I looked out the window Friday morning and had two thoughts. One, how long until traffic clears? Two, what a good day to bake banana bread.

I’ve made this recipe four or five times this winter. It’s a substantial loaf, moist and flavorful, perfect for breakfast or for dessert. And it’s loaded with healthful ingredients. Instead of the all-purpose flour called for in the original recipe (from America’s Test Kitchen), I use King Arthur’s white whole-wheat flour. This is just what it sounds like — whole-wheat flour, with all the fiber and nutrients intact, but from a lighter-colored variety of wheat. I’ve bought bags at Dierberg’s and Trader Joe’s, and it’s sold online at www.kingarthurflour.com.

I also substituted canola oil for the melted butter called for in the original recipe. Other ingredients include nonfat plain yogurt and walnuts. Dark chocolate makes a nice addition. So do raisins or dried cherries.

In the past, I’ve stirred in chocolate chips or mini chips with the nuts. This time, I followed a suggested variation and added 2 1/2 ounces of grated dark chocolate with the dry ingredients (and reduced the sugar by 2 tablespoons). I started by grating the chocolate with a large-holed Microplane grater. What a mess! Fine, dry shreds of chocolate flew everywhere. Then I switched to my trusty three-legged Mouli grater, a tool I’ve had for almost 30 years. In fact, a few years ago I picked up one for my daughter on Ebay.

By the way, banana bread is best made with overripe bananas. The more brown spots on the skin, the better. If your bananas are ripe but not brown, “The American’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook” has a terrific method for hurrying the process along. Put the bananas, peels and all, on a baking sheet. Put in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes or until the skins turn black. The banana flesh will be brown, soft and sweet. Don’t try this with green bananas, however. They’re too starchy and bitter for baking.

By the time the bread was out of the oven, the roads were in good shape and the teenagers who live across the street had shoveled my driveway and walk. (They have a standing job when it snows, unless my son is home on a college break.) I paid them with cash — and warm banana bread — and hit the highway.

BANANA BREAD
Yield: 10 servings
2 cups white whole-wheat flour or all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 or 4 bananas)
1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
6 tablespoons canola oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With nonstick spray, coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan that is at least 3 inches deep. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
In another large bowl, whisk together bananas, yogurt, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add to flour mixture; with a large spatula, fold together until well combined, but do not overmix or bread will be tough. Fold in walnuts.
Transfer batter to loaf pan; smooth top. Bake on center oven rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove loaf from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Per serving: 274 calories; 10g fat (33 percent calories from fat); 1g saturated fat; 42mg cholesterol; 5g protein; 41g carbohydrate; 20g sugar; 4g fiber; 230mg sodium; 23mg calcium; 246mg potassium