Low Fat Banana Carrot Ginger Bread
When I was growing up tea time was a daily tradition. My mother would sometimes make currant scones, tea sandwiches, cheese straws or pine tarts. When she didn’t bake, there were always cream or sweet biscuits in our pantry. Pine tarts are traditional tea time snacks in Guyana, my mother’s birthland. When I lived there with my grandmother, I looked forward to my daily delicious cup of tea at 4:00 p.m. along with a homemade pastry and afternoon conversation. Her pine tarts were flakey pastry triangles filled with homemade pineapple jam.
Tea time is a great British tradition I haven’t been able to continue with my son. He’s not interested in having tea in the afternoon. But, he does like pastries just like most kids. Banana bread is one of my favorite quick breads and I often think about making it whenever I have at least three bananas blackening on my counter.
One day after cleaning out the refrigerator, I discovered a limp bag of shredded carrots . I also had five black bananas on the counter so naturally, I felt compelled to bring them together. I also wanted to reduce the fat in traditional banana bread so I substituted applesauce for some of the fat and added chopped carrots and powered ginger. The result was a deliciously moist quick bread that your kids will love and if you’re lucky enough to be able to sit down for a cup of tea in the afternoon, you won’t feel guilty eating it.
Banana Carrot Ginger Bread
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup apple sauce
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
1 cup diced shredded carrots
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups white flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 8×4 inch bread loaf pans with nonstick spay and lightly flour. Shake off excess flour. In a medium bowl, use a whisk to mix wheat flour, white flour, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
Using a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy then add oil, brown sugar, white sugar, apple sauce, bananas and vanilla. Blend on low speed until fully combined. Using a spoon, stir in carrots and mix thoroughly then add flour mixture until well combined. Evenly pour batter into the loaf pans.
Bake on the middle oven rack for 45-55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Set a timer to check the breads after 45 minutes and adjust time accordingly. Cool the breads for 20 minutes before removing from pans.
