This is a guest post brought to you by Samantha Schultz:
Samantha Schultz writes about all things life and parenthood on her blog, The Peanuts Gang. With two boys (Charlie & Jack) and a high school sweetheart hubby, they experience the adventures of this crazed life – sharing along the way. She and her family live just outside Chicago.
One of the ways that I love spending time with my boys is when we mix up something special to bake. With a few past-due bananas, we dove headfirst into some banana bread. Looking to make some healthier changes, I removed the traditional oil and butter element and instead opted to use some Greek Yogurt – Cafe Latte variety. The delicious coffee smell adds that extra something that brings this bread to the next level.
Our Saturday habits start out the same. I pull out the KitchenAid and my youngest, Jack, heads over to the kitchen table to grab a chair so he can help me whip something up. He likes pouring, scooping, “measuring” and enjoying the messiness. Pajamas are not required, but in our house, they are preferred on a lazy Saturday. This recipe is simple – we add in a few chocolate chips because we love them!
Ingredients
1 small container of Greek yogurt (approximately 1/2 cup)
3 extra large ripe bananas
2 whole large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sugar
2 c. flour (whole wheat would work well also)
1 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
Mini chocolate chips as desired
Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend wet ingredients with sugar until well mixed.
Incorporate dry ingredients and mix until blended – be careful not to over-mix. If you’re using a traditional loaf pan, grease with oil. This recipe will make approximately 1 regular loaf pan. I used disposable pans which makes clean-up a breeze and the loaves pop right out. If you’re using disposable, I was able to get two smaller loaves.
These also work well to gift home-baked goodness to neighbors or friends. Jack enjoyed turning the oven light on and waiting for the bread to bake (approximately 25-30 minutes, fork-clean). When it was done, I served him a piece, jumped in the shower and came out to give him another loaf. Only to find that only one loaf was left! Big brother and daddy seemed to have found our fresh-baked treat!
Do you love having your kids help in the kitchen?
Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your little ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen!
Come join me and my co-hosts, Melinda at Look What Mom Found, Sara at Sensibly Sara, Lisa of HooplaPaloooza and Sarah of Play2LearnWithSarah, each week by linking up a post, new or old, that features the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.
- preparing healthy snacks
- having a tea party
- counting skills with m&ms
- pouring from measuring cups
- discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
- creating new family friendly recipes
Don’t have a blog? That’s ok! Just share an Instagram photo or Facebook update.
I am not a huge banana bread fan, but I LOVE that you used Greek yogurt in place of oil/butter! I usually use unsweetened applesauce.
Love banana bread! Love the idea of using hte yogurt, healthier and adds an extra flavor. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
This looks so yummy! I love the idea of using yogurt instead of oil. I’m going to try it next time.
Paula
The combination of the fresh bananas, yogurt, and the chocolate chips makes this a great and yes healthy (even though it does have chocolate chips)treat! Thanks a lot for the post, I’ll have to try this recipe myself.
That sounds sooo yummy! I have some vanilla yogurt in the fridge…maybe we’ll try this in the morning.
I love that you get in the kitchen with the kids and let them cook with you. The bread looks delicious.