BANANA APPLESAUCE (NUT) BREAD

 Everybody loves this bread !

So says Margaret Guy from Mobile, AL in the 1996 Beta Sigma Phi's Let's Party cookbook.

I was a member of the social Sorority when we lived in Fayetteville, AR so any time I run across one of their cookbooks at estate sales or thrift shops, I usually end up buying it. I trust it is going to be full of outstanding recipes.

I must thank my husband for my finding the recipe. We are having some leakage in the foundation of our house and we had to move everything out of the storage room under the landing and stairs in our house. One of the things I had stored under there was a three-shelf bookcase full of cookbooks I have collected since moving to MO. I stacked them all behind the sofa in the den planning to go through them soon. 

Well, you know the rest of the story. A couple of days ago, he packed the books in three medium size boxes to store in the garage. All but two cookbooks, that is - this cookbook being one of them. He left the other one out because he found a coconut cake recipe he wants me to try. Not sure why he left this one out.

I finally decided to flip through them to see if I could donate them to our favorite thrift shop or discover some recipes I had marked or missed when I originally bought the cookbooks. I did see the coconut cake recipe but just took a picture of the recipe since I decided I could donate it. The cookbook had a lot of good-looking recipes, but they called for so much sugar...

This cookbook I am going to keep because I have several (a bunch) of recipes I want to finally try. If I decided to get rid of one cookbook each day, I might end up with no cookbooks by Christmas. I don't have to go to that extreme though so right now I will try for a couple of week. I am sure I will manage more than that once I get started. Will keep you posted.

Back to this recipe...Omitting the nuts even though it called for a whole cup didn't mess with the texture of the bread. I read recently if you are omitting nuts in a recipe to increase the flour by 1/4 cup. I considered doing that, but decided not to and I am glad I didn't. I added my personal notes at the end of the recipe, but I am serious about trying the recipe with stevia. One of the Cafe Treats Bakers made a banana bread a week or so ago with stevia and no one would believe it didn't contain real sugar. I will let you know how it works out.

PRINT RECIPE.

BANANA APPLESAUCE (NUT) BREAD

2    cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1    tablespoon baking powder

2    eggs, lightly beaten

1    cup sugar (I removed 2 tablespoons)

3/4 cup oil

3    tablespoons buttermilk

3    mashed bananas (I had about 1-1/4 cups)

1    cup unsweetened applesauce

1    cup chopped pecans (optional)

1    teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour one 4 x 8 - inch loaf pan. (I sprayed three mini loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and then dusted with flour shaking off the excess flour.) Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.

Add the eggs, sugar, oil, and buttermilk, mixing well with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

 

Stir in the bananas, applesauce, pecans if using, and vanilla.

Mix well.

Pour into the large loaf pan or divide the batter between the three mini loaves. (I use my digital scale to weigh each pan to make sure I do a good job dividing the batter evenly.) Oops! I forgot to take a picture. The pans were filled to about 1/4-1/8 inch from the top.

Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the bread tests done OR about 45 minutes for the mini-loaves. Can test for doneness by pressing lightly the center of the loaf. The bread should "bounce" back.

Cool in pan(s) on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing to finish cooling. 

At church for the Cafe Treats, I cut into slices about 1/4 inch wide and then down the middle for serving size pieces. (I thought I took a picture, but it isn't on my phone, so I guess I didn't. There were no pieces left after second service.)

Personal notes: 

If you are using very ripe bananas which are sweeter, I think you could substitute a cup of stevia or Splenda to make  bread "no-sugar-added. I'm going to try that next time. Removing the 2 tablespoons of sugar from the cup of sugar, did not keep the bread from being very sweet.

I wrapped mine with plastic wrap and left out at room temperature overnight to serve the next morning. I feel comfortable in saying that the loaf would freeze well for later enjoyment.