February 23rd annually recognizes a well-known food holiday, National Banana Bread Day.
Here's a healthy and easy banana bread recipe.
Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cup mashed banana)
2 eggs, at room temperature (very important to be at room temp)
⅓ cup pure maple syrup (do not use honey)
½ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (whole milk or 2% is best)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup butter, melted and cooled (you can also use olive oil or melted and cooled coconut oil but I prefer butter)
Optional add-ins:
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
½ cup chocolate chips, dairy free if desired
2 tablespoons chocolate chips, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch pan with parchment paper and grease the inside of the pan to prevent sticking.
• In a large bowl mix together the mashed banana, eggs, maple syrup, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract to a bowl until well combined. (OR if you prefer, you can add all the wet ingredients to a blender to combine -- I prefer to mix in a bowl.)
• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!
• Next, mix in the melted and cooled butter (or coconut oil). At this point you can fold in any of the following: ½ cup chopped walnuts or ½ cup chocolate chips (or both!).
• Add banana bread batter into prepared pan. Optional but not required: split a banana down the middle vertically then add on top of the batter or just add banana slices on top, side by side. • Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
• Once bread is cool, cut into 12 slices. Serve with nut butter spread on top for a healthy snack or breakfast on the go.

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