#COOKING WITH CLORIS--OATMEAL BANANA BREAD

Ever start baking only to discover you were out of an essential ingredient? That’s what happened to me the other day. I had four over-ripe bananas and decided to whip up a couple of loafs of banana bread. I’d mashed the bananas and added the wet ingredients and sugar. I reached for my canister of flour and discovered I was a cup short. The recipe calls for three cups of flour. I only had two. No problem. I was sure I had another bag of flour in the pantry. Except I didn’t. What to do?

I substituted a cup of rolled oats for the third cup of flour. In any baking recipe you can substitute up to 1/3 of the flour for oats as long as it’s not the quick-cooking kind.

Turns out the banana bread came out even better than it usually does and with the addition of oats, it was healthier.

Oatmeal Banana Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

4 very ripe bananas

2/3-cup melted butter

2 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans.

Mash the bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir in melted butter.

Mix in baking soda and salt, sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla, flour, and oats in that order. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Divide batter between the two loaf pans. Bake 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. 

Cool completely on wire rack. Remove from pans.

Hint: Serve one and freeze one for another time.