I love my husband’s sweats. They are just so much more comfy and roomy than my own. On Saturday night I put them on before bed and then I never changed out of them. All day Sunday I lounged in his oversized cozy sweats that I went to bed in the night before. We snuggled, watched tv, took a nap, watched football, laughed, and just vegged out. And I didn’t even care how incredibly lazy that was. It felt awesome.
My friend posted a meme on facebook the other day that said “Stop the glorification of busy.” I usually hate those things. They are usually political and people just see them somewhere and repost them without really thinking. But this one was different. This one made me really stop and think. It really is true. Why do we glorify busy? I do it all the time. Being so proud of myself for the non-stop day I had. When truly I never got to spend any quality time with my husband, or kitties, or just time to myself. I’m trying to be more conscious of that.
This bread is a lazy day bread. Sometimes I love spending hours in the kitchen preparing baked goods. The process of creaming and sifting and measuring is therapeutic for me. But I do have days when I just want to throw everything together and be done with it. This is that kind of recipe. You literally put everything in the blender and then bake. So easy. Cleanup is a cinch. Which means more time to snuggle with your hubby, or your kitty, or your puppy, or just a blanky.
The other really awesome thing about this bread is it is naturally vegan and gluten free. I used ground oatmeal instead of flour (just make sure your oats are certified gluten free if you are making this for someone who is gluten intolerant) and the banana and peanut butter eliminate the need for eggs or butter! I really love the flavor and the texture that the ground oatmeal brought to this bread. It makes it feel very rustic and comforting. Perfect for a lazy day on the couch with a mug of hot coffee.
Note: I made this in my ninja blender. It is more of a food processor/blender hybrid. If you have a regular blender it is probably best to pulverize the oats and then mix everything together in a bowl instead. Though I have not tried it yet, I think a food processor would work well for this recipe. If the recipe is a bit too dry, try adding a few TBSP of water or non-dairy milk. It will be much thicker than a traditional banana bread and I needed no extra moisture, but depending on where you live and the humidity that day, it may be necessary. NOTE: The recipe has been edited based on some reader comments that the bread was too dry.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups oatmeal (make sure they are certified gluten free if you have a gluten intolerance)
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 bananas if they are small, 2 very large bananas)
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- non-dairy milk or water (if necessary)
- 1½ cup chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips)
- banana slices for garnish if desired
Instructions
http://bakerbettie.com/2013/02/04/oatmeal-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-banana-bread/
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Lightly oil a loaf pan and set aside.
- Put oatmeal in a blender or food processor and pulse to a fine crumb.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips to the blender and blend until combined. You may need to scrape down the sides and then blend again to get completely combined. (it will not be completely smooth. The oatmeal will give it a grainyness and it will be very thick! Much thicker than a traditional banana bread)
- If the batter is very crumbly add a few TBSP of water or non-dairy milk to the mixture. You want the batter to be very thick but it should still hold together.
- Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Top with remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and banana slices if desired.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
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I love lazy days
I def. don’t glorify business, I kinda hate being busy lol!
This bread looks soooo so comforting and delicious and I love that it’s like…kinda healthy!
Overall I hate being busy too. But I usually feel a little guilty on my lazy days. I need to let myself be okay with it.
What a lovely post! First, that bread looks so divine I'm pinning and posting.
Love that it's gluten free and vegan! Love the meme… I might re-quote you on that one. We all need more lazy days. It's good for the mind, body and soul.
Oh my. That looks amazing.
Thanks Melanie!
Go for it Karista! I think we all need to remember that from time to time.
That looks amazing, great combo of flavours. And it looks so moist yet holds it shape well- nothing worse than a crumbly loaf!
Just to point out though that you have to be very careful when sourcing oats if you are making this as gluten free for coeliacs as many of the brands aren’t gluten free- they are often cross contaminated with wheat, rye, barley etc- so make sure to check the brand you buy very carefully if you are a coeliac. There are brands around that are labelled as gluten free oats so unless gluten free is a lifestyle change and the impact won’t matter then i would stick to those if making this as a GF recipe, whereas for clean eating/paleo etc lifestyles then the gluten count would be minimal and not cause a problem.
Yes, I am very aware of that Eloise. Thanks for pointing it out. I meant to mention that, but was rushed when posting and forgot. I buy my oats in bulk from a natural grocery store and they are certified gluten free! I will edit it to remind people.
It’s just wrong how good this looks. I could probably say the same thing about most of the recipes on your site, but the idea of bananas in oatmeal flour makes me really happy!
I’m so happy it makes you happy Brooke! I was really excited about how this one turned out! If you try it let me know what you think!
Just made this recipe but the batter was super dry and the finished product is crumbly and dry. Wondering if possibly you mean 2 1/2 cups oat flour? 2 1/2 cups of actual oats makes a ton of flour and that could be why mine is dry! Other than that, I love the simplicity of ingredients and the addition of PB!
Oh no, Michelle! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out! The batter is definitely more dry than a traditional banana bread, but not crumbly. Did you bake it?
No, I definitely meant 2 1/2 cups of oats. When it is ground into flour, it should actually be less not more. I find that 2 1/2 cups of oats makes just a little more than 2 cups of flour.
How big were your bananas? Mine were huge! Maybe use 3 bananas? I will try and make this again this weekend and double check everything. You can also always add some almond milk if the batter is too dry.
I will give it another go… but now that I cleaned up my measuring cups I believe I may or may not have added an extra cup of oats… haha! Well, it still tastes great! But I do think you should make it again this weekend… just because it’s never a bad thing to have lots of banana bread
sorry about the confusion!
This banana bread looks wonderful! And that decoration realy amazed me
Hi!!
thank you.
Omg does this look and sound delicious ! Just one question : I have a packet of rolled oats..would those work? If so, should I grind them into flour to make 2 1/2 cups ? Or do I have to buy oatmeal? or oat flour? Please let me know so, I can make this asap !
Use 2 1/2 cups of the rolled oats and grind that into a flour. It will make it less than 2 1/2 cups of flour (a little more than 2 cups) but that should be the perfect amount for the recipe!
Thank u !! I just made this and it was delicious ! Have to stop my husband from finishing it all !! One question : how would you store this ? Thanks !
So…I tried making these in my blender. I ground the oats into a flour before I did anything else but once I mixed it all together the batter was SUPER thick! I’m thinking maybe it was because I used crunchy peanut butter (all I had). I quickly switched gears and decided to use the “dough” to make cookies instead. They turned out delicious! I even melted some semi sweet chocolate and did a little half dip on them! I’ll be sure to try this again when I get some creamy peanut butter but for now the cookies are perfect! Thanks!
YES! The batter will be very thick! That’s okay! It is supposed to be!
I just made this again after I got your comment to double check the measurements and they are right, I used chunky peanut butter too. You should have about 1 cup of mashed banana. I will edit the recipe to reflect that.
Glad that the cookies turned out, but try making it again sometime as bread! It won’t be a batter like consistency like normal banana bread. You will have to sort of pat it down with a spatula.
This was way too thick for my blender, you must have a powerhouse of a blender. I dumped it into my mixer and it did perfect. My bread came out looking freak in’ awesome and tastes the same as well. It is extremely heavy and almost a gummy texture. I am wondering if I should have cooked it longer or is it normally slightly gummy since it is made from oats? I am pretty new to gluten free, so please excuse me if it sounds like a silly question.
I felt like I was getting a cold and I thought this would be perfect for snacking on while sitting around watching tv. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I added 2T fat free sour cream as I was worried about it being too dry which I know is against the rules for this recipe but hopefully it will come out terrific. I love the no eggs and butter. I also put chopped walnuts on top vs. more chocolate chips. it was very to mix in my super mixer (thanks moms!).
hey, are you vegan now?? (i'm behind the times i think?)
no caroline but a bit lactose intolerant so this looks great for me! hope all is well with you!
too crumbly but if you can get around that very tasty!
I’m sorry they were crumbly Carla. I think it must depend on the humidity that day because I haven’t had the problem. Next time add a bit of moisture like nut milk or even water if needed.
This recipe turned out just like the photos. It was dense and delicious. I’m going to grind up oats all the time now. I used milk chocolate chips instead and I loved it. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hannah, that makes my heart sing! I love it when you try and love the recipes! Thank you so much for trying it!
yummy!
DAMN!
I made this just today and it was amazing! Great recipe!
Jessica, I’m so glad it worked out for you! Thanks for letting me know!