Allison Chen
CV
Publications
Chia Next Time
Brain Dump

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes - 55 minutes

Serves: 1 loaf

Difficulty (out of 5):

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup honey (I usually do a little less)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
  • if making oat flour (see instructions below), use 1.25 * 1.5 cups ~ 1.875 cups of oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Add ins; my favorites are walnuts and dark chocolate chips! But any type of nut, dried fruit, shredded coconut, etc will be fantastic

Instructions

Making Oat Flour

As a general rule of thumb, oat flour can substitute regular flour! Just be careful because the oats tend to absorb liquid a lot quicker than all purpose flour, so some modifications may have to be made. If a recipe asks for 1 cup of all purpose flour, you can blend 1 1/4 cups of oats to make approximately 1 cup of oat flour.

1. Pour your oats in a blender or food processor (I personally prefer a blender!)
2. Start on a low speed and gradually bring your blender to high speed
3. Blend/Process oats until it is a fine flour (approximately 30 seconds)
4. Shake it around a bit to make sure there are no large chunks of oats that got left behind

Rest of Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a loaf pan with olive oil
2. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork
3. Whisk in the greek yogurt, honey, and vanilla
4. Beat in the eggs
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt
6. Gradually pour and mix the dry ingredients into the banana mixture (Note: you can sift the flour here for a bit of a fluffier texture!)
7. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for approximately 40-55 minutes (until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean)
8. Enjoy! :D

So Why Oat Flour?

The reason I prefer to use oat flour boils down to how the grain is processed to make regular flour. The grain in all purpose flour is processed in a way that it loses most of its nutrients and fiber. Oats, on the other hand, are considered a whole grain which means it goes through less processing and holds onto most of its fiber and nutrients. This not only provides important nutrients to your body, but also can help keep you full for longer! Whole wheat flour has similar properties to making oat flour, but it tends to be a little more expensive. Using just a blender or food processor, you can ensure you’re giving your body the nutrients you need without spending too much!