Banana Craisin Bread

I guess that it has officially been summer break!  I just realized how long it has been since I last posted!  I sincerely apologize!  Apparently I need to get caught up. :)  I've been on the lookout for some new breakfast ideas for my kids.  It seems that we fall into our cereal rut and don't frequently stray from that routine during the week.  For some reason their little internal clocks are okay with venturing out on the weekend, but not at all during the week.  When I am home for the summer, I haven't quite figured out how they differentiate between the two.  I guess everyone can sense a good weekend!

One of our local grocery stores recently had Ocean Spray Craisins on sale.  I picked up a variety of bags (they had several infused with different fruits like blueberry or pomegranate which I would highly recommend) and headed over to the Ocean Spray website to see if they posted any recipes for a breakfast style quick bread.  Their recipe search feature is actually pretty advanced-- so check it out if you haven't already played there.  I was able to search by category, and then for recipes that specifically included the ingredients I had purchased.  They then give you all of the nutritional facts for the recipe.  This particular bread was very highly rated on their site, was easy to make, and was very quickly consumed by my little ones-- even on a Wednesday morning! :)

I went ahead and used the pomegranate infused Craisins to make this one.  They gave a little extra sweetness to each bite.  I would add that this is a great banana bread for people looking for more of a subtle banana flavor.  You can see from the color of the bread in the picture above that the banana was not an overpowering ingredient.  I think that I might even play with increasing the amount of mashed banana next time I make it.  Overall, it is definitely one that will be made again in the very near future.

(As a side note, I was able to easily make this into a dairy free item for my kiddo with allergies by substituting soy milk and soy margarine.)


Banana Craisin Bread
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (I omitted)
1 6-ounce package Craisins

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 -inch loaf pan.   Mix sugar and butter together in a medium mixing bowl until completely blended. Add banana, milk and eggs, mixing well. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until moist. Stir in nuts and dried cranberries. Spread batter evenly in a loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool. 


Source: Ocean Spray