Banana Bread

Since we are talking about kids and nutrition this month I thought it would be great to talk about snacks. Since having kids, I am always looking for healthy snack ideas, 9 times out of 10 I serve fresh fruit and vegetables. Once in a while Miss E and I will bake something yummy. I prefer to do my own baking because I like to know what is going into my family’s bellies. Plus, I can alter the ingredients to suit their needs and put my mind at peace.

Snacks are a great way to get in missed nutrients from the previous meal or day. Most days I serve fruit and vegetables for the girls snacks. Fruit and vegetables are a source of vitamins and minerals, a source of fibre and antioxidants which just make them down right nutritious. Fruit and vegetables are the food group in which we should be consuming most of our food, for both kids and adults. It is easy to get sucked into kids convenience snack foods like fruit leathers, juice boxes, or yogurt fruit tubes. However, many of these so called snack foods are high in sugar, artificial flavours, with little to no nutrient value. Healthier snacks include a variety of fruit, vegetables, plain yogurt with fruit, nuts and seeds, cheese, healthy left overs, and/or the occasional homemade granola bar, muffin, or cookie.

This recipe is my moms, I remember as a kid, picking the crust off the top when my mom had it cooling on the countertop, its that good. I altered this recipe slightly by decreasing the sugar and butter to a 1/3 of a cup. The beauty of doing your own baking is you can usually reduce the sugar and fat content without sacrificing taste. I like to add walnuts to my banana bread but for Miss Q I leave them out due to a choking risk.

Banana Bread

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Zest Nutrition

Yields 1

10 minPrep Time

50 minCook Time

1 hrTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of butter, softened
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup of wholewheat flour
• 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until nice and fluffy ( about 2 minutes.)
3. Add vanilla and eggs and beat for another minute.
4. Add bananas and mix until well incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula.
5. Add flours, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix again.
6. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick, when toothpick is clean your bread is done. Allow to cool before removing from the pan.

Notes

You can add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans
You can add 1/4 cup of cacao nibs or chocolate chips

7.8.1.2

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https://www.dev.zestnutrition.ca/banana-bread/