Everyone in my family loves this banana chocolate oatmeal bread. My husband may be the biggest fan (although he says he is allergic to bananas, but he’s not picky ... really). Even in summer I bake up a batch every week. It’s a great snack for the park, and maybe the only part of a packed lunch that Z. eats at camp. It’s also the snack that I made for the ball hockey teams and both the boys were so proud that their friends loved it so much they made me promise to make the same exact snack next year. Sometimes the simplest things make your kids the happiest. In fact, I think I sold more copies of Whining and Dining at ball hockey then at some of our public appearances.
I always make mini muffins (sometimes with mini chips) because I find there is less waste, but it is equally good as a loaf (which is what Eshun prefers) or regular muffins. The muffins are very moist which is a bit of a problem in summer because the two squished muffins that are always left at the bottom of the muffin tin get a bit mouldy. In fact, my four-year old came crying to me the other day because his big brother ate the last good muffin, the other ones were white. “NO,” said Z.,” I ate a white muffin too.”
“ Oh,” said N., as he looked at him, “Daddy told me the white part would make me sick.”
At which point we spent the next hour reassuring Z. That, no the mould would not make him sick (though I think we weren’t positive). But he’s fine. And to think he used to be a picky eater!
We also brought some in when we were on Fresh Air on CBC Radio on Saturday, July 14. They loved it and we loved being on the show. I think they need us as monthly guests talking about kids’ food, but I’m not sure they know that yet. And in other media news, we got a mention in Sunday’s Toronto Sun. Marilyn Linton had some nice things to say about the book and our approach. And we thought our 15 minutes were up...
Banana Chocolate Oatmeal Bread
Baking is often a last-minute “What am I going to do with the kids on this rainy day?” or “I’d like to avoid doing laundry” kind of thing, which means we don’t usually plan well enough to have taken the butter out of the fridge or freezer in time to get it to room temperature. So any recipe that calls for melted butter means you don’t have to walk around with two sticks of butter softening in your back pocket. This is the banana bread recipe you have been looking for: soft, moist, loaded with bananas, a bit of oatmeal for good health and chocolate for added kid appeal.
3⁄4 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1⁄2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1⁄2 cups mashed banana (3–4 very ripe bananas)
1⁄4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄3 cup chocolate chips
Preheat Oven to 350F
Grease and flour a loaf pan.
Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl and stir until uniform. Add eggs, one at a time, and stir to incorporate. Add oats, banana, buttermilk and vanilla; stir until uniform. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; stir with a fork to blend.
Add flour mixture to banana mixture one third at a time; stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until loaf is dark brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife along the edges to loosen, turn out of baking pan and cool on a rack.
Makes 1 loaf.
Tip: These also make delicious muffins and mini-muffins (try it with mini chocolate chips!). Muffins take about 20 mins and minis bake for 13 mins.
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