Sweet Potato Banana Bread
Since ushering a little life into the world, sweet potatoes have become a staple in our household. Apparently, they’re one of the most nutrient rich, easy to digest foods for babies who are just starting to explore table food. So sweet potatoes it is, all around! Sweet potato pancakes, mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato breakfast hash, and my most recent development – sweet potato banana bread. For anyone who loves classic banana bread, this spin kicks it up a notch. You still get the magic of banana bread, with the beautiful color and sweet undertone of the sweet potato.
Also, using a root vegetable puree is a fab way to incorporate beautiful moisture and color into whatever you’re making. One day I’ll bake something using beets, since I’m a hundred percent sure it’s equally as fabulous. Most importantly, this is a super easy recipe that just works for those three leftover overripe bananas in the bunch. We all know no one’s going to eat them. Bake them!
What You'll Need:
One or two very ripe bananas
One medium to large sweet potato
Two eggs
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
¼ milk
1¾ cups of flour
1¼ cups sugar
Two teaspoons baking soda
A teaspoon of good vanilla extract
Two teaspoons of cinnamon
A teaspoon of nutmeg
½ teaspoon clove
½ teaspoon allspice
Just a pinch of salt
What To Do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prepare your banana and sweet potato puree. Peel, cube, and dice your sweet potato and boil until softened and easily pierced with a fork, drain water. Mash the cooled sweet potato and banana together until only small clumps remain. Add wet ingredients and and mix well (milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla). Once well combined, mix in the sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and spices). Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stirring until just combined. Pour the mixture into a loaf pan that you’ve sprayed well with baking spray. Shake the pan it around a little to make sure everything’s all settled. I like to give it one good loud plop on my countertop, which always scares the dogs, but reassures me that it’s oven ready.
Place your loaf pan in the oven and allow it to bake for an hour. In reality you’re supposed to check the bread with a skewer or toothpick and make sure it comes out clean, but I have a really obnoxious habit of just sticking a butter knife right into the middle. Same effect. Just leaves a kind of annoying stab wound in the middle of your bread. If your skewer (or butter knife) comes out wet, just place back in the oven for five minute intervals until it comes out clean. That’s it. Enjoy!