I didn’t mean for this to be, but this is probably one of the best banana breads I’ve ever made. Maybe it’s the Irish oats, maybe it’s the extra banana in there.
All I know is, it’s delicious.
And it’s only got 1 tbsp of sugar added to the top, which is completely optional. 1 tbsp of sugar in the whole recipe! Granted it’s got applesauce, bananas, berries, and orange juice as sugar sources. So that’s kind of a cheat, but still whatever.
This bread was inspired by the fact I saw this brand of oatmeal at the store and couldn’t resist buying it for silly reasons that will remain undisclosed for the time being. But trust me they’re silly.
This brand of Irish oats is a little deceptive though. Irish oats is another name for steel cut oats and steel cut oats these are not. They’re more of an instant Irish oatmeal, still better than rolled oats but definitely not your traditional steel cut. This got me to thinking though. What really are the differences between all the different types of oatmeals out there?
If you are going to use traditional steel cut oats in this recipe you are going to want to cook them first as steel cut take much longer to soften.
So you start out with your oat groat, this is the cleaned whole oat kernel. | bobsredmill.com
Rolled Oats. The Quaker Oat. The most common form. Instant versions are simply rolled thinner so they take less time to cook. | cookingclub.com
Steel Cut Oats AKA Pinhead AKA Irish Oats. Made from whole oat groats that have been chopped multiple times with a steel blade resulting in a chewier oat. | en.wikipedia.org
Scottish Oats. These oats are ground not rolled or cut. Resulting in a porridge style oatmeal. | recipetips.com
Recipe: (350° 60 minutes)
1 1/2 cups instant Irish oats (dry)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 orange (zest, juice – about 1/4 cup)
3 bananas (ripe)
1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup walnuts (chopped)
1/4 cup blueberries (chopped)
1/4 cup strawberries (chopped)
*Fresh or frozen is fine for the berries
Preheat oven 350°.
Mash your bananas.
Add your orange juice and zest.
Whisk in your egg.
Sift your dry ingredients together.
Get your additions ready.
Add your flour, baking powder/soda, salt to your banana/egg mixture.
As it’s coming together add your oats and additions.
Be careful not to over mix.
Grease a bread pan and pour batter. Top with honey or 1 tbsp granulated sugar.
Bake in 350° oven for 1 hour or until tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove to rack.
Make sure you generously grease/Pam/whatever your bread pan. Or else it won’t fall out easily.
Enjoy!
