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Avocado Banana Bread

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I made this loaf purely with ingredients from my boyfriend’s kitchen.

Avocado Banana Bread // The Pancake Princess

What does that mean? You can EASILY make this!

Avocado Banana Bread // The Pancake Princess

Also, that we really like guacamole and therefore the stray avocado can occasionally be found languishing in his fridge, right in between chunks of Black Diamond sharp cheddar for wine and cheese nights and the hummus and Greek yogurt he keeps on hand for me (how sweet).

Avocado Banana Bread // The Pancake Princess

I have somewhat of an ugly history with baking with avocados. My old roommate and I once made a pan of avocado sweet potato brownies that were eerily smooth on top and tasted of vaguely cocoa-flavored, not sweet avocados. Sometimes avocados and I can work it out, other times, not at all.

Avocado Banana Bread // The Pancake Princess

We worked it out this time and I’m ready to give thanks at the avocado-loving altar. There’s no fat in this aside from the naturally healthy-fats-filled avocado and combined with a generous amount of mashed banana, this makes for the most incredibly moist, sweet and tender banana bread I’ve ever made.

Shelby first uncovered this recipe and while I was a huge fan of the original recipe, I tweaked it for several reasons, mostly to fit what Erik had in his kitchen (tons of ripe bananas, no zucchini). Also, I don’t like using only egg whites if I don’t have to–especially ones from a carton (not that the original recipe creator did. I’m just going on a tangent).

“If eggs were meant to be eaten as mechanically-separated, low-fat, chemically-altered whites in a carton, the chickens would have done it by now. But an egg is a chick in the making. It’s rich in antioxidants, good fats, vitamins, and – for the calories – a lot of protein. Things like Egg Beaters are the result of food manufacturers exploiting fears based on grossly inaccurate health information. There’s nothing healthy about such unnatural products.” Spot on, Mark! (sourced from here.)

Anyhoo, no egg whites in this. Just an egg. And some honey instead of some of the sugar, which means you can cut down on the sugar since honey is sweeter than the granulated stuff. Also, oat flour because oat flour rocks! It makes everything tender and hello fiber!

Avocado Banana Bread // The Pancake Princess

Does this taste like avocado? I won’t lie to you—there is a faint taste of something different, but not in a strong or bad way. More like a totally luscious, what’s-up-with-this-deliciousness?! kind of loaf (see Erik’s comments below). Make sense? Oh, and I should note—the banana slices make the loaf look super cute in my opinion, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I think it made the loaf bake rather unevenly (note the sunken center). Stick with chocolate chips or an unadorned loaf. But please make this.

Boyfriend rating: 8/10
Erik’s comments: “The flavor was great and distinct in an “I don’t know what’s different, but I like it” kind of way. The only thing holding this back from being a 9 was that is was a little mushy in spots, but this was actually kind of a plus when you heated it up in the pan!”

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Avocado Banana Bread

This relatively healthy loaf gets all of its fat from a very ripe avocado and most of its sweetness from tons of mashed banana. This luscious, banana-perfumed loaf is extremely moist and tender with a lovely soft crumb.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup oat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup banana mashed (about 2.5 bananas)
  • 1 avocado mashed
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2-4 tablespoons brown sugar adjust to taste
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • chocolate chips for topping (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard loaf pan.
  • In a large bowl combine flours, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the egg, banana, avocado, honey, sugar and vanilla. Add banana mixture to flour mixture, stir until blended together.
  • Pour the batter into greased baking pan and top with chocolate chips if desired.
  • Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

If your loaf begins to brown before the inside is done (the loaf will still feel mushy when you press down on top), turn the heat down to 325 and/or cover with aluminum foil for remaining baking time.
Adapted from here.

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Comments

  1. She

    CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS POST, THERE WAS A TYPO. I said 1 1/4 dry, i meant to type 1 1/2 as that was the ratio I had used. But, I mis-typed “1 1/4”.

  2. She

    I don’t get it. I followed the recipe – to the letter – and this stayed relatively uncooked through the middle, despite the fact that I left it in for an additional 20 MINUTES in the hopes of the knife coming out dry. It was a gloppy mess. I believe the problem remains solely on the ratio of dry to wet ingredients. With the amount of moisture created between 1 cup of mashed banana, one avocado, and 1/4 cup honey, and not taking into account all the additional wet ingredients, this needs more than 1 1/4 cup dry to make it the correct consistency. I am hesitant to try it again, but I just might do it with 2 1/2 cups dry to wet. It might work. But, I’m not sure I am that overly thrilled with the idea. Any others have this issue? (and before you all go blaming the oven, I bake it in it all the time (3 times a week) and it is a wonderful, but very plain and less than 1 year old simple gas oven.

    • erika

      Hi Caroline–so glad to hear you guys love this! If you put the recipe into a online tool like recipe calculator, it should be able to tell you the net carbs!

  4. elmsyrup

    I spent a while looking for something to use up my bananas and avocados and your recipe looked the best. I made a few substitutions. My avocados were small so I used 2. I have never heard of oat flour being a thing, but I put some porridge oats into my blender and finely ground them. I didn’t have any honey so just used half a cup of sugar. Instead of chocolate chips I put in some cinnamon and raisins. Also I live in the UK so the equivalent temperature is gas mark 4. After an hour it was still a bit goopy but OK. Anyway it tastes nice, not like avocado. I think I will enjoy it for breakfast.

    • erika

      Hi there–glad you enjoyed the taste! And glad you figured out what to do about oat flour–that’s exactly what I do to make oat flour 🙂 Sorry it was a bit goopy for you–if you prefer a more dry loaf, I would try reducing the amount of banana or avocado next time! Thanks for letting me know what substitutions worked for you!!

  5. PB

    Hi Erika,
    I tried this recipe. Substituted whole wheat flour since i did not have oat flour.
    Used flax instead of eggs. Turned out quite good!
    I am always confused about the part where I need to put a tooth pick in the center. Even if its done, sometimes the tooth pick never comes out clean and I end up over baking. Any suggestions?:)
    Thank you so much fir the recipe!
    PB

    • erika

      Woohoo, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well using flax! I’ll have to give that a try.

      And I totally feel you on the toothpick thing–sorry if you ended up overbaking this loaf! When you use toothpicks, you’re looking for drier, but still moist crumbs–what you’d see on a fork if you used it to eat a muffin. If it looks gooier than that, keep baking.

      Honestly, I usually resort to simply poking the loaf. If it feels fairly firm and resilient under my finger, I say it’s done. If it feels like a crust has formed on top but it’s still quite delicate/mushy under the crust, keep baking it or it’ll sink once it cools. And of course, if it’s still kind of shiny and gooey and sticks to your finger when you poke it, it needs to be baked longer 🙂

      I hope that helps a little! It took me a long time to get the hang of the feel and look of a loaf when it was done. Happy baking 🙂

  6. Lianna

    ooh this banana bread looks so lovely! it’s a shame it doesn’t bake as evenly with the banana slices in the middle because it definitely makes for great presentation!

  7. laurasmess

    Wow, Erika this looks amazing! I am such a banana bread addict… but I’ve never tried it with avocado before. I’m a bit scared of avocadoes in sweet things (like the recent chocolate avocado mousse thing, I can’t get over the dissonance in my brain!) but your pictures are completely convincing! I might give this a go, as… like you say, I have everything in my fridge right now! Thanks for the recipe xx

    • erika

      Thanks so much Laura! I am too–whenever I have ripe bananas, I pretty much know what I’m going to make! I was also super scared (and then scarred) about using avocados in baked goods, but this was SO good. It’s just such a perfect substitute for butter!

  8. Laura

    This looks so moist and delicious! I would add nuts, but I’m just that kind of person. Must try with my next stray over-ripe avocado!

  11. Brandi

    Such a pretty loaf Erica! But yeah, I could see how the bananas would cause it to bake uneven. I saw a loaf just like this on Just A Smidgen but she did strawberries instead. Very pretty. I have tried avocado in baked goods before and could taste it and didn’t enjoy it all all. I am VERY weird and finicky about savory things being in sweet things and not being able to taste them. That is why I don’t like all the bean desserts all over the place. If rather eat beans as beans, haha! If yours is faint, I may like it…especially adorned with all the chocolate chips!!

    • erika

      Oh wow I just checked out Just a Smidgen and she has a beautiful blog!! I looked all over but couldn’t find her strawberry loaf 🙁 I’m super curious to see it!

      I’ve had the same experience of tasting avocado really strongly and let me tell you–I did NOT like it! But this I could definitely stomach 🙂 So I hope that you’d like it as well! 🙂

  12. Nancy @ gottagetbaked

    Hey girl, my husband was looking over my shoulder as I was reading your post and he said “great photos!” I agree – they’re gorgeous, especially that first aerial shot of the top of your loaf. Beautiful and delicious! I love that you used avocado here. I don’t mind that slight sumpin-sumpin taste that the avocado imparts on baked goods so I can’t wait to try this.

    • erika

      Nancy, you never fail to make my day! Thanks for passing along your hubby’s kind words 🙂 Haha…sumpin sumpin indeed 🙂 Love those avocados!

  16. Megan

    I can’t wait to make this!!! And I totally agree with you on the egg vs. egg white. I always throw in the whole egg. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!

    • erika

      I’m so glad you do the same! Sometimes I’ll just use the egg yolks if the recipe calls for that since I can scramble the egg whites, but I never know what to do with just egg yolks! Well, I’ve been meaning to try custard, but you can’t really make custard with just one yolk, can you? 🙂

    • erika

      You definitely should! They’re a great alternative to other fats…as long as you love the taste of avocado 🙂

  19. Kylie @ immaeatthat

    My favorite line was, “oat flour because oat flour rocks” haha:)) My thoughts exactly! I’m always looking for another banana bread recipe and the fact that this one has avocados in it makes it that much more amazing!

    • erika

      Lol I’m glad we think alike 🙂 Yes, I feel like I’m on a constant search for amazing banana bread! Avocados were definitely a game changer..

  22. Heather

    I love the design on the top of your loaf- just beautiful! Also, what lovely photographs with this post. The close-up where you can see the bananas and chocolate on top looks just decadent. Can I have a piece please? 😉