banana blueberry bread

When I went to the Farmer’s Market to get blueberries to make this blueberry cobbler, let’s say I was a bit off on the amount of blueberries I needed. As in off by a lot. I ended up putting some in the freezer, figuring I’d come up with something else to do with them. When JB mentioned she had a blueberry banana bread recipe she was crazy about, I figured I’d give it a go. It turned out to be a quick, easy way to put the blueberries to use, and I even had enough for two loaves!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup nonfat or low-fat buttermilk
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
• 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Coat your 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Whisk the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Then stir in the mashed bananas.

Whisk whole-wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a separate medium bowl.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (don’t over stir). Fold in blueberries. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Let cool for about 2 hours before slicing.

The first time I made this recipe, I didn’t have a wire rack (it got lost somehow in the move). Don’t underestimate the power of a good wire rack! I ended up with my bread not cooling enough. Half of it was put too quickly into a container and ended up having to be thrown out. No bueno. The second time, I had the wire rack out, let it cool for a while, and then sliced. I keep the bread in little Ziploc bags, perfect to grab and take into the office.