Sneaky Banana Bread

Connor lacks energy some days, which I suspect is related to not getting enough sleep. He wakes up early every day, which I do not understand - and he can't seem to alter that. I entertained the thought that maybe he had low iron, which would account for low energy levels - but I've mostly talked myself out of that. However, just in case, I've gone back to pumping up banana bread with wheat germ, which was a trick my midwife taught me when I was iron deficient during the last months of my pregnancy with Helen. It also has protein and other good energy vitamins - so it can't hurt, right?

Here's the recipe. Even my picky eaters can't tell I've done anything different.

Enjoy! It's adapted from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" which is my go-to cookbook for anytime I need to make something quickly.

8T Butter
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ (or more, if the batter seems to be able to handle it)
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 rips bananas
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together the dry ingredients; mix together everything else; combine. Bake at 350 until done (45 - 60 minutes in a loaf pan, many fewer minutes if using muffin tins or Helen's teeny-tiny loaf pan).

I served these in muffin form at a farewell party in Connor's class and they were devoured. The kids have been eating them on Mondays whenever I bother to make them. Ironically, the morning after I made these, an email showed up in my inbox from Kretschmer asking if I'd blog about wheat germ. Well, folks, I just used your product so yes, I'll happily pass along my recipe! Clearly, the universe was telling me to spread the wheat germ word.

This is not actually my banana bread or my muffins. My kids started chomping before I could snap a photo, so I emailed the fine folks at Kretschmer and asked if they had a stock photo. That's what this is - but other than the photography being better than my own, this photo looks like the one I would have taken.

Elaine