2015 National Festival of Breads

Youth Grand Prize Winner
Sponsored by the Kansas Soybean Commission
Ellie Sapat, Falmouth, Maine

“We make banana bread in the summer when the bananas get ripe faster than we can use them. I have a basic recipe but like to play around with healthful ingredients, like including more grains, nuts, almond meal, and chia seed. This is really nice with tea, or packed in a school lunch. It keeps well, too.” 

Yield:  1 loaf, 18 servings.

Ingredients

2 cups (8 ounces) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
2/3 cup (2 ½ ounces) finely ground almond meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (1 ounce) chia seed
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (3 ounces) vegetable oil (soybean oil)
1 cup (8 ounces) mashed ripe bananas (about 2)
¾ cup (6 ounces) plain nonfat yogurt
2/3 cup (5 ounces) maple syrup
¾ cup (4 ounces) dried wild Maine blueberries or coarsely chopped dried blueberries
½ cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans (optional)

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed with 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of a 9” x 5” loaf pan with no-stick cooking spray with flour. In a large bowl, stir together flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chia seed.   
2. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, bananas, yogurt, and maple syrup.
3. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Over mixing the batter will make the quick bread tough. Fold in blueberries and pecans.
4. Spoon batter into pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar Topping.
5. Bake 60 to 65 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil after 40 minutes. The bread is done when a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or an instant-read thermometer inserted near the center registers 205°F. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Run a table knife around the edge of the loaf to loosen. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack before slicing.

Nutrition Information Per Serving (1 slice, 71g): 210 calories, 8g fat, 5g fiber, 1g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 30g carbohydrates, 20mg cholesterol, 180mg sodium, 5g protein, 1mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 66mg calcium.

Baker's Bio

To view Ellie Sapat's bio click here.