Yum!

My happy thoughts today center around food, which in all honesty, they often do!  I just made banana bread, but tweaked the recipe a bit.  I used whole wheat flour, coconut nectar syrup instead of sugar, added shredded coconut, and mixed in chunks of pineapple.  I am repeatedly amazed at how easy it is to alter recipes to consist of whole grains and non-conventional natural sweeteners only to have them taste even better than the original.  Pure bliss....

Blissful Banana Bread

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 coconut nectar (or any other sweetener to your own taste)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup pineapple chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Start by mixing the butter into the mashed bananas with a wooden spoon. Next, mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda (and salt if you opted to use it) over the mixture and stir it all together. Add the flour, but mix just until moistened and then fold in pineapple chunks. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

*  Note:  I often use a flatter 7 1/2 X 11 inch pan for a more cake-like loaf.