Coconut Banana Bread

Having only one ripe banana in the house, I searched the Internet for a recipe that was light on the banana requirement.  I adapted the One Banana Banana Bread recipe I found on a blog, and it turned out to be perfect... as well as perfectly easy.  I decided to throw in some leftover shredded coconut to give it a tropical flare.  It made two moist loaves that work for breakfast or dessert.

Ingredients:

• 1 large, very ripe banana
• 1 egg with enough unsweetened vanilla almond milk to make one cup of liquid
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Spritz to loaf pans with non-stick buttery spray.
• Put all ingredients into a large bowl.
• Blend with a mixer until most of the lumps are gone.
• Pour batter evenly into loaf pans, until about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
• Let cool completely before slicing.

Brown Sugar Brownies

I made these for a weekend camping trip with our pals.  There's something wonderful about chocolate and campfires.  S'mores are ubiquitous on the trail, so it's nice to change it up with a recipe like this.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Spritz an 8x8 baking pan with non-stick buttery spray.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla.
• Beat in melted chocolate.
• Beat in flour.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Cool completely in pan before cutting into bars.

This recipe is adapted from one on the back of the C&H brown sugar box.