Honeyed Banana Chipotle Bread

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk or 1 cup low-fat plain yogurt, strained
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 small very ripe bananas (about 1 cup)
• 3 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped*
• 2 tablespoons unsalted pepitas*

Preparation

Step 1

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Coat 1 (8 1/2 X 4 1/2 -inch) loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. In a medium size bowl, whisk the flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and eggs with an electric hand mixer. Add buttermilk and oil; beat until batter is smooth. Lower the speed; add the bananas and chipotle chilis and beat briefly (it's ok if the batter has a few lumps).

4. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle with pepitas. Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Check the bread about halfway through. If you feel like the top is getting too brown, then tent the pan with a piece of aluminum foil and continue baking. You can also place the pan on two stacked baking sheets in the center of the oven to prevent the bottom of the bread from getting too browned.

5. Transfer the bread to a rack; let cool for 10 minutes, then unmold and place on a rack to cool to room temperature.