Craft:

I made two loaves of this banana bread Sunday night, as a back-to-school breakfast treat. On Monday morning, an entire half a loaf was gone, and I got up at 7 a.m. I was, however, able to sneak part of a loaf out of the house and into the office; it too was gone in a short span of time.

I can't really keep track of the latest nutritional advise, so I'm no longer sure if it's a good thing that it's low fat, but the spices make it really tasty, and it's a great recipe for me to use up items that would otherwise go to waste, namely overripe bananas and about-to-expire yogurt. If you try it, please let me know how it was in the Comments!

A couple of notes:

• Whenever a banana gets too ripe in our house, I just toss it into the freezer. I don't peel it first, I don't wrap it up. Then when I get 3 or 4 saved up, I take them out and put them in a big bowl. Once they thaw partway, it's a snap to peel them and then mash them up with a fork.


• I've used everything from the peach yogurt that nobody in the house liked, to leftover sour cream, to regular milk with half a lemon squeezed into it (faux buttermilk), and it's always worked out fine.


• My kids don't like chunks in their bread, but I've always thought some nuts and/or raisins would be a nice addition.

Low-Fat Banana Bread

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar (try 1/2 cup white and 1/4 cup brown
1+ cup ripe bananas, mashed (this is maybe 3 or 4 medium bananas)
1/3 cup yogurt or 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 T vegetable oil
1 T vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or a combo of flours)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 tsp powdered ginger

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a regular-sized loaf pan, and then dust with flour. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is thick and light, about 5 minutes. Mix in the bananas, yogurt, oil, vanilla, and spices. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and beat until just blended. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake about 1 hour, until the bread is golden brown on top and a toothpick or other tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool, or until a ravenous member of your household saunters into the kitchen and finds it.