Banana Blueberry Bread

Wanna hear a story?  About a week and a half ago we had a storm here where I live that was pretty intense.  So intense, in fact, that it knocked out the control panel on my oven.  After having a repairman here to look at it we discovered that it would be almost as expensive to fix it as it would be to buy a new one.  So, that night, my husband and I set out for the appliance store (leaving our kids at home with my sweet mom.  God. bless. her.)  We found a new range and had it set to be delivered in 5 days (I ordered white and, apparently, it's not a very popular color anymore in appliance world.  Who knew?  I'm not really a fan of doing what's popular anyway.  But I digress.)  Luckily for me, the rest of the dinners I had planned for the week were stovetop friendly (did I mention that your oven can go out and not your stove?  I never knew that!)  Anyway, one day during the 5 day waiting for my newwhiteunpopularcoloredoven I decided I was gonna make banana bread because I had overripe bananas and some time on my hands (and because, as you know, I LOVE to make variations on banana bread.)  I happened to be on the phone with a friend of mine and I mentioned said banana bread.  And then she said it.  "Oh, you already got your new oven?"  Nope.  I hadn't already gotten my new oven.  It was a moment of airheadedness that I am NOT a fan of.  I had already started mashing the bananas so I went ahead and finished and popped them in the freezer.  Needless to say, my new oven got delivered, I made the banana bread yesterday and the rest is history.  Oh, and the banana bread is good too!  Enjoy!

Banana Blueberry Bread (adapted from huffingtonpost.com)

3/4 c. milk (almond, skim, buttermilk, whatever)
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 c. applesauce (can also use canola oil)
2 T. milled flaxseed (can also use 2 large eggs)
6 T. water (do not add if using eggs)
3 medium mashed bananas
2 1/4 c. white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1 1/4 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat the oven to 375.  Coat a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.    Whisk milk, brown sugar, applesauce (or oil), flaxseed (or eggs) and water (if using flaxseed) together in a large bowl.  Stir in the mashed bananas.  Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and stir until just combined.  Fold in the blueberries.  Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 2 hours before slicing.  

10 servings (212 calories each serving) according to my calculator on loseit.com
For this loaf I actually cut the bread into 10 pieces and then cut them in half down the middle so my husband could take it to work and share.  Of course, I kept a piece for myself!