Banana Sponge Cake with White Chocolate Glaze

I'm not sure there's a photo that could do this cake justice but just take my word for it...you will never have a spongier, moister cake than this. Think the texture of a Twinkie but better! Once again I had some old bananas that needed used up and I didn't necessarily want to make banana bread again so I started looking for other recipes. I kept running across banana sponge cakes but the recipes were either in a foreign language or needed to be converted from the metric system. I was intrigued though so I decided to try my best to convert the recipe although math is something I should never be trusted with. But, it worked! And the result is this amazing creation that makes me say, "banana bread who?" Preheat your oven to 325 and prepare to be wowed...

3 very ripe bananas

3 eggs 

1/8 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

1 cup sugar 

1 cup bread flour (this may be the secret so I wouldn't substitute this for wheat, all purpose, etc.)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips 

1 tbsp almond milk (could use regular milk, I'm sure) 

Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder together in a small mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine banana, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Mix it until it's a thick, liquid consistency. Fold in the flour mixture and blend together very well. Last, add the vegetable oil. Pour into a well greased glass baking dish. Cook for 40-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. In a small microwave safe dish microwave the white chocolate chips and almond milk until melted. Stir it up and pour it onto the banana cake. Stick it back in the oven for about two minutes to re-melt the chocolate because it hardens up fast. When you pull it out, smooth the glaze around the cake with a spatula. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then slice and enjoy! 

Glazed Banana Bread

This morning when I noticed that my last 3 bananas were way too soft and spotty to eat, I decided to make banana bread instead of tossing them in the trash. I officially feel like a grown up now! This is a simple, easy to follow recipe and it's fairly fool-proof to end up with moist, delicious banana bread. Preheat your oven to 350 before starting.

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups wheat flour

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 3 regular sized bananas)

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

2 eggs 

6 tbsp butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Fold in the wet ingredients and then pour into a well-greased glass loaf dish. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and prepare your glaze...

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp honey

2 1/2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp heavy cream (a healthy heavy cream substitute would be mixing together 1/2 cup low-fat milk, 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1/2 tbsp whole wheat flour, which makes about 1/2 cup of heavy cream)

Combine all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes before pouring onto the banana bread loaf. It will set and harden. Serve warm and enjoy a delicious treat! 

Banana Oat Pancakes

If I told you that pancakes could be guilt free, would you believe me? They're so guilt free in fact, that you can even sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top and wouldn't even have to adjust your belt notch. Behold this beauty...

I was never a fan of regular pancakes, but on my healthy eating quest, egg whites and turkey bacon could only suffice for so long. One bite is all it took to find these on my breakfast plate 4-5 days a week! Don't like bananas and/or oatmeal? The banana taste is so subtle that a good coating of butter and syrup drowns it out and you'll never even know that there's oatmeal in it. Now, this is a simple process, barely requiring more effort than a regular pancake. 

1/2 banana

1/2 cup egg whites

1/2 cup dry oatmeal 

Blend all 3 ingredients together. (I use a Ninja food processor but a regular blender would do the trick.) Pour the mixture into a well-greased skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides. This method makes 1 normal sized pancake. Double, triple or quadruple the above recipe to meet your needs. This passed the taste test of a 1 year old with flying colors. My husband doesn't like pancakes but I made him try a bite and he said it was very good and unfortunately my 7 year old won't touch them because I made the mistake of making him a double chocolate chocolate chip pancake and he's had tunnel vision ever since. Feel free to adorn with fruit or toppings of your choice and enjoy!