Fat-Free Banana Bread

I quite fancy quick breads such as banana or pumpkin bread with a good cup of coffee. The only issue is that most of them are packed full of oil/fat. When you gently squeeze these specimens, you will get an oily residue left on your fingers.

Quick breads do not need to contain tons of oil/fat to taste good. Although this bread is called "fat-free", it's not entirely correct. I mean there's no added fat. Of course there's the natural fat in the walnuts. This recipe uses 100% whole-wheat flour, and a load of ripe bananas, that not only add a banana-ry essence, but also keeps the loaf moist.

I make two loaves at any one time, slice them up, wrap each piece tightly with cling-film (plastic wrap) and place into the freezer in a container. I pop them into J’s lunch frozen, so when he gets to eat them, they are all thawed out.


FAT-FREE BANANA BREAD
Makes 2 loaves, 10-12 slices each loaf

Ingredients
315 g whole-wheat flour*
1 t bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 t baking powder
120 g (4 ¼ oz) raw cane sugar
½ t salt
85 g (¾ c) walnut halves and pieces, roughly chopped
2 t cinnamon
¼ t all-spice
430 g (15 oz) very ripe banana flesh (about 4 medium sized bananas), mashed^
2 large eggs
2 T vanilla extract
1 T coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)

* You can use plain white (all-purpose) flour or a mix of both plain (all-purpose) and whole-wheat.
^ I find it very therapeutic to squish the bananas in a zip-lock bag.

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two 11 ½ x 21 ½ cm (4 ½ x 8 ½ inch) loaf tins (pans) with parchment or lightly grease.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients – flour, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), baking powder, sugar, salt, walnuts, cinnamon and all-spice.

3. In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients – mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract.

4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients until just blended. Try not to over-mix the batter.

5. Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf tins (pans). Sprinkle sugar on top, if using. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40-50 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean.

6. Transfer to a cooling rack and the loaves to cool in their tins (pans). Serve sliced with a cup of tea, or coffee, enjoy!