Whether you're trying to lighten a fatty recipe or simply making due with dwindling pantry staples, it's helpful to know how to bake without vegetable oil. In the case of banana bread, you've already got the advantage of the moistening effect of the bananas themselves. Options exist for totally replacing the vegetable oil with solid fats if you've run out of oil, or replacing some of the oil when you're modifying a favorite banana bread recipe for health reasons.

Preheat the oven to the temperature specified in your recipe, then spray the pan or pans you'll be using.

Replace vegetable oil with buttermilk or yogurt. For every 3/4 cups vegetable oil called for in a recipe, use about 1/3 cup buttermilk or 1/3 cup yogurt instead.

Add an optional spoonful of vegetable oil, if desired.

Mix together buttermilk, optional additional vegetable oil, mashed bananas and other wet ingredients.

Blend together flour and other dry ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix. Mix until incorporated, then pour banana bread batter into greased pans and bake.

Preheat the oven to the temperature specified in your recipe, then spray the pan or pans you'll be using.

Pour vegetable oil into a measuring cup until it reaches about halfway to the amount of vegetable oil called for in the recipe. Then spoon in applesauce or prune puree for the other half.

Combine the half-fruit and half-fat mixture with the mashed banana and other wet ingredients.

Blend together flour and other dry ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix. Mix until incorporated, then pour banana bread batter into sprayed pans and bake.

Preheat the oven to the temperature specified in your recipe, then spray the pan or pans you'll be using.

Scoop out margarine or solid vegetable shortening, or cut chunks of butter, into a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup until it roughly reaches the amount specified for vegetable oil in the recipe.

Melt the margarine, vegetable shortening or butter in the microwave. Set the microwave to high for 30 seconds. If the fat hasn't melted, continue heating on high in 15 second increments.

Adjust the amount of melted fat if there is more or less than called for in the recipe.

Mix the melted fat into the other liquid ingredients.

Blend together flour and other dry ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix. Mix until incorporated, then pour banana bread batter into greased pans and bake.