Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1½ tsp. baking powder

2 cups pure cane sugar, granulated

 

Wet Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup halal nonfat plain yogurt, preferably the thick, European style

1 cup vegetable or grape seed oil. (Strong oils such as olive oil dominate the flavors of the blueberry and banana and aren’t recommended).

 

Additional Ingredients:

2 (mature/ripe) frozen bananas, defrosted at room temperature for 20-30 minutes or in the microwave for under a minute

1 cup frozen blueberries

 

Directions:

  1. Measure all dry ingredients into a metal or glass mixing bowl. Set aside.
  2. In a separate mixing bowl, measure out the eggs and yogurt. Using a wire whisk, mix together well. Next, add the vegetable oil and whisk again until all three ingredients are well blended.
  3. To the egg-yogurt-oil mixture, add the defrosted bananas by mashing them into the mixture. Then, using a whisk, blend these ingredients.
  4. Using 1-2 cups at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Using a wooden spoon or heavy wire whisk, blend all ingredients until there are no lumps.
  5. Gently fold in the blueberries, careful not to break any (it will make your batter blue!)
  6. Pour mixture into a large, oiled (spray) loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350°.
  7. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick or flat knife comes out clean from the center and the top is golden brown.
  8. Cool for approximately 30-40 minutes before turning out of pan.

 

Chef’s Note: I have been testing this recipe for several years. This is great for breakfast, served with a pat of butter and a glass of warm milk. But hey, it is also great as a snack any time of day. It is my husband’s favorite and he requests it every time he opens the freezer to find the frozen bananas that I have stocked for ‘that yogurt cake’ he likes so much. The dry ingredients do not have to be sifted. One lesson I have learned here is that it seems to turn out better when whisked by hand as opposed to using my beloved Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (which is not the case for most baked things). Plus, I decided to use a loaf pan instead of the more traditional Bundt pan, and it just seems to bake better in this way. Whatever works…no?