More Baking

Yesterday I decided that I needed to make banana bread because I had two bananas that were a bit beyond their prime...perfect for banana bread, but definitely too ripe for me to eat. I searched through my recipes for banana bread (for which I have many) and found one that I hadn't tried.

Blueberry-Lemon Banana Bread with Cream-Cheese Glaze
From: Cooking Light Magazine

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana - (about 2 bananas)
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• Cooking spray

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons water

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare the banana bread, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.
3. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until mixture is well blended (about 1 minute). Add mashed banana, egg substitute, sour cream, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries and lemon rind. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the bread 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove the bread from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
4. To prepare glaze, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over cooled bread.

Angela's Notes on Blueberry-Lemon Banana Bread with Cream-Cheese Glaze: Shopping at the local commissary always proves to be a bit of a challenge. Rarely do they have every ingredient you need for a particular recipe. That means that I usually have to make some sort of adjustment to the recipe.

I wasn't able to find lowfat sour cream so I used nonfat. The only egg substitute that was available was the Southwestern variety with pepers and onions (ick with banana bread) so I used one egg plus two egg whites. I also used frozen blueberries instead of fresh, I just let them defrost before using them. Finally, to keep my own portions under control I made muffins instead of a loaf of bread.

I sent some of the muffins with Les to his band rehearsal and needless to say they didn't last long. They turned out great! Yum Yum Yum!

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