For awhile (before I ever cooked), I thought banana bread was healthy. The name is very deceptive. As you may well know, the recipe for banana bread often starts off with a good ole stick of butter. Of course, I like consuming butter just as much as anyone else. This recipe doesn't have any butter but it still has the nice moistness. Instead, the magical ingredient is quinoa! Isn't it great that you can take out something fatty and unhealthy (albeit delicious) and replace it with a protein-packed, fiber-providing, still-delicious superfood?
Don't like the taste or texture of quinoa? You won't even notice it's there. I didn't start eating the loaf until the day after I cooked it, and I actually forgot that I had put quinoa in. Maybe that means I'm a fool OR maybe the bread is just that good at hiding the quinoa. I had to stare at the loaf for awhile to find the quinoa. I knew it was there, but I just couldn't find it. It made me feel kind of stupid and blind, like when I try to find Waldo.
Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare a loaf pan with either parchment paper or a little baking spray. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together
- 2 mashed, medium-sized, overripe bananas
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
Then, mix in
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/8 olive oil
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
- a pinch of salt
In another mixing bowl, whisk together
- 1 cup flour (I used half wheat flour, half white flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Next, add the banana-bowl to the flour-bowl and stir til the flour has all disappeared. If you want to add some chopped walnuts or some chocolate chips, now would be the time! Finally, pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about an hour. Do the trusted toothpick test to determine when the loaf is done.