Vive Le Beurre

If you love oatmeal cookies and banana bread, this combination will satisfy your cravings! Made with coconut oil as an alternative to butter, oats and less sugar than regular recipes, the result is much healthier than your usual banana bread.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted, plus more for the pan
• 3 large, ripe bananas
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten (or 1 tbsp. flaxseed with 3 tbsp. water)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk, or milk alternative
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground steel-cut oats (I put these in the food processor for 20 seconds or so)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• Coconut chips for decoration, optional

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, grease loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Add coconut oil, egg (or flax egg), sugar, vanilla extract and milk.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Avoid overmixing.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 55 minutes (check doneness by inserting a toothpick or knife in center and making sure it comes out clean). If you’d like to add coconut chips to decorate it, add them around 30min into the baking to avoid burning them.
6. Allow to cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

I personally love when the top of my banana bread has a lot of texture. I obtained that by  reserving a slightly under-mixed part of the dough and putting that on the top before baking. Alternatively, this may occur when you double the batch.

This recipe provides a delicious and nutritious alternative to regular banana bread.

Enjoy!