Protein Banana Cranberry Pineapple Pecan Bread

I have been craving banana bread.

I have to be very careful with carbohydrate intake, so I wanted something with protein and flavor.

Kodiak Pancake mix is my favorite base for cookies, pancakes, muffins, and bread.

I looked up a recipe but decided to make my own version with brown sugar and fruit.

Preheat your oven to 350°.

First, I mixed the dry ingredients:

2 cups kodiak mix

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

Then I mashed 3 ripe bananas. The blacker the bananas, the sweeter they will be.

I mixed in a cup of pineapple Greek yogurt. I love the acidity of pineapple. It’s not a lot, just an occasional brightness in a bite.

Then I mixed in 2/3 cup packed brown sugar. I think you could substitute any sugar for this. Refined sugar will be sweeter. Sugar substitutes should work ok, but you will have to play with them.

Now 2 fresh eggs. I prefer to go to the chicken pen and get fresh eggs from the day. Fresher eggs are fuller. As eggs age, the shell is porous and they begin to dehydrate.

I like to crack into a small dish in case of shell pieces, then add one at a time.

Then mix in 1 stick of melted butter. REAL butter.

If you want an even richer taste, you can brown the butter before adding it in.

Now for the vanilla extract. I make my own using vanilla beans and bourbon. Use the best vanilla you can get your hands on.

Add 2 teaspoons.

That’s it. Your batter will be lumpy, but don’t over mix it. You can leave some of the banana in chunks if you like.

Now mix in the dry ingredients. Save about 1/2 cup.

Fold it in gently, a little at a time.

I saved about 1/2 cup to coat my cranberries and pecans. This prevents your heavy pieces from sinking to the bottom.

I love this cranberry and pecan mix for salads. I thought it would be a good addition to this bread.

I honestly used what was left in the package, a bit over 1/2 cup.

Fold this last part into the batter.

Be sure to grease your loaf pan well to prevent sticking. You can also use parchment paper – just be sore to grease it as well.

Depending on your loaf pan, your cooking time will vary. A thin, metal pan should cook in 40-45 minutes. I cooked this on in a Pampered Chef stone-wear pan for 50 minutes.