From Lindsay Maitland Hunt’s new cookbook Healthyish, this Seeded Whole Wheat Banana Bread is the healthy banana bread recipe you will keep going back to!

Name: seeded whole wheat banana bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients: 1/2 cup (120 ml) neutral oil, such as canola, vegetable, or grapeseed, plus more for pan; 1 1/2 cups (6.4 oz./190 g) whole wheat flour, plus more for pan; 2/3 cup (135 g) plus 1 tablespoon sugar; 1/4 cup (35 g) plus 2 teaspoons poppy seeds; 1/4 cup (46 g) plus 2 teaspoons sesame seeds; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup mashed banana (from about 3 really ripe bananas); 2 large eggs, room temperature; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup (4 oz./120 g) pecans or walnuts, toasted, chopped

If you aim to eat a little healthier most of the time, I hear you. Generally speaking, despite the constant availability of cookies and other desserts in our apartment, we tend to eat fairly healthy in our day-to-day. Okay, maybe healthy-ish is more accurate.

There are no off-limits restrictions for cravings. I have always believed that getting too wrapped up in something you consider a “diet” sets you up for failure and there is no reason to set yourself up to feel bad. By healthy-ish I mean, we try to cook what our bodies crave and keep our meals balanced where possible. For example, if you want mac and cheese, drop in some kale or spinach as well, or try making your salad dressing at home, or maybe something can be so delicious you won’t even realize that—Bonus!—it is also good for you.

Lindsay Maitland Hunt’s new cookbook Healthy-ish is the embodiment of how we cook most days. Filled with recipes that are satisfying, simple, and good for you, but not too good for you, this cookbook allows you to celebrate your pasta cravings, surprise yourself with easy flavorful sauces, and still have a sweet treat to boot.

One of the first recipes I tried from the book is this Seeded Whole Wheat Banana Bread. Banana bread is such a great staple bread, and there are so many options for personalizing. Take a look at this Bourbon Banana Bread or this Brown Butter Banana Bread with Crumble and you will appreciate that there can never be too many banana bread recipes. Each brings its own flavor profile and texture, despite its shared over-ripe banana beginnings.

This seeded version is no exception. Filled with texturizing sesame seeds, poppy seeds and walnuts, it becomes a whole new entity. The little seeds crunch and pop in your mouth keeping things interesting. Since we’re only using whole wheat flour here, we’ve got another reason to feel good about cutting a thick slice of this bread, and slathering it with a hefty pat of butter. Hey, we are being healthy-ish afterall.

For this recipe, I used my new favorite Non-Stick Pro 1lb Loaf Pan from OXO, which, at 8.5 x 4.5 inches, is the perfect size to hold in the thick batter and allow it to rise nice and tall. The square edges are great for keeping your bread’s structure as well. I also scooped and measured with OXO’s Stainless Steel Measuring Cups and Spoons Set which has handy magnetic handles to keep the cups and spoons together for easy storing. Cool your bread on a good cooling rack like this Non-Stick Pro Cooling and Baking Rack which is PFOA-free and swiss-engineered for exceptional performance and food release. The wire pattern is optimized for 360° air circulation, for quick cooling and even baking.

If you haven’t tested the temperature of your oven before, I highly recommend doing so. Even if you set your oven to a certain temperature, there can be quite a variation depending on the model and environment. At my parents’ house, for example, you have to set it to 400°, if you are looking for 350°. Grab an oven thermometer, like the OXO Chef’s Precision Oven Thermometer, and find out your oven’s baseline.

seeded whole wheat banana bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Servings: Makes 1 loaf

whole wheat banana bread 11

Ingredients

1/2 cup (120 ml) neutral oil, such as canola, vegetable, or grapeseed, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups (6.4 oz./190 g) whole wheat flour, plus more for pan
2/3 cup (135 g) plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup (35 g) plus 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/4 cup (46 g) plus 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup mashed banana (from about 3 really ripe bananas)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (4 oz./120 g) pecans or walnuts, toasted, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º. Oil and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 ½ inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper. Mix 1 Tbsp. sugar, 2 tsp. poppy seeds, and 2 tsp. sesame seeds in a small bowl; set aside.
Whisk baking powder, salt, and remaining 11/2 cups flour, 1/4 cup poppy seeds, and 1/4 cup sesame seeds in a medium bowl.
Whisk banana, eggs, vanilla, and remaining 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup oil in a large bowl. Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in pecans. Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle reserved poppy-sesame-sugar mixture evenly over.
Bake bread until a tester (a toothpick works here) inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 50–60 minutes. Let cool in pan 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely. If you feel comfortable, carefully invert loaf over sink to catch any loose seeds and sugar. Bread keeps well for a few days, tightly wrapped at room temperature.

Notes

Recipe from Lindsay Maitland Hunt’s new cookbook Healthy-ish

https://www.butterlovescompany.com/2018/02/04/healthy-banana-bread/

butter loves company | jenna larsson

Thank you to OXO for partnering with me on this post! As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for your support of the brands that make blc possible! xo

I’m going to go out on a limb and say no one ever plans to make banana bread. I mean, no one ever goes to the grocery store to pick the brownest, most-speckled bananas on the display for the sole purpose of baking moist, delicious breakfast bread . . . Right?

Wrong!

Yesterday I found myself digging through the mounds of bananas at the grocery store, trying to find the most over-ripe, dumpster-bound ’nanners they had. You see, I’ve recently been stockpiling smoothie supplies, which has left me with lots of browning bananas—the byproduct of which has been excessive amounts of banana bread. So when I noticed I had one of these Dalmation-spotted bananas left in the fruit bowl this week, I didn’t want it to go to waste. And that brings us back to yesterday and the aforementioned produce section scavenge. (Disregard the fact that I didn’t want one thing to go to waste, so I went out and bought TWO MORE THINGS. My logic is sensational.)

When I got home, I thought about how—despite having made lots of banana breads in the past—I had never really found the one. Each result was pretty typical: moist, slightly sweet, lightly spiced, even-crumbed banana-y cake. Not sweet enough, too sweet, too dull, too crazy, clingy, not clingy enough . . . wait, ugh, oh right, the bread! This time I wanted to up the banana bread ante so my natural thought process looked a little like free association:

Bananas (duh)! Banana Bread (keep)! Bread! Bread and Butter! Butter! Brown Butter (ohh, yeaahh)! Butter on Pancakes! Banana Pancakes (Jack Johnson?)! Breakfast! Coffee cake (interesting . . .)! Streusel (of course)!

Sweet banana bread with a nutty depth from brown butter and a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping sounded like exactly what I needed and, I would argue, you need it too. If you’re intimidated by the sound of brown butter, stop that. You can do it. You’ll literally just heat the butter until it starts to crackle and foam. Once the crackling subsides, it will start turning golden and you’re in business! So . . . Run! Get to the store, before all the brown bananas run out!!

brown butter banana bread, with crumble
adapted from Joy the Baker

Prep Time: 30 minutes (includes browning and cooling butter)
Cook Time: 45–55 minutes
Total Time: about 1 hour 25 minutes
Makes 1 9 x 5 loaf

Ingredients:

1½ sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces (we will brown this in step one; it will result in a little over ½ cup brown butter)
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup well shaken buttermilk (mine was straight from the fridge cold)
1½ cups very ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 medium bananas)

Topping:
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cups roughly chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½ pieces
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Instructions:

In a small saucepan with a small heatproof bowl nearby, melt the butter—stirring constantly until all of the pieces have melted. About 30 seconds after the butter melts completely, it will begin to bubble and foam. You will hear crackling sounds. Continue to stir constantly. As the foam and crackling begins to subside stir constantly while paying attention to the color and smell of the butter. As soon as it gives off a nutty smell and starts turning light brown take it off the heat to prevent it from burning. Then, quickly, but carefully, pour into the small heatproof bowl. Allow the brown butter to cool at room temp (or in the fridge if you’re in a pinch) while you prepare the rest of the bread.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the center. Grease a 9 x 5 inch bread pan or similar sized baking dish.
Prepare the crumble: In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour, walnuts (if using), butter, cinnamon and salt. Use your hands to mix together until the butter begins to stick to the other ingredients to make chunks. Some of the mixture will stay powdery, and that’s okay. Set aside.
Prepare the bread: In a large bowl—or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment—whisk together flour, white and brown sugars, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract and buttermilk. Add the mashed bananas and then the cooled brown butter.
With the mixer on low speed, add half of the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the second half of the egg mixture and mix on low until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
Spread half of the bread batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle ⅓ of the crumble on top of the batter. Top with remaining half of bread batter, using a knife or spoon to spread if needed. Top evenly with the rest of the crumb topping.
Bake bread for 45–55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy warm or at room temperature for up to 4 days.