Mini Rolo Banana Bread

 A combination of healthy and indulgent, this moist banana bread pairs perfectly with chocolate and caramel. Mini Rolo candy, transforms this banana loaf to a decadent mouth watering creation.

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Anyone else have a stash of frozen bananas in your freezer? My kids are unpredictable when it comes to bananas. Some weeks when I buy them, they eat them in the matter of days, other weeks my bananas stay on the counter until brown and over ripened. That's when they make it to their new home; the freezer. 

When I see the pile building up, that's when it's time to make banana bread. My son is taking a food and nutrition class this semester and every other Friday has become his practical days. So far he has made us chocolate chip cookies and a chopped salad. This past Friday he was asked to make a healthy banana bread. The perfect way to use up that stockpile of ripe bananas in my freezer.

As a foodie mama, it's been a bit hard to not hover, while my son is in the kitchen. The cook in me wants to watch every move and direct him; but I know that I need to trust that he will read the recipe and follow it correctly. He is doing great so far and we are enjoying taste testing his creations.

His banana bread turned out wonderfully. Despite using healthier ingredients, it came out moist and rose wonderfully. We decided to make a "healthy" version for school and an "indulgent" version for us. I had a bag of mini Rolo candies, so I suggested he add some to the batter and to sprinkle some on top of the loaf once it had cooled a bit. I've been trying to reduce the amount of sweets we eat, but this was a great treat for the kids, who have been missing junk food in the house, LOL. The result is an indulgent, not too sinful snack!

Feel free to omit the Rolo candies, or replace with chocolate chips or pecans 💜

How do I make Healthy Banana Bread?

• Use wholesome ingredients instead of butter, refined sugar and white flour
• Use natural sweeteners, such as bananas, apple sauce and honey or maple syrup
• Reduce the amount of sweetness and fat

Ingredients you will need to make Banana Bread

• ripe bananas- these are a must. You want the skins to be yellow with brown spots. The uglier the banana, the better. They will make your bread sweet and moist
• unsweetened apple sauce- this replaces the fat content. You can replace with Greek yogurt
• oil- you don't need a lot of oil here. Use a healthy oil like melted coconut oil, or avocado oil
• eggs- for a vegan loaf you can substitute with flax egg
• flour- you can cut the all purpose flour by replacing half the amount with whole wheat flour
• Honey, or maple syrup- feel free to use any natural liquid sweetener such as stevia

Tips for making the BEST Banana Bread

• Use RIPE bananas- to ripen bananas more quickly, you can place them in a brown paper bag with apples for a few days. If needed, I sometimes grab ripe bananas from the discount produce rack at our local grocery store.
• Follow the recipe- baking is a science and quite different than cooking. Follow recipes to a T to ensure best results. If you choose to alter the recipe, do not expect the same results.
• DO NOT OVER MIX the batter- over mixing develops the gluten in the batter. The result will be tough banana bread. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
• Do not over bake- remove the banana bread from the oven once a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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Equipment needed for this recipe

• mixing bowl
• measuring cups for both dry and wet measures
• measuring spoons
• potato masher
• wooden spoon of spatula
• loaf pan 9x5 inch
• parchment paper

Mini Rolo Banana Bread

1 1/2 C ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 C honey
1/2 C unsweetened apple sauce

2 eggs

2 Tbs avocado oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 C whole wheat flour

1 1/4 C all purpose flour

1 C mini Rolo candies, divided 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray and line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a potato masher. Add the honey, apple sauce, eggs, vanilla and avocado oil; mixing well to combine. 

Measure in the flour, whole wheat flour and salt; and gently mix until just about combined (you should still be able to see some flour in the batter).

Add in 2/3 C of the mini Rolo candies and gently stir, until the flour has been all incorporated (do not over mix!).

Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes; until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.

Once cooled for 10 minutes, using the parchment paper, remove the loaf from the pan and place on wire rack to continue cooling. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/3 C mini Rolo candies.

To store- wrap cooled loaf in plastic wrap. Banana loaf can be left on the counter for 3 days, if it lasts that long 😉

To freeze- wrap the baked and cooled loaf in plastic wrap and place in a large ziptop bag. Loaves can be frozen for up to 3 months.

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