{Healthy} Banana Streusel Bread

Banana Bread, made healthier with the addition of whole wheat flour and flax seed.

But you'd never even know it....because with streusel topping, it's quite possibly the best banana bread you've ever tasted!

Banana bread is one of those things I grew up on. Like strawberry pie or cinnamon-sugar toast or Dad's frosting crackers, every time I make banana bread I am reminded of my childhood. I guess that means my mom must have made a lot of it....and now that I'm a mom, I understand why! Not only do I ALWAYS have an abundance of overripe bananas in my freezer, but I also LOVE knowing that I have breakfast covered. So when my kids ask what they can have for breakfast in the morning, all I have to do is slice a piece of bread and call it a day! (And then slice another for myself, of course.....)

There is nothing that makes me happier than an easy breakfast that satisfies the kiddos....and especially one that's good for them. Because I don't know about you, but around here, any amount of sugar my kids can get in the breakfast hour is not enough. If it were up to them, they would have donuts and Pop Tarts and probably candy for breakfast most days of the week! And as appealing as it sometimes is to just say yes, so I can go back to enjoying my coffee, I can only rarely bring myself to do it. So instead, we rotate between good-for-you bagels and oatmeal and cereal....with an occasional offer of pancakes or smoothies thrown in...90% of the time. So any type of muffins or bread - especially one with a streusel topping - is definitely a treat!

 

And the best part of all? It's a treat I feel GREAT about giving to my kids for breakfast. Because breakfast is the most important meal of the day! And if I'm going to be making them things like Cookie Brittle and Root Beer Float Pops during their other 11 waking hours, I figure I'd better at least start them off on a good foot. Now you may be wondering - how good can bread with whole wheat flour and flax seed really be? Especially in the minds of kids!? But I have to tell you - I've been making this bread, without the whole wheat and the flax seed, forever! And my kids honestly like this version just as much or even better! (And without chocolate chips!) So we have {healthy} breakfast covered....which is definitely something that makes this mom happy.

                                                                                                                                       

   

{Healthy} Banana Streusel Bread
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. milled flax seed
3/4 c. milk
3 T. vegetable oil
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 c. mashed *ripe bananas (I use 3)

Streusel Topping (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature

1. Mix all bread ingredients (except streusel topping) together in a large mixing bowl. Pour into a greased bread pan. 
2. Mix streusel topping in a small bowl and sprinkle over the top of the unbaked bread.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 65-70 minutes.
4. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

*The key to delicious banana bread is the bananas! Once mine start to get overripe I stick them in the freezer, whole and unpeeled. Before baking with them, I thaw them in the refrigerator and they are ready to go! Try it when you make banana bread - you won't be disappointed!

Enjoy!
                                                                         

Be sure to check out some of my other delicious breakfast recipes!

Thanks for taking a peek inside my Lemon Tree Dwelling....

I hope you feel right at home!

-Cathy