Low Fat Banana Oat Bread

Hmm...baby sleeping.  Out of laundry detergent.  Over-ripe bananas on the counter.  You see where I'm going with this.

Oh yeah baby.  It's banana bread, with a healthier twist, of course.  Low Fat Banana Oat Bread.  I came across this Weight Watchers recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Joy The Baker.  She made a tiny adjustment to the original recipe, and I've made my own changes by substituting some of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat to give it some extra nutrition.  I think next time I may throw in some fresh blueberries.

This bread tastes even better and more moist the next day.  At just 4 points per serving, you can slice this and freeze it in individual portions and have yourself a nice little breakfast or as an afternoon snack. 

Recipe Adapted from:
Joy The Baker 

Makes 1 loaf, 10 slices per loaf, 4 WW points per slice (Old Points system)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp  salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tsp canola oil
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 medium egg whites, beaten
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats 

(Nutritional Information:  160 Cal, 2.5g Fat, 31.3g Carbs, 12.3g Sugar, 4g Protein)


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside. 

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients and set aside.

 
In a smaller bowl, mash bananas. Add oil and whole egg and mix thoroughly. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.  Don't freak out at this point.  Your batter will be pretty thick. 

In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form.  I love my kitchen aid, but the hand mixer is really best for this.  Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions.  

Pour batter into the pan and bake until the top of the loaf is firm to touch, approximately 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Flip out onto a wire rack and continue to cool for at least another 10 minutes.  

Serve with a little light margarine or even a touch of honey.  Honey would be amazing with this.  You've got breakfast on the go!

Loaded Low-Fat Blueberry Oat Muffins

I posted this recipe on facebook a couple of weeks ago, and finally have had the chance to add it to the blog with pictures.

My muffin kick continues these days, and I just finished another batch of these yesterday afternoon.  For some reason, if I have something a little sweet in the morning, I tend to not crave sweets the rest of the day (okay, okay except maybe around 8 or 9 pm--but that's a whole other post).  I found this recipe online and made a couple of modifications to make it my own. 

Ingredients:
(Serves 12)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup of oats
• 1/2 cup of sugar (I used Splenda for Baking)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup of low-fat milk
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil (you can also substitute with applesauce or a mashed banana in order to eliminate the oil)
• 3/4 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)

Nutrition facts for 1 muffin: 184 calories; 7.5g fat; 24g carbs; 1.5g fiber; 3.2g protein. 


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In one bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.

In another bowl, beat egg whites, milk and oil. Whisk for 5-7 mins. You want to get plenty of air into the egg mixture.

Stir into the flour mixture and mix together. Do not overmix, just until everything is combined (the batter will be lumpy).

 
Fold in the blueberries gently.  If you're using frozen, coat these in a little bit of flour to help prevent them from bleeding.

Grease the muffin tins with cooking spray. Fill each cup up to the 3/4 level. 

By the way, I'm absolutely in love with my vintage muffin tins.  They were Stephen's grandmother's, and I use them all the time.  Now, I just need to get some of her recipes!

Okay, so bake these at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once done allow to cool completely, then gently remove from the cups and enjoy!

Don't these look yummy?  They are best served warm with a little bit of light margarine or spray butter and perfect with the morning coffee.  I freeze mine after they've cooled so that I can enjoy them whenever.  Just pop them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds and they are good to go.  Hope you like them!