Itsy Bitsy Foodies

Though I try to make healthy eating choices most of the time I wouldn’t consider myself a part of the fat-free/low-fat fad.  We eat a lot of salmon, avocado, nuts, etc. around here and we try to choose our fat sources well.  When it comes to sweets, I have baked plenty of rubbery and otherwise no good low-fat treats over the years and have finally come to the conclusion that I’d rather indulge in the real thing every once in a while than sacrifice on flavor and texture.  So it’s taken me a while to try substituting yogurt for butter in my favorite recipes, a substitution that I’ve heard a lot about. 

With that said, I finally tried it with my family’s classic banana bread recipe and my family loved it.  I simply substituted low-fat Greek yogurt for the shortening/butter.  {I also tried it with fat-free yogurt but the texture was not as good.}  The result was a moist, flavorful banana bread that turns out to be a pretty healthy breakfast or snack, even when slathered in peanut butter.  I generally err on extra bananas and make sure not to over-cook the bread in order to keep the bread moist. 

{TIP: Mashed bananas freeze well.  If I have bananas that are getting too ripe but I don’t have time to make bread, I mash the bananas and freeze them in 1 cup portions so that it’s all measured and ready to go for when I do have time to bake.}