Nik's OTHER Protein Banana Bread Recipe

Before we go into this have you guys entered this week's "Mother of ALL December" giveaway yet? I have a feeling a lot of you have vitamins you like already so you don't want to enter. To that I say, it never hurts to try something new!

Look for a video review in the next day or so for Building Blocks Vitamins, our lovely prize sponsor for this week. And enter the contest! You have a year to redeem your certificate and goodness knows a lot can happen in that time. It may come in handy when you least expect it!

Moving right along...

So I already have a perfectly lovely, no-flour protein banana bread recipe here on the blog. Lookit:

But yesterday I played with my food to come up with another recipe, this one using Atkins Baking Mix. I like both versions but this one is a heartier banana bread. Whereas I can eat a whole mini-loaf of the no-flour version, I am hard pressed to get through half of one of these suckers.

And since I am a complete push-over incapable of following my own no-stats rule, I will give the nutritional information after the recipe, k?

Here we go.

Nik's OTHER Banana Bread Recipe
(Makes 6 mini-loaves)
Ingredients:

• 3 seriously over-ripe bananas (I'm talking heavily spotted and even all brown on the outside!)
• 1/2 - 3/4 c. no-calorie sweetener, depending on your sweetness preference (if you don't use Splenda use the amount of your favorite sweetener that correlates to the above amount of sugar)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. Atkins Baking Mix
• 3 scoops of your favorite vanilla protein powder (Here's mine)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. chopped walnuts

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile peel your bananas and place them in a large mixing bowl and mash them (I use a potato masher but if they are really ripe a wooden spoon would do). TIP: If you want to make these today and don't have over-ripe bananas, stick them in that 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, skin and all. Speeds up the process of nature!

Add sweetener, extract and pie spice and mix thoroughly. Add eggs, one at a time and mixing the first thoroughly before adding the second. 

In a separate bowl mix together the baking mix, protein powder, baking powder and salt. 

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Mixture will be THICK.

Finally, add walnuts and mix them through.

Spray down either a regular loaf pan or a mini-loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray (or this, which is a baker's best kept secret to prevent sticking!). If using the mini-loaf pan, I used a half cup measure to empty equal parts of the batter into each loaf slot. Then I divided the extra batter between the slots. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until top is done and edges are browned.

Another tip for successfully releasing quick-breads and cakes. Take them straight from the oven to a pan of really cold water. Just dip the bottom in the cold water for about 5-10 seconds. It helps seal the bottom and ensure that after you completely cool your baked good, it comes loose from the pan fairly easily.

Ok, so...stats...(full stats available here):

Per loaf:

Calories: 348

Fat: 17.41g (from the nuts mostly)

Carbs: 25g

Fiber: 6g (so 19g NET carbs)

Protein: 27g

I have a sneaking suspicion that the half I ate after I took the above picture is the only part I'll get. The divas each ate half of one last night and then this morning for breakfast! Sigh...story of my life.