Elvis Presley (Protein) Bread

Everyone knows that Elvis Presley's favorite sandwich in the entire world was fried bananas with peanut butter.  It's a classic.  Well, in America, at least.

So, why not make it into a quick-bread and add some protein, for fun?!

Yes, that is my idea of fun.

Elvis Presley Bread
** = optional

Dry Ingredients:

• 240g (~2 cups) all purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• **100g your favorite granola (I recommend nutty, rather than fruity)

• **60g your favorite vanilla protein powder (trec is great); if you don't have this, add another tablespoon of flour, plus a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Wet Ingredients:

• 4 small bananas, mashed

• 300g (1/2 cup) chunky peanut butter

• 135ml (1/3 cup) milk of choice

• 15ml (1/4 cup) oil

• 2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mash bananas with fork and add to mixture.  Add milk, oil and eggs.  Last, plop (I know, very sophisticated) your peanut butter into the mix.  Mix well.

Generously grease your loaf pan.  I think mine is the normal 9x5 pan?  This baby will stick if you let it, so either line your pan with parchment paper, or use oil to coat the sides.  I use some kind of spray oil that boasts only 1 calorie a spray... what are these miracles?!

Right.  Pour mix into the pan.  It should look something like this:

Place in the oven for roughly 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, if the top is getting too brown, place a little foil "tent" over top and continue cooking.  It should take roughly 60-75 minutes, in total.  You'll know it's done when a fork, inserted into the middle of the bread, comes out with just a few crumbs attached.

Promptly remove and let cool for 15 minutes.  Once it's semi-cool, turn it over and place on a wire rack, or somewhere where it can "breathe" (aka, not gather any condensation on the bottom) and continue to cool down.  Slice into 20 slices, or, if you're a monster of a human, eat the whole thing.  I'm looking at you, Chris.

Calorie Breakdown:

Per slice, if you cut it into 20 slices

Without optional ingredients: 176 calories, 9.3g fat, 1.5g sat fat, 20g carb, 1.6g fibre, 5.8g protein

With optional ingredients: 210 calories, 10g fat, 1.65g sat fat, 21.4g carb, 1.7g fibre, 8.3g protein

Enjoy!  And, bear in mind the sugars & fats coming from this buddy are from honey, banana and peanut butter - hardly equivalent to most banana breads, which boast tons of brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and margarine.  This one's a surefire winner.