When I feel like I have mastered a recipe, I often don’t go back and take a look at new recipes for that particular dish. After all, if you are making the best there is, why would you ever explore anything new? That is how I felt about my banana bread recipe. It was the perfect recipe and it has never failed me. It is not the most figure-friendly though and so when I ran across this recipe from Cooking Light, I knew I would have to try it. I modified the recipe to our taste and what we had in our cupboard and what came from that little experimentation resulted in this perfectly perfect absolutely amazing banana bread recipe that will be replacing my old version.
Despite using rolled oats, there is no weird texture to the bread, even without any soaking of the oats. The sprinkle of oats on top add just a little bit of chewiness and the bread is moist, but still light-tasting.
My husband likened it to a delicious oatmeal cookie and I was impressed with how clean it came out of the pans, how easy it was to cut, and the beauty of the light golden color with the dusting of oats on top.
The original recipe called for white sugar and had no spices. I substituted the white sugar with brown sugar and added cinnamon. I had half-and-half in my refrigerator and added 2 teaspoons of vinegar to it to replace the buttermilk.
Did I mention this recipe is also very frugal? No butter in the recipe and very little fat, bananas that were going to make their way into a trash can, and cheap generic oatmeal! And yet, despite all of those factors, it would make an amazing little gift packaged for a special person in your life!
The recipe that is written below is my adaptation of this bread and I hope you will enjoy it half as much as our family has!
Deliciously Light Banana Oat Bread
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup mashed banana (approximately 2 1/2 per loaf)
1/3 cup buttermilk (I substituted with half & half with 2 tsp of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine banana, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes (I left mine in longer and it was fine). Remove the bread from the pan after 15 minutes and cool thoroughly on the rack.
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16 Responses to “Deliciously Light Banana Oat Bread”
Sounds yummy and I happen to have bananas in my freezer just waitiing for a purpose..
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Yum, I’m going to try this. We love banana bread and I often make banana muffins. I always have bananas in the freezer, so I may make this today. It sounds that good
Thanks for sharing!
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This looks so good! I have never seen oats on top.
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I’m getting to try baking for a month, I will definately add this to my list. Thanks for sharing girlfriend!
~Liz
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Yummy! This sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Blessings!
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fblife- It looks so lovely with the oats on top and I can’t wait to make this for gifts to give.
Amy- You could definitely adapt this to muffins too or do it in a mini-loaf pan. I hope you guys like it!!
Let me know if you guys get a chance to try it and I hope your family enjoys it half as much as our family did. Thanks so much for the comments this morning!
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This looks excellent, and I love that it doesn’t use butter.
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Ohh, far too many bananas in the freezer that just look pathetic – this would be a great way to use them up! And then probably freeze again in the form of bread. Incidentally, I literally just posted on a whole wheat banana pancake recipe I tried out on Friday. Didn’t know that today would turn out to be “bananas.” Yuk yuk, couldn’t resist!
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I made this this morning! Thank you for sharing! This is just what Jacob and I needed to brighten up our dreary Monday!
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Sarah- Wow, I am so flattered you already made it. I hope that you & Jacob loved it. It is a nice healthy little treat and the kids think they are getting something naughty
You have to love that. Thank you again for trying it!
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oh! Definitely trying this one this afternoon…I have a lot of bananas to use!
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Yummy! I will definitely be trying this one, girl!!
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can you use soy milk, do you know, instead of the buttermilk or half & half? sounds delicious but i can't do dairy….
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Absolutely, you can substitute soy in this recipe and I bet vanilla soy would be even yummier. To make the soy milk substitute well for the buttermilk, you can do the same souring process by adding 2 teaspoons of vinegar.
My girlfriend just did that and even replaced the egg with egg beaters and applesauce for the oil and she said it is their new favorite bread.
I hope that helps with the dairy allergies!!
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I tried this and I love it! My favorite banana bread to date – thick crumb and moist and substantial. Delish! Thanks for sharing!
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I tried this recipe this morning – EXCELLENT. The kids loved it with a swipe of peanut for breakfast.
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