Red Velvet Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze (lightened up, 100% whole wheat)

I remember back in college when I didn’t have a boyfriend, I felt as though my life was over every Valentine’s day. It was especially hard seeing all these girls walking around campus with flowers, balloons and red hearts. 

My girlfriends and I made a pact that instead of moping around we would go out to dinner and celebrate one another on Valentine’s Day. So one year we dined at Rainforest Cafe, another year at Macaroni Grill, basically every year would be a different franchise. Remember those restaurants?

For this reason, I’m not particularly a fan of Valentine’s Day because for many years I didn’t have a valentine, and when you live in a society that places so much emphasis on V-Day, it can be quite depressing to say the least.

Having said that, if I do have someone special in my life, I will do a little something for that person because that’s the thing about V-Day, you can’t exactly escape from it, it’s about doing the little things.

Often times we hear people say that every day should be Valentine’s Day which makes sense. Just imagine the joy our relationships would bring if we did the little things every single day.

And with that thought, I wish you a very Happy Valentines Day! Whether you’re celebrating yourself, a family member, a friend, or a significant other, it’s all about showing love to the ones you love. This Valentine’s I made Red Velvet Banana Bread.

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5 from 1 vote

Red Velvet Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze

A lightened up festive holiday bread, perfect for Valentine's Day and Christmas.

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Course Desserts

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 12 slices

Author Nisha @ honeywhatscooking

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Ingredients

• <b>Red Velvet Banana Bread</b>
• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour - 1 1/2 cups
• Cacao Powder - 2 tbsp
• Baking Soda - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Sugar in the Raw Turbinado Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Organic Eggs - 2
• Bananas - 1 1/2 cups or 3 medium bananas
• Vinegar - 1/2 tsp
• Lowfat Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
• Organic Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp melted
• Pure Vanilla - 1 1/2 tsp
• Red Food Color - 1 tbsp
• <br></br>
• <b>Cream Cheese Glaze</b>
• Cream Cheese - 2 ounces room temperature
• Pure Vanilla - 1 tsp
• Milk 2% Reduced-Fat - 2 - 3 tbsp
• Confectioners Sugar - 1/4 cup

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl... flour, cacao powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
• In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients... eggs, bananas, vinegar, buttermilk, coconut oil, vanilla and red food color.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix but do NOT over mix.
• Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan.
• Into the oven for 45 minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the glaze. Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature. Whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
• Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar. Whip.
• Add milk 1 tbsp at a time until you achieve the desired consistency.
• Once bread is cooled, pour glaze over the bread. Slice and serve.

Notes

This bread is extremely moist the same day and it would be best to consume it the same day since it does dry out a bit the next day.
I prefer this bread slightly warm with cream cheese glaze over it.

Tried this recipe?Mention @honeywhatscooking or tag #honeywhatscooking! I love seeing your creations!

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What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day? Love it, hate it, overrated? How do you typically celebrate?