Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

I used to love making banana bread when I was back in high school. My dad has the old 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook sitting in our kitchen, and I'd always whip it out gleefully whenever we'd have super-ripe bananas. As I've grown up, however, I've constantly tried to pretend that I could make healthy banana bread (my earlier Banana Nut Bread, for instance), and it turns out good, but not Betty Crocker good. 

So, what I'm trying to say is, when I found this recipe--made with greek yogurt, that's the important part--and I saw that it had a whole cup of sugar in it, my first inclination was to try something else. But I didn't. It's the first week of classes so I figured a moist, sweet, delicious banana bread was what we all needed. And then I decided, what the hell, let's throw in some chocolate while we're at it! The result was the best banana bread I've ever made. So I learned a valuable lesson this week--some sugar splurging is good for you. 

Banana Nut Bread

I love banana bread. It's one of a very limited number of baked goods that I've been making since I was in middle school, except back then I got the recipe out of my father's old Betty Crocker cookbook. This is definitely a little bit different than that one with it's two and a half cups of flour and tons of butter. This is pretty moist and to die for when you spread on some butter. This also begs to be made into french toast. You heard me. 

As a side note, the bread looks a little over-brown. I know. I put this in the oven while I went on a run, and although I ran pretty damn fast, it wasn't quite fast enough. 

Banana Applesauce Muffins

I'm always looking for something I can eat after my morning run that will help tide me over until lunch. I had one very ripe banana sitting on my counter just begging me to be made into something delicious earlier this week and so I made these muffins! I might not call them muffins, though, more like mini banana bread cups. They're pretty dense but nice and moist. And as an added plus, this recipe only makes six, which is the perfect portion for someone living alone!

From Pinterest: Peanut Butter Banana Squares

I am a sucker for basically anything peanut butter-banana and I think I eat the combination in one way or another every single day. So, when I found these bars on pinterest one afternoon I knew I had to give them a try! I modified them by adding some nuts and (of course) extra cinnamon. They are not dense or full of oils and I think will make a great after-running snack for me during the semester!