Whole Wheat Caramel Banana Bread

This whole wheat banana bread uses very little oil and 100% whole wheat flour. The caramel bits add the perfect touch of sweetness.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings loaf

Calories 175kcal

Heat oven to 350*F. Spray a 9 by 5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking or baking spray, set aside.
In a large bowl, mash bananas (I use a potato masher). Add sugar, applesauce, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir to combine.
On top of the banana mixture, add flour. Make a small well in the flour and add baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir gently to mix the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients.
Stir everything together until just combined. Fold in caramel bits. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Transfer loaf pan to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes. Run a knife around edges of bread to loosen from pan. Invert onto rack and turn bread out of pan. Let stand until cooled completely before slicing (if you can wait that long).
This freezes well. I almost always double the recipe and wrap one loaf in foil, then put in a freezer zip-top bag and freeze.

Instead of making a well in the flour for the rest of the dry ingredients (step 3), you could pre-mix them in a seperate bowl. I don’t like doing dishes so I always do it the way I described in the directions. It turns out great every time.
You could also bake the bread in 3 small sized loaf pans. Adjust baking time to 36-40 minutes.