Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread

This Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread is just lightly sweet, tender and perfect for a filling breakfast or snack.

By now you probably know that I’m a major carb addict and I’m willing to bet that a good portion of you would gladly take your place beside me at a carb addict anonymous meeting. Bread is good stuff, right? But, the crazy thing is that it’s so often villainized in the guidelines of fad diets that we (myself absolutely included) automatically equate bread with weight gain. It’s ridiculous!

As much as I want to, I can’t tell you that a loaf of white french bread smothered in garlic butter will help you carve out a 6-pack (wouldn’t that be awesome?!). But I do want to talk about the role that whole grains  play on our plates and in our bellies. Let’s get scientific here: (in the most un-scientific way)

Grains = Carbohydrates = Glucose = Fuel for our brain

Without grains our body can’t make the energy needed to function. Simple as that. There are thousands of ways to work grains into your meals like this Quinoa Apple Salad or Cheesy Vegetable Quinoa Bake. You can also visit GrainsForYourBrain.org for up-to-date information on grains and our bodies, and recipes from some of America’s favorite chefs and moms. It’s recommended that adults eat 6 servings of grains/day, half of those coming from whole grains like whole wheat, quinoa, and brown rice. So let’s start by getting a serving of whole wheat with this super moist whole wheat banana blueberry bread!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Bread

Now, onto this bread. In all honesty I wouldn’t usually use exclusively whole wheat flour in a quick bread recipe for fear that it would be too heavy, dense and dry. But this recipe cured that fear 100%!  It’s so moist, just lightly sweet and perfect for a filling breakfast or snack.

Beat together the sugar and butter until smooth and add in some banana and vanilla. Mix until smooth again and then mix in your eggs honey, salt and baking soda.

Toss in some oats and some whole wheat flour.

And mix just slightly until there are no more dry spots– over mixing the batter can cause the finished bread to be very dry.

Toss a cup of blueberries in a few teaspoons of flour and gently fold them into the batter. The flour will keep the berries from sinking to the bottom of the bread and from turning the batter blue.

Spoon the batter into a greased loaf pan and sprinkle with a few oats and brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, cover with foil to keep the top from browning too much and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread

By Heather Cheney

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 C butter softened
• ▢ 1/2 C brown sugar packed
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 3/4 tsp baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt
• ▢ about 2 large over-ripe bananas cut into chunks- 1 lb weight before peeling
• ▢ 1/4 honey
• ▢ 2 eggs room temperature
• ▢ 1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
• ▢ 1 C fresh or frozen blueberries + 2 tsp flour
• ▢ 1/2 C old fashioned or quick-cooking oats
• ▢ additional brown sugar and oats for top

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8½" x 4½" or 9" x 5" loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, baking soda, salt, and bananas, beating until well combined. The mixture will be fairly smooth, with some scattered small chunks of banana.
• Beat in the honey and eggs.
• Add the flour, then the oats, stirring until smooth. Combine blueberries with 2 tsp of flour and gently fold into the batter.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with additional oats and brown sugar if desired. Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
• Bake the bread for 50 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the oven; a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean.
• Allow the loaf to cool for 10 minutes; then remove it from the pan, and set it on a rack to cool completely.

Nutrition and Food Safety Disclosure

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