Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Bread

When I talked about how everything I make tastes like bread, I was really talking about this.

Healthy oatmeal peanut butter banana bread. It is, of course, a quickbread, but I’m talking about how everything I make tastes more like sandwich bread. Rather than a moist and dense crumb-y loaf that just falls apart in your mouth, this is dense, a little dryer and it’s got a hearty chew thanks to the oats.

 

In other news, I’m going to a concert todayyyy!!!

Guess. Just guess who I’m going to see.

Train. I’m going to see Train in concert.

I never would have picked Train on my own, but I got the tickets for Erik’s birthday because he’s never been to a concert and recently picked up a fascination with Train. So, whatever. I’m going to a concert. I’m excitedddd.

Oh, and you know what’s even more exciting about this concert? My old middle school music teacher is currently touring with Train to play trumpet on a few of the songs. Oh wow. I just googled and you can see him walking onto the stage for a solo. How mind-boggling is that? I’ll let you know if I end up seeing him 🙂

This makes me happy because even though he was a great teacher–he inspired me to practice flute for nearly an hour every single day for an entire summer–and I think he enjoyed teaching, we all always knew that what he really wanted was to make it big with trumpet and perform for a living, eventually.

No, I am not avoiding talking about the bread.

Yes I am.

But I’m no Smitten Kitchen (omg who else is dying to try her fig, olive oil and sea salt challah raise your hand?!? Can we have a baking party together?) so I guess I’m allowed to post flops on my blog once in awhile and talk about what I would do better next time. Do you have any latest flops to tell me about?

In any case, if you feel like a very healthy, low fat wholesome banana bread, go wild with this! I think it’s great toasted with a smear of peanut butter and banana slices layered thickly across the top.

Notes

Obviously forgetting that this was in the oven while I was frantically preparing for my first ever corporate presentation was a key contributor to the dryness of this loaf. If I did it all over again, I might use 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup oat flour, 1/4 cup AP flour, and 3/4 cup oats to take the intense wholesome oaty chewiness down a notch. I’d up the cinnamon to a full teaspoon and add another banana or two. I’d think seriously about adding another 1/4 cup yogurt or applesauce to the loaf because it was seriously bready. I might add another egg. I might add a chia egg in addition to the regular egg. So many options, so little time!

Of course, watching the time goes without saying.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Try Joy the Baker‘s oatmeal banana bread or CookingLight‘s peanut butter banana bread if you want recipes tried and tested by true professionals.

1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup uncooked quick rolled oats
1/2 tsp  salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon canola oil
2.5 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
2 medium bananas, very ripe

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.

In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Add oil, peanut butter, yogurt, sugar, egg and mix thoroughly.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.  Batter will be fairly thick.

Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Flip out and cool on a wire rack.