SQ Bakes Experimental Banana Bread!

SQ: the Mad Scientist Cook 

Call me a mad scientist-cook, but I decided to experiment with a recipe. Myren’s concerns about poisoning and his reference to Arsenic and old Lace not withstanding, I went ahead with my dangerous risky exciting baking experiment.

My Mission: To make Healthy Banana Bread

To accomplish this goal, I needed to change out some of the horrible killer deadly less than stellar ingredients for healthier options. Which ingredients are those, you ask? Flour, for one.

But flour is kind of a key ingredient, you say. (Myren said it. Many times. Loudly.)

I say–no worries. The usual bleached wheat flour can be replaced. I had a couple of options and I said what the heck (making Myren so nervous he threw up his hands and said why don’t I just blow up the kitchen), I’ll use both!

Instead of using 1 3/4 cups of bleached wheat flour, I only used 1 cup and 1/2 cup of coconut flour (yes, you read that right! COCONUT FLOUR) and a 1/4 cup of hazelnut flour (yes, the nut, hazelnut, can be pummeled into flour–but I didn’t do it myself. I bought it at the store. Pricey, but good and floury.)

My next substitution was for the sugar. (Myren moaned like an old Italian lady at a wake when he heard this.) Instead I used a half-and-half mixture of Truvia (a stevia plant based sweetener with virtually no calories) and the usual crap granulated sugar.

For my third and most ridiculous crazy challenging substitution, I had to find a replacement for the dreaded deadly tasty high-fat shortening. I searched around my kitchen for something with healthy fat and the right consistency, briefly skimming over Myren walking around and waving his hands and yelling for me to stop this nonsense. Then my gaze landed on…

An AVACADO!

I used half shortening and half mushed avocado to make up the 1/3 cup of mushy fatty substance I needed for the recipe.

Then I mixed all the ingredients together, baked it for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees and voila! [The banana bread pictured at the right is the authentic deal fresh from the oven.]*

Here’s a list of the recipe’s ingredients:

• 2-3 ripe bananas
• 1 3/4 cups flour (wheat, coconut & hazelnut combined)
• 1/2 cup sugar (half Trivia, half granulated cane sugar)
• 2 1/4 tsp baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup half shortening-half avacado
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cups walnut pieces (or as many nuts as you want) (I used a lot.)

Good Luck and let me know how it goes with your experiment!

*I ate this banana bread and it was delicious and I suffered no ill effects (in spite of Myren’s dire warnings. He refused to try it.)