Turning Deals Into Meals - Baby Friendly Banana Bread

On our most recent trip to the library for baby story time, I spotted a book called The Baby Bistro Cookbook, written by Johee Muromcew, a collection of baby and toddler friendly recipes for everything from dinner entrees to party snacks.

When I first started making Nolan's baby food, I primarily searched the internet for help (loved the Wholesome Baby Food website).  I never bothered to buy or check out actual books - partially because I felt I had figured things out and partially because I was just too lazy.

Since N moved on from purees to table foods a few months ago, he's been eating, more or less, the same food I do. He eats well, but I've felt like I've been struggling for new ideas for little one friendly breakfasts and snacks, so I decided to give The Baby Bistro a try.

After a quick flip through, I found the book's lunch and dinner ideas to be a bit bland for our taste, but I flagged a few recipes for lower fat and sugar versions of different breakfast and snack favorites, like whole wheat pancakes and waffles.

This afternoon, I tried out the recipe for banana bread (trying to use up some of those free eggs I picked up at HT a few weeks ago), and despite my complete lack of baking competence, it turned out to be a great tasting bread that both Nolan and I enjoyed - much less sweet than the recipe I typically use. If you're looking to pick up bananas on the cheap, check out Aldi, where they're typically just $0.44/lb.

The recipe follows.

Banana Bread

Recipe from The Baby Bistro Cookbook

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1 egg

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the bananas, egg, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla just until blended.
• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon and stir just until blended.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove the bread from the pan and let cool completely on the rack.

Reader Response: Do you have a favorite baby/toddler friendly breakfast or snack recipe?