You Won't Miss The Butter In This Holiday Banana Bread

17 December 7, 2010 ‹ Older Newer ›

Can you trick your pals into believing you used a stick of butter to make your banana bread? I think so!

Snack Girl made this banana bread last year and substituted buttermilk and a little oil for the butter. Did anyone notice? No!

They didn't know that I had slashed the amount of saturated fat and some of the calories.

I even added a little whole wheat flour to the recipe for a nutritious bump.

This year I did two things differently:

1. I used just white whole wheat flour instead of the mixture of white and whole wheat (1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour)

2. I made 4 SMALL loaves of bread.

The white whole wheat flour worked great! Everyone loved the banana bread and I was happy that my family got all the nutrients of a whole wheat flour.

Why did I make small loaves? Well, each of my loaves is 460 calories TOTAL. Even if you were to wolf down most of my banana bread in one sitting, you would be doing better than ONE slice of banana bread from Starbucks - 410 calories.

Also, I bet my friends would prefer a SMALL treat because of all the crazy holiday food that comes their way.

Give this as a gift and don't mention the substitutions. Wrap it in some holiday cellophane with a bow.

You will be a giving a healthy, yummy, homemade treat versus buying something that won't taste as good. (and you will save money :)

Please share your banana bread "tricks".

Buttermilk Banana Bread Recipe

(Makes 4 small loaves or 1 large loaf)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 °F. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Using a whisk or a fork beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and light. Mix in mashed bananas, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until just blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake bread until golden brown on top and butter knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour (40 minutes if you are using the small loaf pans). Turn bread out onto rack and cool.

One slice of 10 in large loaf = 184 calories, 2.8 g fat, 35.9 g carbohydrates, 4.2 g protein, 1.5 g fiber, 204 mg sodium, 4 PointsPlus

Wilton Recipe Right 3 Piece Mini Loaf Pan Set

$9.99

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17 Comments:

I always use applesauce in place of butter/oil and whole wheat flour in place of white when making quick breads. I have yet to hear a complaint! =)

Kim on December 7, 2010

So how big would your serving size be with the nutritional info you provided?
Thanks

Nicole D on December 7, 2010

Oh my! This looks delicious! LOVE the idea of making mini loaves and giving them as gifts! (I've bookmarked this!)

Roz on December 7, 2010

Yum! Sounds good....I'm going to make it. Thanks for sharing!

Gloria on December 7, 2010

I have the same question as above...are the nutritional facts for a small loaf?

Whitney Lader on December 7, 2010

@Nicole and @Whitney - sorry I was unclear - these facts -
184 calories, 2.8 g fat, 35.9 g carbohydrates, 4.2 g protein, 1.5 g fiber, 204 mg sodium
are for one slice of banana bread (10 slices for the large loaf).

For one small loaf, I divided the calories into 4 -

460 calories, 6.9 g fat, 89.7 g carbohydrates, 10.4 g protein, 3.8 g fiber, 510 mg sodium

probably about 6 small slices in the small loaf -77 calories per slice. I hope this is helpful.

Snack-Girl on December 7, 2010

This looks really good. I'm going to make it this weekend. :)

Becky on December 7, 2010

Looks delish! Check out my similiar post for high protein banana bread! It is always gone by lunch.http://wp.me/p12fGr-3Z

gina@conciergeformom on December 7, 2010

try whole wheat pastry flour for baking - it is less dense than the "all purpose" flour and gives a yummy, nutty flavor.

Franny on December 7, 2010

To make it a little more nutritious you can swap out the sugar for-- agave, date sugar, maple syrup ...... there are tons. I love expermenting

dawn Vaccaro on December 7, 2010

This recipe looks great.
I just made some pumpkin butterscotch muffins that were also a great snack.
love reading your swaps!
sara
http://cookwith5kids.blogspot.com/

sara on December 7, 2010

Mmm, I've been looking for a good low fat banana bread recipe! Thank you so much! Would you mind if I share it on my blog?

Carol on December 7, 2010

I love banana bread and this sounds great and healthier too. You say you used all white ww flour. Do you think the regular ww flour would work too? Usually when I bake anything I use 3/4 white and l/4 ww and that works.

myrna sossner on December 7, 2010

@Myrna - stick with that ratio of WW to white flour. The white WW flour is fluffier and so you can use 100% and the banana bread doesn't get too dense.

Snack-Girl on December 8, 2010

One of my tricks is to add flax meal to every bread I make. I love it because it adds a nutty flavor, but it also adds fiber and omega 3's! My 3YO loves it and I love that it's good for him.
I even used flax and water as a substitute for eggs in a vegan pumpkin bread I made for a friend. I highly recommend the addition!

Flawless Mom on December 9, 2010