Low Fat Banana Bread

Have you ever experienced something that you could only define as a moment? Something that seems to exist out of time itself, a separate, stolen entity just for you? In the movies, these moments are generally in slow motion with a soundtrack of soft soprano vocals or silence. You can see the exact second when everything begins to still, yet come alive. Perhaps scenes like those seems dumb, and highly unrealistic. It's all well and good to be artistic with your editing program, but moments like that don't seem to exist in real life.

Maybe you'll believe me when I tell you that I had a moment earlier this week, or maybe you won't. And maybe you'll think I'm silly when I tell you that that moment involved banana bread. Maybe it's a you-had-to-be-there kind of thing. I don't know. All I know is that for me, it was magical. Simple, fleeting, but magical.

I had the banana bread in the oven. It had been baking for at least twenty minutes, and so the smell of it had begun to leak from the oven and spread into the kitchen, and from the kitchen, to the living room. There were only traces of it, though, as if you could only sense it there if you knew to search for it.

I was patient but restless. Still apron-clad, I paced about the living room, waiting, searching for small tasks I could do to pass the time. Then all of a sudden, I came to walk beneath the whirling ceiling fan, and I stopped. First, the cool air gently met me; next, I inhaled. The scent of the banana bread was somehow stronger here, as though it were spiraling down toward me from the fan blades themselves. I just stood there for my moment, looking up, breathing in. It was quiet. Everything seemed to slow. I felt that, if I spread out my arms, I could somehow gather the scent, the air itself, to me, and we would simply exist forever in this column of time. And then I smiled.





LOW FAT BANANA BREAD
adapted from JoyofBaking.com

Ingredients

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup low- or nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup plain applesauce
3/4 cup (light) brown sugar
1 large egg or 2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour*
1 cup whole wheat flour*
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg (optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Spray an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda and yogurt. Allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the applesauce, sugar, egg, and vanilla.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Then combine the banana mixture with the applesauce mixture and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are moistened. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 - 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes one loaf (about 12 slices).


* In the original recipe, the quantities of these two are switched: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. I've made it both ways, and they're both delicious. I can't remember there being a taste difference.



This is probably my favorite quick bread ever, and a great way to use up bananas that go bad on your counter. Even my banana-hating roommate loved it.