BRANana Bread & Zucchini Pecan Flaxseed Bread

Sunday, May 16, 2010
Been on a kick baking bread.  We needed some food for a road trip so I made these and froze them.  It made for wonderful breakfast and snack food!  They are both fantastic and will definitely be made again.  The best part is that they are both relatively healthy (in moderation, as all things are).

BRANana Bread
3/4 c white flour
3/4 c wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/4 c ground flaxseed or flaxmeal
1 tsp each baking soda and baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 c mashed ripe bananas (about 3 regular sized)
3/4 c yogurt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
1/3 c dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan lightly with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, wheat bran, sugar, ground flax, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix the batter.  Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until wooden skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on rack. Slice and serve or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Yield: Makes 1 large loaf, 16 slices. Tip: The bananas must be very, very ripe (sweet!) for this banana bread as there’s very little added sugar. Freeze your bananas as they become over ripe and you will always be ready to throw together a banana loaf!
* Recipe from Taste of Home February/March 2010

Zucchini-Pecan Flaxseed Bread
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
1 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup egg substitute
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, granulated sugar, and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Spread zucchini onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Press down firmly to remove excess liquid. Combine yogurt, egg substitute, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in zucchini. Add zucchini mixture and 1/4 cup pecans to flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle batter with 3 tablespoons pecans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.
* Recipe from Cooking Light