/8 of it! I think his is going to be an outlier on the heavy side, though.

2 comments:

  1. Did you know I am taking a nutrition course online? According to the nutrition math in my book and based on your info there are 75.6 calories from fat (multiply grams by 9) and 192 from carbs (grams x4) and 15.2 from protein (also x4) Which gives me 283 calories which is 8 more than you listed... anyway based on this it is 26.7% of it calories from fat and the recommendation is 20-35% be from fat so this recipe is fine! Please note I will only cite my nutrition book when it works in my favor or when I agree with it's info.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So Le neglected to mention she MADE this recipe and it is Divine... a little sweet but she didn't use the coffee and I think our coconut IS sweetened. All four of us loved it and since I have some more bananas I could hide and let age... I will try a little less sugar. It is 46 outside this morning so baking sounds like a Good idea! We took pictures but YOUR older brother hasn't emailed them to you yet... my USB ports are still being ornery. xoxoxox

    ReplyDelete

Try this and want to share how it went? Have questions before you try it? Let me know!