Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Banana Bread — Gluten Free Dairy Free and Completely Irresistible

I have been throwing brown bananas in the freezer for months — and this recipe is the reason I will never stop.

Lately we buy bananas and they don’t get eaten, then we have brown bananas. I throw them in the freezer and they collect until I have a good 10 in there.

I went searching on Pinterest for banana baking and this delicious picture popped up of a Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Banana Bread. When I clicked on the link it brought me to Hungry Healthy Happy Girl. It seems that Tara, at a lovely age of 21 is a beast in the kitchen! Everything she makes is gluten, wheat, dairy, egg and peanut free. I whipped up her recipe in a very short easy amount of time. (I did not use gluten free oats however.)

Usually I don’t like most of what I cook and Adam devours it all making me feel like a great cook/baker. This bread, is a whole nether story!

You can find the recipe here. (It is also listed below)

The first time I made it, I followed the recipe to a T, the second time I halved the chocolate chips and added walnuts and used Dark brown sugar. I promise it is the most delicious bread you will ever have!

First, I gather all my ingredients

Then, grind all your oats until they look like flour. I have no food processor and well, this is our hand mixer from South Korea. (If you look carefully, you can see the strange adapter on the wall.

Then, I mix all the wet ingredients and the dry ones separately. Combine everything, mix it up and bake! Tip: If you use silicone baking pans be sure to keep the pan ontop of a baking sheet so it is easier to remove it from the oven that way.

And this is the deliciousness that you get to eat…of course I had a slice right out of the oven.

What you need:

About 3 cups oats (make sure you use gluten-free oats)
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
1/3 cup brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
3 tablespoons oats

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
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 just 2 cups of the oat flour and place in a medium bowl. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a separate large bowl, beat mashed bananas, 1/3 cup brown sugar, vanilla extract, and oil for 1-2 minutes until the consistency is smooth and creamy. Slowly add in oat flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Gently fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle 3 tablespoons oatmeal and 1 tablespoon brown sugar on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan and place on wire rack to finish cooling. Cut into thick slices and ENJOY

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Q: What can you do with overripe frozen bananas? A: This chocolate chunk oatmeal banana bread is the answer. Frozen bananas are actually perfect for baking — the freezing process breaks down the cell walls making them even sweeter and easier to mash than fresh overripe bananas. Pull them out let them thaw and you have the best possible base for banana bread.

Q: Is this banana bread recipe gluten free? A: The original recipe from Hungry Healthy Happy Girl is completely gluten free dairy free egg free and peanut free using gluten free oats ground into flour. We made it with regular oats the first time and it was still absolutely delicious. Either way the result is a moist dense and deeply chocolatey loaf that tastes far more indulgent than it actually is.

Q: How do you make oat flour at home without a food processor? A: Blend your oats in a blender or use a hand mixer directly in a deep bowl — we made ours with our trusty hand mixer from South Korea complete with its foreign power adapter. Blend until the oats resemble fine flour stopping to stir occasionally to ensure even grinding. You need about two cups of oat flour for this recipe.

Q: What is the best way to customize this banana bread recipe? A: Our second batch halved the chocolate chips added walnuts and swapped regular brown sugar for dark brown sugar which added a deeper almost caramel flavor. You could also add cinnamon coconut flakes or swap chocolate chips for dried fruit. The base recipe is forgiving and adaptable to whatever you have in your pantry.

Q: How do you know when banana bread is done baking? A: Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes and test with a knife or toothpick inserted into the center — it should come out clean with no wet batter. If you are using a silicone baking pan place it on a baking sheet before putting it in the oven so it is easier and safer to remove. Let it cool 10 to 15 minutes before slicing — or do what we did and eat it straight from the pan because life is short.