Banana Bread Two Ways

Just over a year ago, I shared the beginning of my Trim Healthy Mama journey with you here: Muffin in a Mug

Mindy jumped on board with me, and since then we've both shared a few THM recipes here at the cafe. Mindy has epitomized the TRIM part of THM with the healthy weight she has lost, but today it's time to give an update on my own THM journey.

In my post last January, I talked about how I've been dissatisfied with other diet plans because I wanted to concentrate on HEALTHY - if TRIM happened, that would be fine. But at this point in my life (the other side of that famous "hill" we're supposed to dread being "over"), health matters.

So, the update? I have not lost vast amounts of weight, quickly or otherwise. I do weigh less than I did, but not a lot.

But I can talk forever about the health benefits I'm enjoying! I won't list them all here, but we've all heard about (or experienced) the downsides of an aging body. What I'm thrilled about is that I've been saying goodbye to most of those achy, energy-zapping, discouraging downsides. And my doctor is happy, too :)

I could say it's all because of THM, but really, it's because THM helped me educate myself about the nutrition I need to regain the health I had lost and to keep myself healthy.

There's the update! Perhaps someday I'll put "Trim" back in my eating plan, but I'm happy with "Healthy" for now!

So to celebrate, I'm sharing two banana bread recipes with you. The first one is our family's tried and true favorite, and the second is a low-fat, no added sugar THM banana bread. You could try making both and see which one you like best!

This recipe is from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook I received as a wedding shower gift back in the dark ages...okay, only thirty-three years ago :) It's my family's favorite, hands down. I've changed it a bit, but that's what happens over the course of thirty-plus years, isn't it?

Banana Nut Bread

ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup mashed, ripe bananas (about 2 medium)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup chopped nuts

In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and milk, and beat until smooth. Add the bananas and mix until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix on low speed until all the ingredients are wet, and then on high speed for about 30 seconds. Fold in the chopped nuts.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350° for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely (if you can keep away from it that long!)

That recipe is delicious, and tastes just like banana bread should taste - sweet with a hint of banana.

This next recipe is a Trim Healthy Mama E recipe - which means that it is not only low fat and has a reasonable amount of complex carbohydrates, but it also has no added sugar and no white flour.

It's also a gluten-free recipe, if you're looking for that.

But - don't expect this banana bread to taste like the earlier recipe. That's the thing about using different ingredients. Yes, I call this banana bread, but it's different. Like grilled chicken breast is different from the rotisserie chicken you pick up at the grocery store - they're the same, but different, and both are good!

Oat Flour Banana Bread
original recipe by Fay Cadwallader

ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1/4 cup 0% fat plain Greek yogurt
3 egg whites (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups oat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mash the bananas, then mix the wet ingredients together in an electric mixer. Add the dry ingredients, mix on low until combined, and then on high for 30 second.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

A couple things to notice about these two recipes - 

The first one has no salt added. That isn't a typo! If I use unsalted butter, though, I throw in a pinch of salt.

The second one has no added sweetener. That isn't a typo, either! The applesauce and bananas are sweet enough for this bread.

Oat Flour -

I bought a bag of oat flour at E&S Sales the last time we were in Shipshewana, Indiana, but you don't need to buy it. Just whirl rolled oats in your blender until they turn into fine powder. Oat flour!

Oat flour is so different from wheat flour when you use it for baking. It's much heavier than wheat flour, so your baked goods come out much denser. Chewier. And if you take your loaf out of the oven too soon, the center is the consistency of oatmeal. (Ask me how I know!)

The final word - 

I like both of these recipes, but because I'm eating fewer carbs and less sugar with Trim Healthy Mama, I make the oat flour recipe for me and the Better Homes and Garden recipe for family and friends.

Are you brave enough to try both? Let me know what you think!

And if you're interested in more information about Trim Healthy Mama, you can visit their website.