"Healthy"-ish Banana Bread

I love when my bananas go bad - it's a great excuse to bake some bread. I decided to do some things different this time. As you will notice, the title of this post has a cute little "Healthy" written in it. Which comes to difference #1:

I used applesauce to sweeten instead of all sugar.

Difference #2 (you might ask):

Instead of one really big loaf - I baked little square loaves. I know it's not right to call them this, but I have a strong urge to call them "baby cakes." They're just so cute!



After googling for a good recipe, I found this one on www.cooks.com:

3 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour

I used my kitchen aid to mix everything (even mash the bananas).

1. I mashed the bananas! FuN!
2. Added sugar to the bananas - and mixed!
3. Waited 15 minutes (in the actual instructions - I decided to go to the grocery store at this point and get the rest of the ingredients I was lacking).
4. Added applesauce and eggs - mixed!
5. Added baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla, gradually added flour (I did this 1/4 cup at a time).
6. I poured it into a glass loaf pan, then realized I was going to make my baby cakes and put the batter into my square cupcake pan.
7. Baked at 350 for around 30-45 minutes, I'm not sure how long it took. I took them out when they started browning on the top.
8. I tried removing the baby cakes when they were still hot, and decided that I needed to wait...



I've just tried one and realized I totally forgot the most awesome part! I forgot the chopped walnuts *frown*. They're good though! They're not as soft as I imagined, but I suppose that is because of the small baking area for each mini loaf. I may have waited a few minutes too long before taking them out of the oven as well. The bottom of the baby loaves are a little too brown.

They taste healthy... yummy.