Whole Wheat Cranberry Banana Bread

What do you do when the bananas are so over-ripe that they're practically inedible? In my house, there are basically two choices: freeze them for smoothies or make banana bread. Besides the sugar, additional sweetness comes from the bananas, applesauce, and cranberries.

Yield:

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1. 1¾ C whole wheat flour
2. 1½ C all-purpose flour
3. 2 tsp baking soda
4. ½ tsp cinnamon
5. ½ tsp salt (optional)
6. 4 large eggs at room temperature
7. 1 1/3 C brown sugar
8. 1 C granulated sugar
9. ½ C vegetable oil
10. ½ C unsweetened applesauce
11. 3 C mashed very ripe bananas
12. ¼ C sour cream
13. 2 tsp vanilla
14. ½ C toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts
15. 1 C dried cranberries soaked in 1 C of orange juice for at least 2 hours (discard orange juice that does not soak into the cranberries.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray two (9x5x3-inch) metal loaf pans, then dust with flour.
2. Sift together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl.
3. With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugars until very thick and mixture forms a ribbon when beater is lifted, approximately 8 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add oil in a slow stream. Add applesauce, then mix in bananas, sour cream, and vanilla.
4. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture, nuts, and cranberries.
5. Divide batter between loaf pans and bake until golden brown and a wooden toothpick comes out clean, approximately one hour to one hour and 15 minutes.

Notes