Cherrylicious!

Hi Everyone! How’s your Sunday going? Can you believe tomorrow is March?!

As I said in my post before, February is National Cherry Month! So, since today is the last day of February, I figured I’d post a recipe featuring Cherries! I basically just came up with this recipe by throwing a bunch of random ingredients in a bowl, and baking it…. and it came out really good! Here it is:

Choco-Cherry and Spice Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all–purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup sugar (I used 1 /2 cup NuNaturals Sweetener Stevia Baking Blend + 1/4 cup brown sugar)

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 mashed bananas

3/4 cup frozen cherries + 1 tbsp flour + 1 tsp cocoa powder

1/4 tsp vanilla (I used NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia)

1/3 cup egg whites

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 tsp ginger

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray pan an 8×8 pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder.

In another medium sized bowl, mash together banana, cinnamon, and ground ginger.

Once combined, stir in egg whites, applesauce, and vanilla.

Set aside. Then, in a smaller bowl combine the cherries, flour, and cocoa powder. The flour will coat the cherries, and keep them from sinking too the bottom of the bread when baking, and the cocoa powder just ensures optimal chocolate flavor!

Next, combine flour mixture and banana mixture in an electric mixer, or by hand, until just blended.

Fold in cherries and chocolate chips. If you are using an electric mixer, do not use it for this part, or the cherries will become mush! Stir them in by hand.

Pour into prepared pan, and bake in oven for about 30 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean!

Slice, and DEVOUR! This is sooo good! The cocoa powder and spices blend perfectly together, and the bananas make it super moist! And you can’t forget about the big chunks of cherries and gooey chocolate chips – which are like little treasures hidden throughout the whole bread!

Now tell me that isn’t drool worthy?! Cherries are possibly my favorite things… ever. 🙂

There were also some featured products in this recipe:

NuNaturals NuStevia Sweetener Stevia Baking Blend, and NuNaturals Pure Liquid Alcohol Free Vanilla Stevia!

Overall Score: 5/5

This was my first time using the Stevia Baking Blend, and I really liked it! I really don’t like artificial sweeteners at all, and much prefer just using regular sugar in my recipes, but Stevia is a totally different story! It’s all natural, and isn’t harmful to your health like other artificial sweeteners can be! Here’s more info about it from the NuNaturals website:

NuNaturals NuStevia Sweetener™ Stevia Baking Blend™ is a revolutionary new ingredient that can be added to recipes to increase the fiber in cakes, cookies and other baked goods. NuStevia Sweetener™ contains multiple fibers that each work in different ways to help your digestive tract function better and stay healthy. NuStevia Sweetener™ contains both soluble and insoluble fibers. Insoluble fiber is good for increasing bulk while soluble fiber forms a thick gel. These fibers help your digestive system work optimally. The USDA recommends that adults take in a minimum of 30 grams of fiber daily. The typical American consumes only 10 to 15 grams of fiber daily making fiber supplementation necessary to maintain a healthy digestive tract. The fibers in NuStevia Sweetener™ are very gentle and will not cause gas or bloating. Our soluble fibers also have prebiotic effects. Prebiotics help feed the beneficial flora in your digestive tract.

By eliminating sugar from your recipe you are going to greatly reduce the calories in the recipe. NuStevia Sweetener won’t raise blood sugar levels the way sugar does so your can keep your blood sugar at healthier levels.

The ingredients in NuStevia Sweetener may help you manage your blood sugar levels more efficiently.

Needless to say, this product rocks!

I also have really been enjoying using the vanilla stevia! I love adding it to not only my baked goods like I did here, but I also love to stir it into my morning oatmeal, or some plain greek yogurt! Here’s more info about it:

NuNaturals has combined Singing Dog Vanilla with our delicious Stevia. Now you can have the delicious taste of vanilla bean extract with our amazing Stevia. Our Alcohol Free Stevia Extract contains 140 mg per ml and is in a base of vegetable glycerine.

For individuals that are sensitive to alcohol, here is a product especially for you. For everyone else, the unique sweet taste that the glycerine imparts makes this a favorite of many NuNaturals Stevia users. The Alcohol Free Extract has a taste that is mellower than the alcohol based liquids.

This has a great vanilla flavor, and definitely tastes all natural, unlike the imitation extracts that you can get at the grocery store!

If you’re looking for a good alternative sweetener, I highly suggest using stevia, instead of the other artificial chemicals out there.

Thank you NuNaturals for sending me these awesome samples, I absolutely love them!