Strawberry Banana Breakfast Bread

I have a confession – I’m not good with preparing breakfast (and I think I may have admitted that before!)  Yes, I love egg mcmuffins, but you have to be somewhat organized to make these during the week. CH is even worse, usually because he is up way later than me working, and leaves the house many days before I am out of bed.  He needs something he can grab as he heads out the door and eat as he is walking to work. Weekends see a lot more breakfast action, but that is because there is no getting up early, when you’ve gone to bed late.

But this breakfast is a game changer – it’s quick and easy to prepare, it stays fresh and delicious for days and the best part – it’s HEALTHY.  It started out as a healthy recipe from Cate’s World Kitchen (which is a fabulous blog featuring many vegetarian and health-happy recipes), but I tweaked it a little further, and it’s now perfect for our household.

Fresh strawberries, banana, yogurt and applesauce are the main ingredients…all baked together to create a healthy, breakfast bread that keeps you satisfied for hours.  It isn’t overly sweet and you definitely feel healthy indulging in this recipe.  CH often steals the last piece, and always has one-extra piece because it is “so good for him”.

Give it a try and I hope you enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Bread

Yield: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)
Prep Time:  15 minutes
Cook Time:

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 banana, mashed
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour
• 6 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 cups fresh strawberries, diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8 x 4″ loaf pan.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt, applesauce, mashed banana and vanilla.  Whisk lightly until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently until well combined, and no traces of flour.

Gently fold-in the strawberries.

Pour the mixture into the greased loaf pan.  Tap the loaf pan on the counter, gently, 4 to 5 times to release the air-bubbles (this is an important step to prevent an un-even bread).

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a tooth-pick comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the bread and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy.

(Store in an air-tight container for freshness).

Recipe adapted from Cate’s World Kitchen