Healthy Banana Bread and Graham Cracker Bars

We had an absolutely beautiful weekend, but I really didn't get to enjoy much of it. Saturday we spent the ENTIRE day in the turkey houses. I had to take two showers! UGH! I ended up having to take two showers yesterday, too. My skin is soooo dry now. I read in one of my magazines that olive oil is a great natural moisturizer, so I decided to try it. So far so good. My skin looks and feels great. I'm going to try using it for a deep conditioner tonight.

Mom came over yesterday to drop me off some eggs. THANK YOU!!! I've been baking so much lately and experimenting. This really helps cut the costs down. I looked at the fruit bowl and noticed the bananas were getting a little brown so I decided to make banana bread. I searched through my (probably millions) recipes and found a Weight Watchers recipe that sounded good. I didn't have all of the ingredients so I had to improvise. It's a not-too-sweet banana bread that soft and healthy. E said he likes it because it isn't too sweet. He said things that are really sweet make him thirsty. Here's the recipe my way and a couple of pics of the finished product:


Healthy Banana-Oatmeal Bread
adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp melted butter
2 large eggs, beaten
4 medium bananas, ripe
1 cup uncooked old fashioned oatmeal

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add oil and eggs; mix thoroughly.

2. In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add bananas and oatmeal to batter.

3. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is form to the touch and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes in pan. Flip out and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy.

I found this recipe for Graham Cracker Bars in Better Homes & Gardens. It looked good so I really wanted to try it. I followed the recipe exactly and wouldn't want to change it. It was heavenly! The only complaint I have is that the graham crackers will be soft the next day. It should've been obvious to me since that happens when something soft (the filling) is stored with something crispy (the crackers). They were still delicious this morning, just didn't have that nice crisp to it. Here's the recipe:

Graham Cracker Bars

as seen in Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

12 graham cracker rectangles

1 Tbsp butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tsp milk

Directions:

1. For filling, in a medium saucepan combine 3/4 cup butter, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup milk, and egg. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans and crumbs. Cool 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place 6 of the graham crackers, side by side, on foil-lined baking sheet to make rectangle about 10 x 7 inches in size. Spoon filling in small mounds onto graham crackers. Carefully spread to an even layer being careful not to move crackers. Place remaining crackers on to to match up with bottom crackers. Lightly cover bars with plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours or until filling is firm. Cut into bars.

3. In small bowl beat 1 tablespoon butter with whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar and enough milk to make a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle over bars. Let stand until set. Makes 24 bars.

I took a break after I finished up and then headed on over next door to bake some brookies for the restaurant. I'm getting ready to run those by now. E took the Graham Cracker Bars with him to work this morning, so I'll found out what they think about them later.

Update

Everybody loved them. It sounds like these are going to be a keeper.