Banana Bread

Source
Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

Recipe
1 3/4 cups flour
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
8 dried dates, chopped
6 dried apricot halves, chopped
1 large egg
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup fat free milk (see my notes on this below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x4 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the walnuts, dates, and apricots. In a small bowl, beat the egg. Add the banana and the milk. Pour over the flour mixture, and stir until just blended (do not overmix).

3. Transfer to the pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. About one hour. Completely cool on a rack.

Serves 12

My Revisions
I tried this recipe twice. The first time following the directions as written, the loaf did not come out right, it was way too dense. The second time I made this, I doubled the milk, so I used 1/2 cup of fat free milk. When I did this, the loaf came out the right texture.
Instead of dates and apricots, I used dried pineapple.

Nutrition Information
Serving Size - 1/12 of the loaf
Calories - 133
Fat - 2g
Saturated Fat - 0g
Trans Fat - 0g
Cholesterol - 18mg
Sodium - 178mg
Carbohydrates - 26g
Fiber - 2g
Protein - 3g
Calcium - 35mg

Outcome
The first time, following this recipe as written, it was terrible. I could tell as soon as the batter was mixed that it was too thick. I went ahead with it anyway, thinking I would at least try the recipe as written once. It came out of the oven hard as a rock, and terrible. The second time I made this, when I doubled the milk, the texture was right. The only problem is, this bread has very little flavor. I would like to keep working on it, and see if I can add more things to this recipe to make it have great flavor as well as have that soft texture. I was thinking about maybe adding more cinnamon and some nutmeg. Possibly one more banana, as one in this entire loaf just doesn't seem like enough. I plan on playing with this recipe more, and seeing what I can turn it into. All in all, the bread was good, my husband said he liked it, but agreed that it could use something more. If I find something that works well, I will update this recipe at a later date.