With a few new projects in the works and taking up much of my spare time recently, I fell into the bad habit of ignoring the state of my desk. Up until last week, a precarious stack of notebooks sat one side, a messy pile of papers on the other, and multiple receipts lay scattered in between. As someone who’s typically very organized and a bit of a neat freak, it started to drive me nuts!
So this past weekend, I finally tackled all of those stacks. The notebooks found their way to a shelf, the papers tucked themselves away into binders, and the receipts slipped inside of folders. I even dusted off the desk, one of my least favorite chores….
It feels like spring here with temperatures consistently near (or above!) 70°F for the past two weeks, so that must have been my motivation for cleaning!
So this past weekend, I finally tackled all of those stacks. The notebooks found their way to a shelf, the papers tucked themselves away into binders, and the receipts slipped inside of folders. I even dusted off the desk, one of my least favorite chores….
It feels like spring here with temperatures consistently near (or above!) 70°F for the past two weeks, so that must have been my motivation for cleaning!
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| Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Brownies Healthy Recipe |
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup (195g) mashed banana (about 2 large)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- 2 tbsp (30mL) nonfat milk
- 3 tbsp (42g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat a 9”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut oil, mashed banana, and vanilla. Mix in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain.* Mix in the stevia and milk. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in 2 ½ tablespoons of chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake at 300°F for 17-20 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan, and let the brownies rest for an additional 3 hours before slicing for the fudgiest texture.
- Notes: For the gluten-free flour, use as follows: ¾ cup (90g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends should work as well, if measured like this.
- Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. In a pinch, regular whole wheat flour will work, but the brownies will have a slightly more wheat-y flavor that may mask some of the banana flavor.
- The combined amount of mashed banana and Greek yogurt should equal 1 ¼ cup. If you have slightly more than ¾ cup mashed banana, you can substitute some of the extra for some of the Greek yogurt, and vice versa.
- For a vegan version, substitute mashed banana for the Greek yogurt, and substitute any non-dairy milk in place of the nonfat milk.
- The best substitute I can recommend in place of the vanilla crème stevia is 2 ¼ teaspoons of this powdered stevia. If substituting a different sweetener (i.e. coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.), you’ll need 5-6 tablespoons, and the baking time and texture will be different.
- If the coconut oil or butter re-solidifies upon adding the Greek yogurt, microwave the mixture for 10-14 seconds to re-melt it (ONLY if your bowl is microwave safe!).
