Banana Oatmeal Bread

There are oodles of banana bread recipes out there and rather than try a bunch that are just slight variations on each other, I wanted to test some with substantial differences  Hence, this version with oatmeal and macadamia nuts.  Macadamia nuts are one of those things that I've had in the cupboard for a while and can never quite figure out what to do with them, so this was perfect.  They aren't a powerful nut, so the extra flavors in this bread help bring them out.  The bread is hearty, but has great flavor from the nuttiness of the oats and nuts, is moist and sweet from the bananas, and the light cinnamon undertone brings it all together.

Another MixingBowl find, this one is an original recipe from thesweetestpea.  I followed the ingredients as she stated (although I dropped from 6 to 4 bananas because my bananas were big), but her suggestion was to just dump everything in a bowl and mix which kind of freaked me out.  So I split up the wet and the dry ingredients and incorporated everything the way I know best.



Banana Oatmeal Bread

My bananas aren't furry. They're just frozen, so the peels are frosty.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
4-6 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (I coarsely chopped mine)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg then slowly add melted butter, whisking constantly until incorporated (to temper the egg with the warm butter but not get a scrambled egg).  Add bananas*, sugar and vanilla and whisk until combined.

Note: When I have very ripe bananas but no time to bake, I pop them in the freezer until I have time to use them.  When I'm ready, I microwave the banana on high for 1 minute, cut the top off and squeeze the fruit out of the peel and into a bowl.  They are the perfect consistency for mashing and baking every time.

Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir until combined.  Add nuts and stir until incoprorated.

Grease a standard loaf pan and pour in batter.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool 15 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan.  Cool complete before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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