Banana Bread

It’s great for the lunch box and for after school snacks. Banana bread doesn’t require as much sugar as you find in most commercial loaves, just enough to accent the natural sweetness of the bananas.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup raw brown (turbinado) sugar or packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt or buttermilk
• 1 cup mashed bananas (2 very ripe bananas)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with pan spray, and line the bottom with parchment. Spray the parchment.

2. Sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

3. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sugar until thick; they should "ribbon" when lifted with a spatula, five to eight minutes. Beat in the oil, the yogurt or buttermilk, bananas and vanilla.

4. At low speed, beat in the flour in three separate additions. Fold in the nuts.

5. Scrape into the loaf pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the bread is firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Yield: One 9 x 5-inch loaf (about 15 slices)

Advance preparation: The bread freezes well if wrapped air-tight. It will keep for several days, but put it in the refrigerator after three days.