When I moved from Florida to New York in in the late 80’s, I lived with my sister and her family for a year.  It was a lot of fun living there and being able to spend time with my niece and nephew. They were a couple of cuties! Every couple of months my sister would get a package from our mother. Inside were banana breads, mandel bread (Jewish biscotti), and sometimes the newest candy she found and would send to my niece. My mother loved candy and had a knack for finding the newest and greatest candy on the market to send her.

Anyway, her banana bread was good, but back then we weren’t really into banana bread. It was loaded with walnuts and raisins and my brother-in-law was probably the one who enjoyed it the most. It made my mom so happy to send us her baked goods and she always put a post it note on top that said “enjoy”. When I moved into my own apartment about a year later, I started getting my own packages of banana bread. Luckily, it was my boyfriend’s favorite!  Maybe that’s why he asked me to marry him? It might have been her banana bread that sealed the deal!Fast forward a few years. I am married to the banana bread lover and I have children of my own. I was always looking for a healthy snack or a fast breakfast when it hit me, they love bananas, how about my mother’s banana bread recipe? It is so easy to make and such a treat and they loved it. The first time I made it exactly like the recipe was written. Then I cut way down on the sugar (from 1 1/4 cups to 1/3 cup) I figured the bananas were sweet enough plus, I added an extra banana, why not! Then, instead of using margarine or butter, I used sunflower oil (from Trader Joe’s of course!) but of course you can use vegetable oil.

Her original recipe also called for sour cream, which I now swap out with Greek yogurt. A couple of little tweaks and voila! A delicious banana bread is born! I have to tell you, I was really missing out years ago. I just made a couple loaves this morning using avocado oil and wow, was it delicious! BTW… Avocado oil is one of my new favorite things (I’ll be writing about that soon). I hope you give this recipe a try, it’s so good and if your single, try it out on your boyfriend, who knows what will happen! If you do get engaged because of it, please let me know! Enjoy!

3 to 4 large ripe bananas (1 1/2 cups)
1  1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons non-fat Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla) or sour cream
1/3 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional, but highly recommended!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare either one large loaf pan or two smaller ones. Lightly spray with canola oil.

In a large bowl add all the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to blend together and set aside. If you are going to add any of the optional ingredients like the walnuts, raisins or chocolate chips, add them to the flour mixture.

In a second bowl blend the eggs, sugar and oil until well blended. You can use a hand mixer on low for this step but I like to whisk it by hand until light and fluffy. Mash the bananas with a fork and add them to the sugar and egg mixture. Mix to incorporate, then add the yogurt and vanilla. Once this is blended together start adding your dry ingredients slowly. Mix just until blended. Do not over mix or it will make a tough bread.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Test with toothpick and if it comes out dry, it’s done.