Hanalei Plantation Banana Bread Light

I finally lightened my family's banana bread recipe with success. This version contains half the butter, less than 1/2 the sugar, 1 less egg yolk, more banana, and whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour. Most importantly, it was delicious - I couldn't stop eating it!

Hanalei Plantation Banana Bread Light
Makes 1 loaf

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the inside of a nonstick loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until soft and fluffy. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg and egg whites until throughly combined. Mix in the vanilla extract and bananas.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork. Add to the banana mixture and mix until just moistened.
4. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden and toothpick comes out clean.

Note: I omitted the nuts only because I wanted to share the bread with Alex, but next time I might add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts.