When you have 3 ripe bananas and lots of oats on hand, you make banana bread.
I feel like it’s been a while since I baked up something yummy. In case you haven’t noticed, I love to bake! It’s one of my happy places. It’s a way for me to be creative. And more than anything, I just LOVE seeing the look on someones face when they try one of my gluten free/sugar free/dairy free treats not knowing that it’s been “healthified!”
Best. Feeling. Ever!
In fact, you might want to get your hands on my Healthy Desserts eBook and take advantage of the amazing Holistic Wellness Super Bundle (get my detox program, meal plans, smoothie cleanse and so much more and save lots of moola!). My Healthy Desserts ebook alone has over 30+ delicious gluten free, sugar free dessert recipes that are super drool worthy.
So… back to baking. I normally love baking with almond flour. I find the recipes always turn out amazing, plus, it’s a great gluten free baking flour. But let’s be real, it can seriously be expensive. And the amount of almond flour I go through – eek – it’s pretty crazy!
Sometimes I can spend upwards of almost $200 on just almond flour alone, specifically when I’m recipe testing. I know, crazy right?!
But oats, they are on the cheaper side and if you get gluten free/wheat free ones, then making gluten free treats is a breeze.
The only dilemma is that they are considered a grain, so if you are grain free (which I am about 95% of the time), then almond flour may be your better bet.
I use Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Free Oats, and I grind them myself in my vitamix. It take 2 seconds and it comes out perfectly. Which reminds me, you’ll probably love my Oat Flour Blueberry Pancakes. They are my fav!
So let’s get to the baking goodness. Let me know in the comments below how your banana bread turns out. And be sure to tag me @holisticwellnessfoodie on instagram sharing your pics!
- 2 cups oatmeal (gluten-free rolled oats)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar (optional, I left this ingredient out as the banana's were sweet enough)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9” × 5" loaf pan with coconut oil.
- Make oat flour: Place oatmeal into blender and blend for 1-2 minutes until oatmeal resembles flour. You may need to stop blender and stir oats a couple of times to ensure that all oats have been blended.
- Measure out 2 cups of the oat flour and place in a medium bowl. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, combine mashed bananas, coconut sugar (omit to make sugar-free), vanilla extract, and oil for 1-2 minutes until the consistency is smooth and creamy. Alternatively, you can add this to a blender, but I did mine by hand. Slowly add in oat flour mixture and mix until well combined.
- Gently fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan and place on wire rack to finish cooling. Cut into slices and enjoy!
- *Feel free to add in chopped walnuts, pecans or any nut/seed of choice.
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