Multi-grain Banana Bread

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet my new favorite banana bread.  And my husband's new favorite banana bread.  And everyone else who tries it.

We all know that there are some fancy pants banana breads out there.  Chocolate chips!  Crystallized ginger!  Coconut! I've been there and done that and it's great.  This is not that. this is a humble, simple banana bread.  It tastes sort of like...being at home on a rainy morning with a cup of coffee, a good book, and of something homemade.

This recipe comes from Cooking Light: Way to Cook.  It calls for oatmeal, mixed in with the flour.  I've made it that way before, and it's great.  It's even garnered some genuine kid-approval.  But the last time I made it, I was out of oats.  So I tossed in a hot multi-grain cereal mix.  The result was incredible...a tender loaf loaded with chewy grains and seeds.  We loved it!  Sometimes, I think, good things come from a bare pantry.

Multi-Grain Banana Bread
adapted from Cooking Light: Way to Cook
serves 12


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup multi-grain cereal  (such as this by Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)
1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit, and lightly coat a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the multi-grain cereal (raw), and stir well.
3. In a small bowl, combine the banana, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs.
4. Combine the wet mixture to the dry mixture.  Stir until just moistened and combined, but do not stir until smooth.
5. Pour batter into pan.
6. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes, or until crust is golden and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.