Raspberry Banana Bread {Recipe - Foodie Friday}

Last week Jen over at Mom vs. the Boys posted a Banana Raspberry Muffin recipe that got me thinking, "Hmm, raspberry and bananas together? That sounds tasty!" I decided it was time to dust off my banana bread recipe and make some slight alterations.

A good friend gave me her chocolate banana bread recipe a few years back. I always make it sans chocolate because my husband doesn't like chocolate in bake goods. (I know, so wrong, eh?) Sometimes I make it with chopped walnuts or almonds in it, and sometimes I leave out the nuts. It depends on what I have in the house. This time I made it without nuts, and added raspberries. It was quite yummy. I should probably note that I still think it would taste good with nuts in it as well (and even better with chocolate!). Also, the original recipe called for 3/4 cup sugar, and I've knocked it down to 1/3 cup. It was still quite sweet to taste and I plan to try using only 1/4 cup sugar next time we make this.


I forgot to include the raspberries in this picture. Note the slightly over-ripe discount bananas, perfect for mashing up in banana bread.

Raspberry Banana Bread

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 15 min
Yields: 1 9x5 loaf or two 8x4 loaves.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
3 medium mashed ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of fresh raspberries
Optional: 3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom of one 9x5 or two 8x4 loaf pans.

Preschooler helps mix margarine and sugar.

2. In a large bowl combine sugar and margarine and mix well.

Add eggs and mashed bananas to the margarine and sugar.

3. Add eggs and pre-mashed bananas, mix well.

It will look like this, goopy and soupy. Right on track.

4. Now stir in flour, baking soda and salt, mix well.

Fresh raspberries being folded into batter.

5. Fold in raspberries. (If adding in optional chocolate chips and/or nuts fold them in at this point as well).

Raspberry Banana Bread batter, ready to bake.

6. Pour into pan. (Ok, mine doesn't pour... it's more like scrape into pan.)

Finished Raspberry Banana Bread, moist and delicious

7. Bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

8. Cool 15 minutes, remove from pan. Cool completely, wrap tightly, and store in fridge.

Let me know if you give it a try! I'm calling my experiment with adding raspberries a success. I loved it. My sister loved it. It was moist and delicious. However, my husband and my daughter both voted the raspberries down. Despite the fact that she likes eating fresh raspberries, G-Girl said she only liked the parts without the berries and that the bites with them in it gave her "the raspberry shivers". While my husband didn't like the texture of the raspberry seeds. Picky! Overall, I'm liking this add berries idea though. I'm thinking next time I'll give blueberries a whirl.