Banana Bread

 

Thursday afternoon, my mom sent me the following message: "Where's your banana bread recipe? I can't find it on your blog." 

This tickled me in two ways - 1) my mom - who did not grow up baking - wanted to bake in the middle of a busy work season, and 2) my mom considers this sporadically maintained blog a recipe box! 

The old recipe is no longer on this blog, but I've found myself baking with a newer, better recipe, yet another excuse for today's update:

Banana Bread
Adapted from Bon Appetit

66 g (1/3 cup) sugar*
1/3 cup of applesauce or yogurt** (or 3 tablespoons milk of your choice)
45g (1/4 cup) olive oil
2 large eggs
1.5 cups (about 2-3***) very ripe bananas, mashed

1.25 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
180 g (1.5 cups) oat flour****

chocolate chips or walnuts (optional, as much as you'd like)

In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients until well combined. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Add the flour and optional ingredients; stir until just combined. 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I begin checking for doneness around 45 minutes. 

*I wouldn't say no to 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup for an added layer of flavor
**Yogurt recommendations: Green Valley Creamery Lactose-Free Whole Milk yogurt, Siggi's 0% Milkfat yogurt, Lavva Plain Plant-Based yogurt
***BA calls for 4 bananas, which adds wonderful moisture and flavor, but is really not necessary if you don't have that many ripe bananas on hand. The number of bananas used is also impacted by their size. If you don't have enough bananas, add extra applesauce or yogurt until you get to 1.5 cups.
****All-purpose is fine, but I find that oat flour leaves you with a more tender crumb and added fiber. It's easy to make - pulverize rolled oats into fine flour using your blender or food processor.