Ja cię kocham…

In my last post I talk about indulging a little bit in the foods that we want.  Sometimes I HAVE to have fettuccine alfredo or my ranch dressing on my salad.

Okay, I always have ranch dressing, but it’s on the side.  (I have friends that are very health conscious that are now going to scold me for admitting to the ranch – hehe.)  What I’m getting at is the fact that there are some foods that I cannot substitute with fat-free ingredients.  Ranch dressing being one of them.

I’d rather eat a salad with NO dressing than a salad with fat-free ranch.  Bleck.  It’s just NOT the same!

There are other foods that I have absolutely no problem substituting low-fat or healthier ingredients for the fattier ones.  Honestly, I like to make most classic dishes healthier.   Chicken Parmesan is one of them.

But please, PLEASE don’t EVER ask me to consume fat-free ranch… or fat-free cheese for that matter.  Eeeeew.  I swear that stuff isn’t even food.  (Don’t worry about me too much.  I do like part-skim and low-fat dairy so my arteries won’t completely clog…)

Often when I need inspiration for a healthy twist on a dish, I turn to Ellie Krieger of the Food Network.  As a very popular nutritionist with her own cooking show, Ellie is the one to look up for lightened up meals without compromising the flavor.  (She doesn’t use fat-free cheese.  That’s my kind of girl!)

All of my friends at work know what a foodie I am.  Every day, I’m asked questions about cooking or health facts.   One of my friends (who is equally as obsessed with the Food Network as I am) brought in this recipe.  8:30 in the morning she sees me, runs to her purse, grabs the recipe, slams it on my clip board and says, “you have GOT to try this!”.

So I did.  And she was right!  And after eating it for myself I realized that her excitement for this dish was very much appropriate.

Hopefully this healthier version of Chicken Parmesan will be one that you add to your collection!  Some people do not like to mess with a classic, but I think this one is tasty enough to meet your standards!

Healthy Chicken Parmesan

Source: Ellie Krieger
Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 slices whole-wheat bread (1-ounce each) (I used honey-wheat sandwich thins because they are my current obsession!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 egg whites
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 (6 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
Olive oil cooking spray
1 jar good-quality marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons (1/2-ounce) shredded Parmesan

Directions:

(Serving size, 1 piece chicken with sauce and cheese)

Calories 410; Total Fat 11 g; (Sat Fat 4.5 g, Mono Fat 2.7 g, Poly Fat 1.2 g) ; Protein 50 g; Carb 31 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 110 mg; Sodium 1200 mg

My mom, sister, and I not only share DNA but a deep love for this dip.   My sister had a few wedding dress fittings and each time we were finished at the bridal boutique we went to the same restaurant for tea.  Each time we stared at our options on the menu, looked at each other and smiled as one of us inevitably said, “Do you want to split the pumpkin hummus platter?”.

OF COURSE WE DO!  It’s to die for!

This platter came with olives, pitas, and crudite.  Oh so good.  So we decided to make our own.  I decided not to use tahini (ground sesame seeds) in this hummus, and I’m happy to share that the flavor wasn’t negatively affected.   The consistency is different than that of a typical store-bought hummus.   This recipe is a little chunkier, but it definitely feels lighter and fresher.

I had to laugh because I come walking into my parents’ house with groceries and am so excited to get started on dinner when I realize that I brought absolutely nothing to dip into the pumpkin hummus.  Oops.

If it’s not a cake that I forget, it’s chips for the dip!  Geez!

Lucky for me my mom is a genius!  She whipped out some whole wheat wraps, did a little mommy magic and gave me some awesome pita chips for the hummus.   The pita chips were so stinkin’ easy that I made them last night for dinner.  I had three leftover wheat wraps in the fridge that were in there just long enough that I couldn’t fold them without them tearing.  I never thought of making chips out of them.  It seriously took less than 10 minutes from start to finish.  Gotta love that!

This whole hummus and pita recipe takes less than 10 minutes.   Just a little zip, zip of the food processor while your oven bakes and you have a fabulous appetizer.

Pumpkin Hummus withe Semi-Homemade Pita Chips

Source for Hummus: Libby’s Pumpkin Website
Source for Pita Chips: The Mommy

Serves 8

For Pita Chips:

Ingredients:

4 whole wheat wraps
cooking spray or 1 Tbs. olive oil
salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.

With a pizza cutter or knife, cut wraps into 8 equal triangles and place on baking sheets.  Spray wrap triangles lightly with cooking spray or gently brush with olive oil.  Flip and gently coat other side of wrap with cooking spray or oil.  Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Bake for 5 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown.  Flip them.  Bake for an additional 3-4 minutes making sure to watch them carefully because they can burn very quickly.  Take them out and let cool.

For the Pumpkin Hummus:

Ingredients:

1 can (15.5 oz.) chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
sprinkle of paprika (optional)

Directions

Place chickpeas, pumpkin, lemon juice, water, garlic, salt and pepper into food processor; cover. Blend for 1 minute or until smooth.  Additional water, a teaspoon at a time, can be added if a smoother consistency is desired. Stir in parsley. Top with paprika.  Serve immediately or refrigerate in tightly covered container for up to 4 days. Makes about 2 cups.

This dish is simplicity at its finest.  If you follow my blog at all you know how much I love recipes that consist of only a few ingredients.  Being the horrible multitasker that I am I need to have each and every ingredient prepared and right in front of me (and sometimes I put them in order of when I use them) before I start cooking or baking otherwise I will forget something.  This is especially true when I bake.  I have been known to forget key ingredients like eggs and milk in a cake.  I know.  It’s pathetic!  I blame it on the fact that I typically make vegan cakes that don’t require eggs and milk, but that’s not actually the truth.  I just get going and grab what’s in front of me – and if the eggs and milk aren’t in front of me, they ain’t goin’ in the cake.  Oops.

This recipe comes from a fellow foodie, and when I saw how simple the recipe is to prepare I leaped at the chance to make it.

I think what really makes this meal stand out is the homemade breadcrumbs.  They only take minutes to make and really add depth to the pasta.  This classic Italian dish is a good reminder that less is more. Recipes consisting of too many ingredients can get awfully expensive, and quite honestly I end up with far more dishes in the sink than I would prefer.  Stick with simplicity.  It never fails us.  Bearing that in mind, I really wish that I had doubled the recipe so I could share it with my friends and family.  This is definitely one to show off.  Bookmark it, friends!  This one is a keeper.

Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs
Source: Minimally adapted from Las Vegas Food Adventures
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups fresh homemade breadcrumbs
2 large garlic cloves, very finely minced
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta, such as spaghetti, linguine or capellini

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or two. Remove from heat; add the cheese, parsley, bacon pieces, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Cook the pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain and add to pan with breadcrumbs. Toss over low heat until pasta is coated. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.

I just had two weekends both consisting of going out with my girlies.  And yes, it’s Friday night, and I already went out this weekend with my girls.  And yes, it’s before 8pm and I am home already.  Don’t judge.  I start early

Confession: I cannot tell you the last time that I had a girls’ night out let alone having it happen two weekends in a row.  One of which was my darling sister’s bachelorette party downtown filled with laughter, mojitos, and tapas and the other consisted of a bunch of co-workers hitting up Happy Hour at a local restaurant.

Another Confession: If I’m out with a bunch of friends and the restaurant offers free bread to snack on before our meals come out, I’m doomed from the start.  You can be pretty certain that I’m the first one to take a piece of bread and then wait until everyone has eaten her share to see if I can also have the last piece of bread.  Don’t you hate when there is just ONE piece of bread left untouched in that basket?  Personally, I think it’s a crime, but so often I find that no one is willing to take that last piece of bread as if it makes them greedy or something.  C’mon, we all know you want it.  I know I want it.

Sometimes I wish that they wouldn’t even offer that bread because then I’m “forced” to eat it until I’m full.  Then my meal comes out and I’m “forced” to eat that, too.  I can’t let it go to waste, right?  We won’t talk about the dessert that I inevitably always have room for despite eating most of the bread and my meal.  I can’t divulge too many secrets right now.

We’ll just stick with the irresistible bread.

I have to laugh because I made this bread WAY back in February when my area was slammed with several MONSTER snow storms.  The snow piled up against my sliding glass door, and I had nothing to do besides bake (even though I am challenged in the baking department) and play Wii.  Since I work at a school and the snow was well over 2 feet high, I had several days to mill around the house finding something to do.

That’s when I discovered this guilt-free bread.

Did you catch that, people!?  GUILT-FREE bread!!  You may wonder why this bread is worthy of such a title.  Does it have carbs?  Yes.  Does it satisfy your hunger?  Yes.  Is it tasty enough for restaurants to put it on their tables instead of the yummy white bread?  YES!  It’s that good.

And it has minimal ingredients.  And the ingredients are good for you.  This bread was specifically made so that we can consume it without a guilty conscience.  SWEEEEET!!!

Let’s have a go with it, shall we?

Clean Whole Wheat Bread

Source: Clean Eating Magazine and Eric Pater
Yields 18 slices

Ingredients:

3 cups whole-wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Mix 1 ¾ cup warm water, flour and yeast in a small bowl. Let rise until mixture doubles in size, approximately 30 minutes.

Combine remaining ingredients with dough and knead by hand or with bread maker until dough is sticky. Add additional warm water if needed. If kneading by hand, let rise for 30 minutes, knead again and let rise for 30 minutes. If using a bread maker, let rise once, then put it in standard bread loaf pan to rise for an additional 30 minutes until dough fills out loaf pan.

Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes. Slice to desired width and serve.

NUTRIENTS per 2 5/8-inch slices:

Calories: 160
Total Fat: 3.5 g
Sat. Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 30 g
Fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 14 g
Protein: 3 g
Sodium: 55 mg
Cholesterol: 0 mg

I woke up yesterday morning to find 2 feet of snow at my door step.  That’s a lot of snow, at least for people in my area.  Noodles, on the other hand, had no issues with it.  She was in her glory. (Probably because she didn’t have to shovel!)

For some reason massive amounts of snow bring on a baking bug for a lot of us.  So many of my friends told me that they were baking this weekend because of the snow.  Being cooped up causes us to get ants in our pants!  Since the superbowl is this weekend, I decided to make something that would go with the beer that the husbands will be consuming.  I’m not a beer drinker, but I do love my pretzels!

They were super simple, but a little time consuming.  Anything that needs to be kneaded then rise, then rolled, then risen again will take time so make sure that you have the day to relax and enjoy making your pretzels.

They were bland in my opinion (probably because I didn’t put the huge chunks of salt on them – the huge salt makes me cringe), but this is easily remedied by putting that salt on them, sprinkling some cinnamon sugar on them or dunking them in salsa con queso!  Mmmmmmm….

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

Source: Delicious Wisdom
Yields: 12 small pretzels

Prep Time:  About 2 Hours (mostly inactive)
Cooking Time:  15 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 Cup Warm Water
1 Package of Dry Active Yeast
1 ½ Cups + 1 ¼ Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 Tsp Sea Salt
3 Cups Water
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
Course Sea Salt (optional)

In a large bowl, stir yeast into warm water and set aside to dissolve for 10 minutes.  Stir in olive oil, sea salt and 1 ½ cups of flour.  Once well combined, add remaining flour and knead for about 5 minutes.  Place into a dry bowl, lightly cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions and roll into balls.  Roll each ball into a long snake-y piece and form into pretzel shapes.  (See below.) Let them rise for about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  Bring water and baking soda to a simmer in a deep pan.  Simmer pretzels in simmering water for about one minute, flipping halfway through.  Place pretzels on a lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Try to eat them the day of baking that’s when they are the best!

I’ve been letting my kitchen become sparse.  I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a while, and it’s honestly because I want to use all of the stuff that has been sitting in the cabinets for a long time.  Don’t worry, I do go through the cabinets every once in a while to make sure there isn’t anything that has been hiding in a dark corner for years.  Nothing is expired in my kitchen – at least not yet, and I am determined to use all of it.

It’s hard when I go on grocery strike.  I have to become very creative about meals.  Either that or just settle for a mix of food that makes absolutely no sense.  The other night I had canned carrots and meatballs for dinner… no not mixed together just heated up carrots and heated up meatballs.  It did its job.  I was full.

Seriously, I’m trying to consume a lot of my food before I go shopping again.   So carrots and meatballs it is!

And I am officially out of milk and bread.

So what do I do?  I make my own bread.  As for the milk… we’ll see how long my husband will last without it.

Now that I have made my own sandwich bread, I’m going to have a difficult time going back to prepackaged bread.  This was so soft and fluffy and probably cost all of 15 cents to make.  No need to buy Ezekiel bread for $3 or $4 dollars anymore.  Not when I can just make my own.

This recipe comes from my awesome sister.  She is getting married soon, and like me, she is a self-proclaimed NON-baker.  We don’t bake, at least not as well as we would like.  And if BOTH of us can successfully make this bread on the first try, anyone can.  Trust me.

Light Whole Wheat Bread

Source: Slightly adapted from my sister of Cleanliness is Next to Godliness and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes 4, 1-pound loaves.
Ingredients:

3 cups lukewarm water
1 ½ TBS granulated yeast (1 ½ packets)
1 ½ TBS salt
1 cup Whole Wheat flour
5 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
Whole Wheat Flour for pizza peel

Directions:

Mixing & Storing the Dough:

Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a five quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14 cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with a dough hook). If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately two hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when it’s cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 14 days.

When ready to use:

Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, 6 inches wide, and 8 to 10 inches long. Form it into a loaf by working from the short side of the dough, rolling up the length of the dough one section at a time, pinching the crease with each rotation to strengthen the surface tension. It will spread wider as you roll it. Pinch the final seam closed with the back edge of your hand or with your thumbs. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch bread pan; the ends of the loaf should touch the ends of the pan to ensure an even rise. Mist the top with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit for 40 minutes.

20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising bread.

Sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash across, “scallop”, or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top using a serrated bread knife. Leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before eating.

Put the bread in the oven and pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.

Allow to cool before eating.

I know, I know… I can’t get enough of fall flavors!  It’s too much fun.

Now that I’ve started a new job, I’m out the door in a hurry every blessed day.  Typically I have a banana, a granola bar, and coffee, but I’m in the mood for something a little different this week.  I actually had a free moment this afternoon and decided to whip up some bread.  This bread was far from high maintenance… I love recipes that are incredibly easy.   And it was just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth but also just tart enough to keep things interesting.  It was perfect!!  Eat it warmed with a little butter and honey – it is delicious!

Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread

Source: Adapted from Blue Ridge Baker and Martha Stewart Every Day Food

Serves 8

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 bag (12 ounces) cranberries
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (8-cup capacity), and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, and whisk to combine; fold in cranberries.

Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top with turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about an hour. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let bread cool 30 minutes. Invert onto rack, then immediately turn right side up to cool completely.

A pita sandwich is the perfect lunch for me – especially the smaller pitas.  They are so cute, you can stuff them with whatever you want, and they are incredibly filling.  Whenever I’m in the mood for pitas, I don’t have them so I remedied that by making my own.  Jay just bought a lot of tuna from Costco so I thought that these little additions would be ideal for us.   They are like fluffy bread pillows waiting to be stuffed.  I recommend making these when you have some down time to let them rise.   Lazy Sundays are great for this.  You mix, knead, take a nap, roll dough into balls, get back on the couch… you get the idea.   Not a lot of work, but it takes time.   And trust me, they are worth the wait!

Homemade Pita Bread

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

Yields: 8 pitas

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (If you want fluffy pitas, use either all-purpose or whole wheat pastry)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

Directions:

Mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water.

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes. 

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

Take a nap… )

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it’ll be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

Since my cookies sheets aren’t that long, I was able to squeeze two in the oven long ways.  That way I can bake all of the pitas simultaneously.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick – 6 inches in diameter. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.

Place discs on a lightly greased baking sheet or on parchment paper and let rise, uncovered, until barely doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes.

Open the oven, remove pitas from greased cookie sheet and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn’t necessary.

Okay, I have a husband that is obsessed with only a few things as far as food is concerned – milk, english muffins, and fiber one bars.  Milk is an absolute must, so we always have at least a glass of milk in the house, but english muffins can be rather expensive.  I try to buy them during a “buy one get one free” deal, but I haven’t seen one in a while.  So I decided to make my own in the form of bread.

This recipe comes with the nooks and crannies found in a typical english muffin, but it is made with ingredients that we all have in our cabinet.  YES!!!  There is nothing more gratifying than to find a recipe that I want to make, AND I have all of the ingredients.

You can make pizzas, french toast, McDonald’s “egg mcmuffins”, and much, much more with this bread.  You need to make this.  Even if you have never set foot in the kitchen, you can’t go wrong with this recipe.

English Muffin Bread

Source: Donalyn Ketchum

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients:

5 cups all purpose unbleached flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
2 packages dry yeast
1 Tbs. sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pam, butter, shortening (or whatever you may use to grease your baking pans)
cornmeal for sprinkling pan and loaves prior to cooking

Directions:

Grease 9×5 pans with Pam and then sprinkle cornmeal in and tilt the pans to coat all surfaces and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 3 cups of the all purpose unbleached flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

Heat the milk and water until it’s very warm but not too uncomfortable to touch.

Stir it in the flour mixture.

Add the final 2 cups of all-purpose flour and knead into a ball.

Divide the bread dough into two even groups and place them in the prepared bread pans.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.

Let the bread sit in a warm location for 45-60 minutes to rise.  (I used a halogen lamp since I turned the heat off.  I like my house relatively cold.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F while bread is rising (with 15 minutes left or so).

Place pans in the oven for 30 minutes.  (Since my bread was placed in dark pans, I placed a cookie sheet under them and only cooked them for 20 minutes.)  My oven tends to cook faster than others.  With this in mind, it doesn’t hurt to check your bread after 20 minutes.  Check with a toothpick and when it comes out clean, remove bread from pans and allow to cool on a cooling rack or plate.

Enjoy!

Besides a grilled veggie sandwich, my all-time favorite lunch is a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  And if anyone happens to throw in some marshmallow fluff and/or chocolate, I won’t tell.  YUM.  I used to eat two of them every day during college (can we say freshman 15???).

I had a whole bunch of very, VERY ripe bananas sitting on my counter this morning, and I had a thought.  I would LOVE to make banana bread… better yet, I would LOVE to make peanut butter banana bread!  Even though this idea was original for me, I knew that there would be a recipe online for it.  And I was right )  AND it was a healthier version to boot.  Fantastic.

Even thought this is a more “healthy” version of the bread, you can’t even tell.  It’s sweet, it’s peanut buttery, and it’s incredible.  Basically it’s a woman’s dream all wrapped up in one baked good.  My friend Nicole tried it today at work and absolutely loved it.  She’s a queen baker so that means a lot!!!  )

Peanut Butter Banana Bread (with Chocolate Chips)

Source: Peanut Butter Boy

Yields 1 to 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (all-purpose flour also works well but try to use unbleached)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used natural cane sugar)
1T baking powder
3/4t salt
1/4t cinnamon
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter w/ salt
1t vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)
3.5 oz dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks (I used chocolate chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans (or muffin tins).

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, vanilla and egg.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Split evenly between the two pans  and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Since the batter can easily fit  into one pan – If you want to make only one loaf, bake for 20- 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.