My friend Liz makes the best banana bread. It is moist, nutty with just the right amount of spices & banana flavor. Every Christmas a few lucky friends are gifted a loaf or two of her bread. Due to her acumen in this field of baking I am always a bit hesitant to make my own banana bread fearing the results will be disappointing.
Last week 4 very, very ripe bananas were either going to be tossed or turned into a loaf….I chose the latter. Not trying to copy Liz’s bread, but to try something different, I made this loaf without nuts and with the addition of peanut butter powder. Have you used this yet? We add a shake or two to our smoothies each morning. It has all the yummy peanut butter flavor without the calories.
Brown sugar, Greek yogurt & vanilla bean paste…all part of the batter….
….resulting in this lovely loaf of goodness using over ripe bananas that could have been tossed, but were saved for better things!
Speaking of “better things”….You may now be curious about the heading for this post…”I get the banana bread part, but what is the reference to this “Farm to Fork” dinner?”
Coming up very soon, October 27th to be exact, is a celebration dinner and fundraiser here in Nashville. The Cumberland River Compact’s 5th Annual “Farm to Fork” Dinner once again brings together local chefs, farmers, artists & musicians to celebrate the fall harvest and keeping our waters clean. This is a very important fundraiser for us all.
The job of the Cumberland River Compact is to work to create awareness of the need to keep the waters of our beloved Cumberland River and it’s tributaries clean and safe. This takes the time of many dedicated folks and money to keep the public aware. For more information on this fun and delicious night next Thursday, October 27th click here.
Just imagine trying to cook and run a kitchen without clean water? Imagine and be thankful.
Peanut Butter-Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 4 to 5 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup peanut butter powder
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup raw brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a regular size loaf pan.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment mash the bananas. I leave them a little bit chunky.
- Sprinkle in the peanut butter powder and mix.
- Add in the softened butter, egg, vanilla bean paste & sugar. Mix well.
- With mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, along with the yogurt, and mix just until blended.
- Scrape batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the top of is a dark golden brown. Test with a cake tester to make sure the inside is baked. The tester should come out clean with just a few crumbs. Let loaf cool in pan on a wire rack before slicing.
This bread is yummy for a few days and is sublime toasted and smeared with butter.
Teresa Blackburn www.teresablackburnfoodstyling.com
