mmmonkey bread

usually my monkey boys never let the bananas in our house sit long enough to produce a spot-it's more like trying to keep them from eating the green ones around here. i always love it when i come down stairs to find that isaak has pushed a chair over to the counter and eaten every single banana with the peels draped around the kitchen, family room and play room to prove it.

but the last couple of weeks the boys have been more into raisin bran than their usual cheerios-topped-with-bananas for breakfast. silly me, i didn't slow down on the bunch per day from the grocery store and we ended up with a couple bunches of over-ripe bananas. and everyone knows there's only one* cure for "polka dot" bananas...

only we've discovered a new-to-us recipe that's just a touch healthier. we like our brown foods around here and aren't afraid of whole wheat anythings, but have learned that others don't always feel the same way. with this recipe however, i wouldn't be afraid to offer say, our neighbors, a loaf full of it. we've even cut the sugar down by 50% using Splenda's brown sugar blend and avoided the oil by using applesauce. it's still good i tell ya! me and the boys eat it for breakfast, snacks, and dessert! go ahead, try it:

"MMMONKEY BREAD"

• 4 Tbs. butter (or margarine, i guess) softened
  
• 1/4 C. applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbs. skim milk [I use rice milk]
  
• 3/4 C. packed brown sugar [but I used Splenda® brown sugar blend]
• 1 C. mashed banana [2-3 medium bananas]
• 1 3/4 C. whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt [optional]
• 1/4 C. coatsely chopped walnuts or pecants [optional as well, but we use way more than a quarter cup-'cause we're nutty like that.]
• chocolate chips or chunks of symphony candy bar to taste [joe's little addition]
  

beat margarine, applesauce, eggs, milk, and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until smooth. add banana and blend at low speed; beat at high speed 1 to 2 minutes. combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix into batter. mix in nuts [and chocolate]. pour batter into greased loaf pan. bake at 350° F until bread is golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean** [55-60 minutes]. cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool to room temperature.

*right. probably more than one. our other favorite is monkey pancakes, or monkey muffins, or monkey french toast, or....
**if you've got an especially big loaf- i doubled the recipe and made a big loaf and a small loaf. for the big one i had to put foil over the top to keep it from burning toward the end and let bake a little longer. FYI.

hollaback girl - gwen stefani