If you like baked goods, and I definitely do, try to avoid the grocery store pre-packaged items.  They are usually made with low-quality ingredients and contain preservatives and dough conditioners.  By taking fifteen minutes to mix up a loaf and slide it into the oven on an evening or weekend, you will have some tasty and healthier treats to last the week for snacks, dessert, or even breakfast.

Here’s my personal tried-and-true recipe for two 8-inch loaves, or a batch of muffins.

Basic Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted or quite soft
1/3 cup applesauce
4 very soft, very brown, medium bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose, organic flour (I have successfully substituted up to one cup of whole-grain sprouted flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash cloves
dash nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, F

Grease, bottoms only, two eight inch loaf pans or 24 muffin tins with butter or coconut oil (or use paper liners)

Place peeled bananas in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Add applesauce, sugar and butter, run on low speed until combined.

Add buttermilk, vanilla extract and eggs and pulse until combined.

Stir together flour, salt, baking soda and spices in separate bowl.  Add, all at once, to food processor and briefly pulse, just until combined. Mixture will be lumpy, but don’t over mix.

Pour batter into pans, and bake: loaf pans, about an hour and muffins about 20 minutes. Oven temperatures vary (I use a baking stone) so please check often.  When done, the tops of muffins or loaves should be crowned and not jiggly, and quite brown on top.  Use a toothpick to test if desired.