Healthier Banana Bread

While I LOVE my Mom's banana bread, it's not exactly healthy. And since I'm trying to drop some poundage, I need to find a healthier, but still tasty, version of one of my favorite foods!

Mom came across this one and it's pretty yummy! One eighth of the recipe is 6 PointsPlus for Weight Watchers.

Very dense and moist, this bread is fragrant and scrumptious. For an even lighter treat, you can cut the sugar in half or use some Splenda sugar substitute.

Weight Watchers Healthy Banana Bread recipe

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose white flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

2 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4-5 very ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sugar free spiced unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray, set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients, whisking to combine. Add the chocolate chips and nuts if using.

4. Beat the eggs with the sugar together at medium-high speed until creamy.

5. Beat in the applesauce and bananas.

6. Fold in the dry ingredients.

7. Pour into the prepared pan and place it in the oven. Once the oven door is closed, reduce the heat so it’s between 325-350 degrees F.

8. Bake for about 35-40 minutes (the cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean).

9. Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.

10. Invert on the rack, remove the pan, cool and store in an airtight container.

Nutritional information for 1/16 of the recipe (not including chips or nuts):

Calories: 121

Calories from fat: 8

Total fat: 0.9g

Cholesterol: 26mg

Total carbs: 26.6g

Dietary fiber: 1.9g

Protein: 2.9g

Pampered Chef Recipes To Try

APPETIZERS
Bacon-Cheddar Bites
Barbecue Bacon Squares



SIDE DISHES
Autumn Sweet Potatoes
Blue Ribbon BBQ Sauce - Asian
French Dressing
Deep Covered Baker No-Kneed Bread
Marinated Mushrooms
Pecan Crumble Sweet Potato Casserole
Step-Ahead Sweet Potato Bake
Tangy Barbecue Beans
The Works Baked Potato Salad

Slow Cooker Chicken Pineapple Teriyaki

Ingredients

Chicken Breast, no skin, 2.5 breasts

Pineapple, fresh, 2 cup, diced 
Pineapple Juice, .5 cup 
Soy sauce , low sodium, .5 cup
Pepper, black, 1 tbsp 
Brown Sugar, .3 cup, unpacked 

Directions

Combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, black pepper, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir until combined. 

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker, cover with pineapples and top with sauce.

Cook on low 6-8 hours. My chicken was frozen so I cooked for 8 hours. 

To thicken sauce, remove lid from slow cooker in the last hour of cooking. this will allow steam out and the sauce will thicken and condense slightly. If you prefer a thicker sauce, transfer sauce to pan and boil with flour or cornstarch until reduced to desired thickness.

Serve with stir fried veggies like bell pepper and sugar snap peas or over rice.

Number of Servings: 5

Peanut Butter Fudge

This fudge is famous around these parts. It's made for the annual fair that's held in town every fall. It never lasts long on the bake table!

1 jar peanut butter

2 lbs confectioners sugar

3.5 sticks of margarine (or butter)

Melt peanut butter and margarine in double boiler. Pour sugar into large mixing bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over sugar. Mix until blended. Put in a 13x9 pan. Freeze for as long as needed. Thaw and then cut into pieces.

Makes 4 lbs of fudge.

Slow-Cooker Sticky Wings

Found this on Pinterest and it looked super easy and the blogger said they're crazy good.


Ingredients
1 3" piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 lbs chicken wings, halved at joint and tips removed
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste

Directions: 
Make Rub
Pulse ginger, garlic, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper in food processor until finely ground. Add mixture to slow-cooker insert. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Cook and Cool
Cover and cook on low until fat is rendered and chicken is tender, about 3-4 hours. Using slotted spoon, remove wings from slow-cooker and transfer to clean large bowl (discard liquid in slow-cooker). Let wings cool about 20 min (or cool briefly and refrigerate up to 24 hours).

Sauce and Broil
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Set wire rack inside rimmed backing sheet and spray rack with non-stick cooking spray. Whisk water, tomato paste, remaining sugar, remaining oy sauce, and remaining cayenne pepper in a bowl. Add half the sauce to a bowl with cooled wings and toss gently to coat. Arrange wings, skin side up, on prepared rack. Broil until wings are lightly charred and crisp around the edges, about 10-15 minutes. Flip wings, brush with remaining sauce, and continue to broil until well caramelized, about 3 minutes. Serve.

Note: In step 3, rack should be 10" to 12" from heating element. Don't wander off while the wings are in the oven.

Serves 12.

Roasted Cauliflower

One head cauliflower, cut into florets; 1/2 tsp. each salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder. (I threw all the ingredients into a Tupperware container and just shook it up.) Roast at 400F for 10 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through.

Had this at a party and it was good - on the must try list!

Jim Beam Glaze

Got this recipe from Red Robin....YUM!

1 cup Jim Beam bourbon whiskey
1/2 cup brown sugar
Combine the brown sugar and bourbon in a 3 qt. sauce pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol.

Add to the pot:
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

- Whisk the ingredients together and bring to a simmer. Cook the sauce over low heat for about 5 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken slightly and the flavors have married.

- Remove the sauce from the heat and cool completely. Use to baste meat, especially chicken or salmon, while cooking