Wes has decided that, yes, in fact he really only does like cheese. Cheese and water. So what used to be a diet rich in fresh produce has slowly eeked away, even to the point of throwing bananas and all banana products on the floor.
The dogs are happy about it. Mom, not so much.
Although I guess I can’t really blame him – I’m not a big raw banana fan myself, but honestly it was one of the few things he would eat. But that was once upon a time…last week.
It really shouldn’t be a surprise that the overabundance of black bananas in our house was at an all-time high the past few days, considering the fact that Weston’s banana-a-day habit disappeared within about 12 hours. So that time a few days before the banana boycott when I thought I was a rockstar mom for remembering to get bananas just in time for them to be ripe when the previous bunch ran out? Ah yes. The parenting gods are laughing at me now!
I will say this though: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and these sad black bananas have come to life once again. Nate loves this snack cake (let’s be real, I do too) and will have a piece with breakfast and then another as an actual snack when he gets home. I like mine smeared with a bit of peanut buttery love since CLEARLY peanut butter makes all things better. Plus it’s kind of like frosting but not. This plus a steaming cup of green tea makes for one happy and relaxed mama – necessary for the times where I just sit and watch Weston hand-feed the dogs.
Sigh. He’s lucky he’s so dern cute 🙂
THE ULTIMATE BANANA SNACK CAKE
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I love using the new Chobani 2% Banana yogurt for this – perfection!)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour (I have used both all purpose and whole wheat, both work great)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl break apart the ripe bananas with the tip of a whisk and whisk until smooth; if your bananas aren’t literally black then go ahead and mash them with a fork instead of whisking. Whisk in the oil, yogurt, milk, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder and salt just until combined. Spray a 9- x 9-inch pan with nonstick spray and pour the batter in, smoothing it out on top. Bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely.
Just a note on storing: if you’re going to eat this withing a few days, just cover it loosely with foil and leave at room temperature. If you think it may take a little longer, cover with foil and refrigerate.
This snack cake look so darn good Heather! And I absolutely love that you schmeared a healthy slather of PB on them and made it into a sandwich! THIS is why we are friends!
Oh my this looks so delicious! I should make banana snack cake with the copious amount of black bananas that are taking over my freezer. Thanks for sharing!
I made banana cake this week, too. There can NEVER be too many over ripe bananas on the counter!! Your snack cake looks wonderful, Heather.
All you had to say was SNACK and CAKE, and I’d be in!
With all of the bananas we grow…I’ll definitely be trying this one. Always looking for more banana recipes. Thankfully we all love them. (Great photos, as always, too!)
🙂
ALOHA!
That’s so fun that y’all grow bananas – makes sense, I just never thought about it!
Ugh, those like it/don’t like it phases can be so maddening. I promise you…this, too, shall pass. In the meantime, you’ve made one good looking snack cake with those bananas.
I hope it does! I just want to feed him good food 🙂
Is he teething? I have a 16 month old banana addict in my house (he nows eats two at a time!) but he goes on a food strike, including his favorites, when he is about to cut a tooth.
It’s always tough when they are picky eaters, just trust that they will eat when they are really hungry and just take lots of deep breaths at mealtime. Hang in there mama!
He IS teething – the top two front teeth – so I bet that’s what it is! I hope he gets ’em out soon and starts eating again!
I have all the ingredients at home right now for this! It sounds delicious. I’m not a big raw banana fan either, but sometimes I try to eat them anyway. As long as they have a little green at the top of the stem, I find that I can do it! Otherwise, a few brown spots and forget about it!
At least you were able to put the bananas to good use! Great recipe — I love any baked good with banana in it 😀
this banana’s cake seems so tender !! I would like one piece just now, with my coffee.