Happy National Banana Bread Day! And National Dog Biscuit Day! (yeah….they actually exist)

1. I don’t think I’m going to do an actual Thursday Thoughts this time, because I truly have nothing to write about. Soooo, I will put up a recipe instead, in celebration of today’s national…”holiday”…type thing.

Banana Bread (E, N, D?)
makes 1 loaf or 14-16 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup butter flavored shortening (such as Crisco)

1 cup raw mashed bananas
Store bought egg-replacer equal to 2 eggs (I use Ener-G)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour bread loaf pan or line muffin tins with paper baking cups; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
3. Using a pastry blender, cut shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles small crumbs and shortening is completely worked in.
4. Add mashed bananas and egg-replacer.  Mix to combine, but do not over mix; over mixing will cause bread or muffins to be tough.
5. If you’re making a loaf of bread, bake it in the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown on top and toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.  If you’re making muffins, bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
6. If you’ve made bread, cool loaf in the pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.  If you’ve made muffins, cool them in muffin tins for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to finish cooling.
7. Enjoy!

Notes:
– If you don’t have allergies to them, feel free to add walnuts or another nut of your choice! It’d be best to mix them in at the very end.
– By making sure the shortening is dairy free, you can make this whole recipe dairy free!
– If you can’t find egg-replacer at the store (Ener-G is in powder form), you could use [3 tbsp. canola oil + 3 tbsp. water + 2 tsp. baking powder]. I’ve never used that in this recipe, so I can’t guarantee the outcome. I will try it as soon as possible, though!
– CHOCOLATE CHIPS in this bread is absolutely fantastic. My brother doesn’t like chocolate, and I think my parents prefer the bread without it, but….let me tell you, it is delicious.