This weekend in London I had one request for Charlie before our time together came to an end.

“I want to cook and bake together!”

Charlie has the opportunity to spend most days in a kitchen, whether at work or home. I hoped that her passion and confidence in the kitchen would wear off on me after a few hours together. Luckily not only did her confidence rub off on me but I had a blast spending time in her kitchen laughing, learning and making both dinner and dessert together.

She will be sharing our dinner recipes over on her blog along with some great tips and tricks but tonight I have the pleasure of sharing this recipe – delicious, healthy banana bread! Deciding what we would bake was far easier than Charlie ever expected. I’ve read her blog for months now and have fallen in love with her recipes, many of which have included either bananas or berries. No smell in the world reminds me more of home and my mom than banana bread. We used to buy multiple bunches of bananas just so we always had brown ones ready for the loaf pan.

There are a few ingredients in this healthier version that my mom’s version never included:

• 3 super ripe bananas- Always bake banana bread with extra ripe bananas. The riper the banana, the more sweet the bread!
• Agave – A great alternative sweetener, agave is lower in glycemic index and is less refined than sugar.  We only needed to use a small amount in the recipe due to the bananas’ sweetness.
• Spelt flour – Spelt is a whole grain so it is a great alternative to all purpose flour. While we didn’t fully substitute the all purpose flour for spelt we were able to make the recipe healthier by going half and half. 
• Greek style yogurt – Yogurt provides added protein and serves as a healthy fat so you can use less oil.
• Blueberries – Fresh and perfectly in season the berries added a hint of tartness to the bread and gave it a new tastes. It’s also a perfect way to use berries when you buy one too many pints on sale at the market!

The finished loaf was so moist and dense that we were able to cut 12 wonderful slices, perfect to enjoy anytime! I had a slice with coffee on my flight from London to Geneva Monday morning and both Charlie and I have both loved snacking on the fresh banana bread with a cup of tea at work.

Blueberry Banana Bread

Ingredients:  (yields one loaf)

• 2/3 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3-4 tablespoons agave
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine flours, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork until they are fully mashed together. Add oil, agave, vanilla, eggs, and yogurt to the banana mixture and whisk well, until no lumps. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl, folding until thoroughly combined. Fold blueberries into batter gently. Pour batter into a greased or lined loaf pan.  Bake in the oven for one hour or until a toothpick passes the test, aka comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before removing from pan and slicing. Cut individual slices for perfect pre-portioned breakfast or office snacks!

What’s your favorite baked good memory from growing up? Mine is definitely my mom’s banana bread!