Get ready for the holidays with our decadent Banana Walnut Oat Bread. This easy sweet treat is great as a dessert after dinner or first thing in the morning with your coffee. It’s so delicious you’ll hardly believe how many nutrients are packed into one slice. Bananas are rich in potassium, walnuts provide loads of omega-3s, and oats are a great source of fiber. If that’s not enough to make you feel good about this dessert, you can up your micronutrient intake even more by using organic wheat flour!

The Research

A study published in the journal Food Chemistry compared organic and conventional wheat flours available in retail outlets, and found that organic flours had more micronutrients than flours made using conventional wheat. Organic wheat flours contained proteins that were of higher quality and that were more easily digestible than proteins found in conventional wheat flour. Researchers also found that organically produced wheat flours had higher levels of essential nutrients including potassium, zinc and molybdenum, and lower levels of toxic elements such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, and lead.

The Recipe

Photo credit: The Creative Exchage; unsplash.com

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients 

• 1½ cups unbleached organic wheat flour
• ½ cup organic quick oatmeal oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup of mashed ripe organic bananas (about 3 bananas)
• ½ cup chopped organic walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl combine butter, brown sugar, eggs, bananas and vanilla extract. In a second mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Mix until the ingredients are just combined. Fold the walnuts into the mixture. Pour the mixture into the greased loaf pan and cook for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. To test if the bread is done, stick a clean knife or toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, your bread is done.

Banner Photo Credit: Klara Avsenik; unsplash.com