OMG we survived a blizzard last week and it’s snowing again! Holy Cow this is insane! During Blizzard Nemo, work shut down at noon and the Governor of our state made it ILLEGAL to drive on the roads after 4pm. There were crazy lines for gas and groceries and everyone freaked out.
Being stuck in the house is not exactly fun and so I decided to do some cooking. However, turns out we don’t have a lot of ingredients lying around, since we didn’t want to wait in line at the grocery store. So I decided to indulge my newfound interest in baking.
I love pomegranate. One of the oldest known fruits, the mighty pomegranate has the most powerful antioxidants of all fruits. It is a powerful cancer fighter, lowers blood pressure, and cardiac risk. I love the few months of the year when I can get fresh pomegranates at the grocery store. Usually in the winter, Craig and I usually split one after dinner, carefully picking out the seeds with our fingers. Sometimes they fly everywhere, making a bit of a mess, but the sweet, tart juice is so healthy and delicious.
This easy quick bread uses yummy pomegranate seeds in a healthy and filling bread. The tart crunch of the seeds compliments the chocolate and bananas. This bread utilizes a bunch of healthy swaps. I cut the sugar way back and used olive oil and yogurt to achieve a perfect moist texture. It takes a while to bake, but it filled my home with the most amazing smells. The loaf serves about 8-10, so you will have plenty of leftovers for breakfast and snacks.
POMEGRANATE CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD
Ingredients
- 1 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1 cup of unbleached flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (approx. 2 large bananas)
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- ½ cup low fat vanilla (or plain) yogurt
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup of pomegranate seeds (approx. 1 medium pomegranate)
- 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, soda and salt
- In a large mixing bowl, mash banana with a whisk
- Add eggs, oil, yogurt, sugars and vanilla and whisk until completely combined
- Fold dry ingredients into wet with a spatula until combined
- Add pomegranate seeds and chocolate chips and fold until combined
- Coat a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking spray
- Pour batter into pan and cover with foil
- Bake for 40 minutes
- Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean
