Surprise ingredient hiding in banana bread

Ask me for my go-to brownie or chocolate cake and I’ll have an answer ready.

Ask me for my go-to banana bread recipe and, well, I’m stumped. As much as l love banana bread, I had never found a can’t-live-without-it recipe.

That changes now with this recipe.

I was immediately intrigued when Half the Sugar, All the Love: 100 Easy, Low-sugar Recipes for Every Meal of the Day landed on my desk.

Authors Jennifer Tyler Lee and Anisha Patel make a compelling argument for why we eat too many added sugars and that there are ways to reduce them without sacrificing flavour.

They rely on the sweetness of fruits and vegetables, which include fibre.

“When sugar is accompanied with fibre ... digestion and absorption of the naturally occurring sugar is slower, so your body doesn’t get a sugar rush.”

Dates are a typical MVP. “They are packed with natural sweetness and caramel-like flavour and each date contains about

1.6 grams of fibre.”

The dates are soaked and then puréed with yogurt to create an especially moist, tender texture with just the right amount of spring.

Ripe bananas are also key to the sweetness and so I took a page from the likes of Alison Roman and our friend Joy “the Baker” Wilson and topped the quick bread — OK, we know it’s basically cake — with a halved banana.

The pieces had the added advantage of providing me with a curve in which to sprinkle pecans.

Feel free to use both, one or none of the toppings. If you decide to use only nuts, increase the amount to 1/3 cup (80 ml).