Thursday, July 11, 2013

Whole Wheat Cranberry Banana Nut Bread

Whole Wheat Cranberry Banana Nut Bread


 I know banana bread isn't groundbreaking or anything, but this is the first recipe where I used whole wheat flour in place of regular all-purpose flour, so I wanted to share the results. And besides, I had a few bananas that I had use that day because someone (*cough* the husband *cough*) accidentally broke the peel on all the bananas we had and they were going to go bad. But, I did add cranberries, because apparently I can't help adding cranberries to things.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup and set aside. Spray a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand-held mixer) until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter, while mixing, until incorporated. Add the bananas and remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and cranberries and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack. Devour at will.

Whole Wheat Cranberry Banana Nut Bread

I honestly could not tell that there was whole wheat flour in this instead of all-purpose, but maybe that's because I used it in a recipe where that wouldn't really make a difference. I'm trying it in my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe next, that should be a pretty good judge as to how much it changes the flavor of things.

Either way, this bread was everything you want in a banana nut bread, and more! (You know, because of the cranberries.) I love how the nuts provide the crunch texture, juxtaposed with the cranberries which provide the chewy texture. This bread didn't last the rest of the day.

Whole Wheat Cranberry Banana Nut Bread

7 comments:

  1. Stop posting so many good recipes until my kitchen is functional again! Just kidding! ;) I love quick breads and cranberry banana sounds great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe you could try baking it in the microwave? ;)

      Delete
  2. Yum! This looks so good!
    Ginny

    ReplyDelete
  3. yum!! I want to try making this!
    xo,
    nancy

    http://adoretoadorn.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you do, make sure you let me know how it turns out!

      Delete
  4. Yum!! Pinned this for future reference. I love banana bread.

    Amy

    Fashion and Beauty Finds

    ReplyDelete
  5. yum!!! that sounds SOOO good!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...