Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Bread, 2.0

Name: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Bread, 2.0
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: ¾ cup oat flour (I ground a scant cup of rolled oats in my food processor); ½ cup rolled oats; ¼ cup whole wheat flour; ½ teaspoon baking soda; ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 large bananas (mashed (VERY RIPE. Freezer-black is best.)); ¼ cup yogurt (any kind); 2 tablespoons peanut butter; 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil; ¼ cup of granulated sugar (or 3.5 tablespoons honey or other liquid sweetener.); 1 egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla; ¼ cup chocolate chips

by erika

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This is not the kind of bread you measure.

This is the kind of bread where you really feel like some oats, and you have some ripe bananas calling your name from the fruit bowl, and well, peanut butter would be really great with those and hey, chocolate chips: why not.

This is a bread to work by feel, mostly. If you measure, you’ll probably mess it up. It’s a fine balance of eyeballing flour, deciding on baking powder, and making a fine smash of yogurt and bananas.

(And okay, you do kind of measure everything and write it down, but you do it like it’s a secret from yourself. Because everything always turns out more delicious when you don’t really measure.)

This is the kind of bread that is born from the realization that your recipe archives contains only one peanut butter oatmeal banana bread and taking action. We’re problem-solvers.

Let’s be real: this is a flexible, just-happy-to-be-here kind of loaf where you could swap the egg for a flax egg and yogurt for almond milk and whole wheat flour for more oat flour and it’ll satisfy most everyone’s eating needs. But it’s also the kind of loaf you can whip up spontaneously from items just waiting in your pantry.

Either way, it’s going to end up in someone’s stomach, and they’re going to be happy.

My previous oatmeal peanut butter banana bread was CRAZY OATY! Crazy! More bread-y than quickbread. This bread is more along the lines of what I usually make: more cakey. I’m (obviously) more often in the mood for this loaf.

Make it your own–if you don’t have plain yogurt, use milk and a little vinegar to activate the baking soda. Hate peanut butter? Try another nut butter or just use oil. Don’t like bananas? Try mashed sweet potato, zucchini, squash, or grated carrot. Vegan? Use a tablespoon of flax or chia seeds instead of the egg, and use soy yogurt or non-dairy milk. Gluten-free? Use gluten-free oats and use a non-gluten flour (although the loaf may not rise as high). Easy peasy!

Tip: If you’ve ever tossed dying bananas straight into the freezer without peeling, cutting, and storing out of sheer laziness (eek, guilty) or lack of time, now is the time to whip them out. If you forget to take them out in time to defrost before you need to mash them, place on a plate and microwave for 10-15 second intervals to quickly defrost.

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