Christmas Bread 

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Serves: 16 person(s)

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 1 hr
Extra Time: 20 mins (for cooling)

Yield: 16 x slices (or 1 loaf)

Cherries, bananas and macadamia nuts are a perfect trio in this holiday quick bread!
Per serving: 167 calories, 6g fat, 23mg cholesterol and 14g sugars
Saves: 131 calories, 8.5g fat, 31mg cholesterol and 12g sugars!

Suggestions:

For holiday gifts, wrap homemade loaves in colorful gift bags or wrapping paper with bows.

Ingredients:

Quick breads can be a delicious addition to brunch or holiday meal. Many quick breads use high calorie ingredients as illustrated in the traditional recipe.

Christmas Bread is a healthier madeover recipe. To make it even lower in calories, cholesterol, carbs and sugars, we further adapted it by replacing maraschino cherries with dried cherries, and butter with low-cholesterol vegetable spread.

To learn more about recipe makeovers see CalorieKing's library article "Smart Substitutes: Your Guide to Low-Calorie Cooking Alternatives".

Recipe Makeover
10 oz dried cherries, deseeded * 2 Tbsp cherry juice * 1/3 cup low-cholesterol vegetable spread, softened 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup mashed ripe bananas 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts

Traditional Recipe
1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coarsely chop cherries; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, put butter, brown sugar, eggs and cherry juice. Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed 3 to 4 minutes, or until well mixed. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with mashed bananas, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in cherries and nuts. Lightly spray a 9x5x3-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake in a preheated oven 1 hour, or until golden brown and wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. When cooled, wrap in plastic wrap or store in a tightly covered container.

Variations:

* If desired, replace dried cherries and 2 Tbsp. cherry juice with a 10- oz. jar maraschino cherries (use the maraschino juice in the recipe).

Can serve bread with nonfat or low-fat cream cheese, if desired.

Serving suggestions are not included in the nutritional analysis.

Author:

Cherry Marketing Institute, adapted by Family Health Network
Choose Cherries