Extra Bananas

I have bought bananas at the grocery store every week since I can remember. For about the first fifteen years of my marriage, I would go to the store and think to myself, "I'd better get bananas for Mike," thinking that my husband loved bananas. I didn't realize that as he was eating them, he was thinking, "I'd better eat the bananas before they go bad." He likes them, but he doesn't LOVE them like I thought. As he often says, he has the banana burden in our family. I don't remember how we figured out our mistaken thinking, but I've cut back a bit on the bananas.

Last week he was out of town, so I had extra bananas around--a great opportunity to make banana bread. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. Not only is it really good, it only has 1 gram of fat.

Lower Fat Banana Nut Bread

3/4 cup fat free sour cream

4 egg whites

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup raisins (optional)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

6 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons reduced fat margarine

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray two 8x4x2 inch loaf pans with a non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine the fat free sour cream, egg whites, vanilla, bananas and margarine and mix on medium speed of electric mixer until smooth, creamy and well blended.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar into the banana mixture. Stir with a spoon until combined. Add more flour if necessary until a thick and rather resistant dough is formed. Fold in the nuts and raisins. Mix for 1 minute on the low speed of an electric mixer. Divide dough evenly between the two loaf pans.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and the center tests done. Remove breads from pans immediately and allow to cool on a rack before slicing.

I cut the recipe in half because I only had 3 bananas but I kept the nut and raisin portions the same. I realize the loaf looks a little small. Either someone (moi) ate a couple of pieces or it's like looking in your rear view mirror where objects appear smaller than they really are.