I made this loaf purely with ingredients from my boyfriend’s kitchen.
What does that mean? You can EASILY make this!
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).
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.
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!
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!”
Avocado Banana Bread
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.
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”.
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.
Caroline
How many net carbs in this recipe? I have made it twice and my hubby and I love it!
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!
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!!
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 🙂
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!
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!
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!
erika
Nuts would be an amazing addition to this! I didn’t even think about that. Definitely next time!
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen Notes
Oat flour, avocados and bananas they all rock, so this bread is amazing just looking at the ingredients! The dreaded over ripe bananas have found a new home.
PS: Erik and Erika…how cuter can it be
erika
Haha thanks Paula!! Yes, those overripe bananas were causing a serious fragrance in my kitchen…
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
SUCH a gorgeous loaf, it looks super delicious and I love the healthy factor (and that you made it with your bf’s stuff haha!)
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! 🙂
Brandi
Yes, I’m sure I’d love it if it wasn’t a strong detectable taste! 🙂
Here is the link to her strawberry loaf.
http://justasmidgen.com/2013/01/26/i-%E2%99%A1-valentines-day-cake/
Brandi
Oh, and how she prevented them from sinking is adding them halfway through baking. I’m sure that would work with the bananas 🙂
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!
Kristi @ My San Francisco Kitchen
GORGEOUS photos! Avocados make everything so moist and yummy!!
yummychunklet
The bananas look amazing!
CCU
Genius banana bread, I want to devour this 😀
Cheers
CCU
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? 🙂
Alex @ Brain, Body, Because
This looks so good! I love the little chocolate chips sprinkled on top.
I have been seeing a lot of avocado in baked goods, lately! I’ll have to give it a try.
erika
You definitely should! They’re a great alternative to other fats…as long as you love the taste of avocado 🙂
christina @ smallkitchenchronicles
Erika, holy cow, this looks so delicious! I just love your creativity and fearlessness in the kitchen! You go! And the pics, just glorious! xo
erika
Thanks lady 🙂
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..
Tahnycooks
Gosh, I wish I had a slice of that right now! Yum!
Jennifer
You never disappoint, another winning recipe! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
¤´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•`¤… Jennifer
Jenn’s Random Scraps
erika
Jennifer, you are so sweet! Thank you 🙂
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? 😉
erika
Thanks so much Heather 🙂 Duh! Come on over!