Earth Day Banana Bread

Earth Day has been celebrated every year on April 22nd since 1970.  In 1970, I was pregnant with our first daughter, Jimi Hendrix died, the Beatles made their last record together, and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water" was the popular album.  Protests were the theme of the day and a new enlightenment of the abuse of our Earth's natural resources led to the public's awareness to sanction a day to remember what we should protect.

As I walked around our yard today and inhaled the fresh air, I couldn't help but think how important it is to cherish this beautiful world we live in and more importantly, maintain it for future generations to enjoy as well. 

Our water supply for wildlife

Beautiful flowers

Lush foliage

...and trees

If you're wondering how banana bread figures in to this Earth Day...well, I added avocado, mashed with the bananas to represent the spectacular green all around us.

Avobanana Bread
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pit remove, and mashed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup Old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan with a baking spray and set aside.
Mash the bananas and avocado.

In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, eggs, and oil together and stir to combine.  Add the spices and the vanilla and stir again.  Mix in the banana/avocado mixture.  Add the dry ingredients, the walnuts, and the buttermilk.  Stir to thoroughly combine, but don't over beat.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

The bread is moist and is healthy for you--the natural oil in the avocado is a good substitution for the fat in butter.

I hope you take the time today to celebrate this day and come up with ways to preserve our natural resources.  Enjoy!