Multi-Grain Banana Buns

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! As you all know, school comes first. So this has been moved to the back burner, so to speak.

Today I found two little bananas begging to be made into banana bread. I just couldn't get past the sugar and fat in my go to quick bread recipe. Especially since Brad's birthday is coming up this weekend,and we're behaving in preparation for the cake. (Carrot cake. And yes, I'll be posting the recipe.) I consulted my copy of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and I found a banana bread recipe that called for just 1/4 cup of honey as the sweetener for a 2 pound loaf of bread. Perfect! I've made this bread before, and the result is very lightly sweet. The sweetness is so subtle, maybe about as sweet as those Hawaiian dinner rolls at the store. I almost forgot to mention it's egg and dairy free!

All together now: "I can't just leave well enough alone"! So here is my version of Jeff and Zoe's Banana bread baked into buns for convenience.

Multi-Grain Banana Buns

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 cup bread flour

1/4 cup multi-grain blend*

3/4 tbsp or 1 packet instant dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

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1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup neutral flavored oil

3/4 cup lukewarm water

1 cup mashed bananas

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients above the dashed line with a wooden spoon. In a smaller bowl combine all the ingredients below the dashed line. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry and mix with a wooden spoon. You might need to add a little more water, about a teaspoon at a time to fully incorporate all the flour. The dough will be pretty sticky. Cover the bowl and let it rise for 2 hours.

Flour a surface to work on. Also dust the dough and your hands. Take the dough and shape it into a ball by pulling the sides under and rotating the mass in quarter turns as you go. Be gentle and quick. I turn the dough with one hand and use my other hand to smooth the dough over, like you would if you were rinsing shampoo from a baby's hair. ( I realize that's a weird description, but that's exactly the motion I was imitating to get the dough smooth.)The whole process should take less than a minute. Use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Then make each quarter into a ball just like the big ball. Cut these into sections into quarters and smooth into balls again.

Grease up you muffin tins and place the dough balls in each compartment. Let it rise for 20 minutes. 5 minutes before the rise time is up, preheat your oven to 375. Bake the buns for 20 minutes.

Remove from the tins immediately and cool on a cooling rack. Voila!

This song is everything the recipe isn't. Well, except that they're both delicious! I think they balance each other out nicely.

* I used King Arthur Flour Harvest Grains

P.S. If you really can't stand such well behaved food, these sing with a bit of butter slid in the middle, maybe some reduced sugar preserves, or even a swipe of reduced fat cream cheese. If you're really feeling naughty you might go with:

Nutella

Crunchy Peanut Butter

Honey

Maple Syrup

bonus points for whipping those last two with butter