Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Thick slices of dense, rich banana bread slathered with butter - heaven, eh?

Perhaps not for everyone, but it's not too many steps further for me. I'm a big fan of carbs - essentially anything one can put butter on is my kinda dish. When TA requested a specific recipe that called for banana bread I figured that I'd make a half hearted attempt at injecting some kind of nutrition into this notoriously calories dense treat.

This recipe comes courtesy of King Arthur Flour - I love their products and I love their recipes. No I'm not getting paid for that. I attempt to convince most people who bake on a regular basis to switch to KA. It's just a much more consistently quality product, the company treats their employees well, and they make a great line of organic products. And no, I'm still not getting paid for that.

I'd also like everyone to ogle the amazing cutting board the banana bread is on. Isn't she a beauty? TA's grandfather does some of the most amazing woodwork and this year he presented me with this gorgeous, handmade cutting board for Christmas. I loved all my other gifts, but just like gifts from my own grandfather's hands, I will treasure this piece of craftsmanship for the rest of my life. Homemade things like this board, my sister's artwork, the quilts my mother sewed for me, the handmade crotched snowflake tree ornaments my grandmother made - they are so special.

Not that I'm going to turn down manufactured gifts like a new food processor though - which I also just got for Christmas. My first food processor - I can't wait to shred the hell out of something.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour

Yields approximately 12 "finger-width" slices

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 or 3 bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups King Arthur Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½  teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350° F

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, banana, and vanilla. In a separate bowl sift together flour, soda, and salt. (If too much of the germ gets caught in the sifter just pour it back in the bowl - you're going for air infusion not sifting out impurities.) Mix wet ingredients into dry and pour into a greased loaf pan. Cook for 55-65 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the bread comes out just barely moistened (a few crumbs stuck to the tester are good - it will continue to cook as it cools, if you cook it until the tester comes out perfectly clean it will be overdone and dry). Let cool in pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Nutritional Estimate

This is a nutritional estimate, regard it as such.

1 serving = 1 slice or 1/12th of recipe

237 calories

35 g carbohydrates

9 g fat

4 g protein

Comments

[SBird's MiL]

The banana bread AND the cutting board look fabulous! :-)

[katie]

That is a beautiful cutting board! I noticed it has a handle, does it also serve as a pizza peel?

[Robin]

Katie - No, it's a little too thick for that. It works great as a bread or cheese board though. It's so pretty I just can't bring myself to use it too roughly!

[Gobij]

I like this post very much. I will go to share this in my twitter page...

microwave rice cooker.