Blackberry Green Tea Banana Bread - Uh Huh, Uh Huh

What does one do when the last bananas of the bunch have been forgotten?  Instead of pouting about a browned & bruised bundle, I get excited as I start to think up different twists on the classic banana bread.  On this edition of "When Life Leaves You with Over-Ripened Bananas - Make Banana Bread!" we're venturing into a world filled with juicy blackberries & oh-so-good-for-you green tea.  Not green tea in the form of matcha powder - who realistically has that just lying around the house? If you do, then kudos to you - I plan on adding it to my culinary repertoire someday - but for now I'm sticking with a concentrated brew of green tea in bag form, something that most of you will hopefully have in your pantries already.

Feel free to switch up the fruit in this recipe with any type of berry - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries - or leave them out if you're not feeling it (but who doesn't love a good berry?!).  Banana bread is a pretty forgiving baked good so you can experiment & almost always get the results you hoped for.  I actually didn't find a single recipe online that used brewed green tea in the bread without also calling for cream cheese, or some other ingredient I didn't have on hand.  So, engaging my baking prowess, I adjusted the basics to make room for the 1/2 cup of green tea.  I slightly increased the amount of flour (also replacing all-purpose with whole wheat flour), brewed a small amount of extra-concentrated green tea, added a touch of canola oil - and the rest is history.  To my delight the banana bread turned out moist & flavorful - just how banana bread should be.  Photos & recipe below!

Uh huh, Uh huh

These berries are total babes

And these bananas are totally edible - I swear!

See?! Told ya.

Two worlds collide

Before and...

After

Berry, berry good

Blackberry banana bread montage

Blackberry Green Tea Banana Bread

Ingredients

- 2 ripened bananas (the riper the better, as long as they are still edible!)

- 1 small carton of blackberries, rinsed (equal to about 1 1/2-2 cups; can always use more/less depending on preference. I also cut each berry in half to yield more as they were larger berries)

- 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

- 1 tblsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 c green tea, cooled to room temp (1/2 cup boiling water, steeped for 5 mins with 2 green tea bags)

- 1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened (I used unsalted, but if in a pinch salted will do)

- 1/2 c sugar

- 1 egg & 1 egg white, lightly beaten

- 1 tblsp canola oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F

Boil 1/2 cup water and brew green tea, allowing to steep for 5 mins.  Remove tea bags and let cool to room temperature.

Cut one end off each of the ripened bananas and add bananas to a small bowl (discard peels).  Mash with a fork for about 45 seconds and set aside.  In a large bowl (separate from the bowl for the mixer) add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a whisk to combine.  

In the bowl of an electric mixer add the butter, sugar and eggs and beat together for about 1 minute. Add the green tea and canola oil and mix until combined.  Add the dry ingredients mixture in two parts, mixing together and scraping the bowl after each addition.  Add the blackberries to batter and mix until combined (about 30 seconds).  

Pour batter into a greased, standard-sized loaf pan.  Bake for 50 mins at 400°F - check bread after 50 mins and bake for another 10 if needed.  Bread should appear spring-like when ready to be taken out of the oven.  Let cool in pan & enjoy!