Rich Banana Bread

This banana bread is not ordinary! I made it dozens of times for the family. Some prefer it for breakfast and others for snacks. But beware, it’s not muscular for nothing: whole grain flour and old-fashioned oatmeal, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and 5 BANANAS (perfect for passing over-ripe bananas!). It’s just sweet enough and I add a little bit of chocolate, a small handful of chocolate chips. A little piece will make you happy!

Ingredients

• 250 ml (1 cup) whole wheat flour or other wholemeal flour
• 250 ml (1 cup) old-fashioned oatmeal flakes
• 125 ml (½ cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 5 ml (1 teaspoon) baking powder
• 5 ml (1 teaspoon) baking soda
• 250 ml (1 cup) your choice of nuts and seeds (I like walnuts and pumpkin seeds)
• 125 ml (½ cup) of dried fruit (grapes, cranberries, apricots), diced)
• 60 ml (¼ cup) of ground chia seeds (or flax seeds)
• 60 ml (¼ cup) chocolate chips (optional)
• 5 very ripe bananas crushed (works with 4 or 6 bananas too!)
• 2 eggs
• 60 ml (¼ cup) lightly packed brown sugar
• 125 ml (½ cup) plain or vanilla yogurt
• 60 ml (4 tablespoons) canola oil
• 5 ml (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
• 2 ml (½ tsp) ground cardamom (optional)

Preparation

Place the rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Line a loaf pan containing about 1.5 liters (6 cups) with a strip of parchment paper, letting it protrude on two sides.

In a bowl, combine flours, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, nuts, dried fruit, chia seeds, and chocolate chips. Set aside.
In another bowl, mash the bananas with a potato masher or fork.

Add remaining ingredients and stir with a spoon until the mixture is fairly smooth.
With a spatula, stir in the dry ingredients until the mixture is just moistened. Spread the preparation in the mold.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
Let cool 10 minutes before unmolding.

Notes

This recipe doubles easily to make 2 loaves of bread. The bread freezes.
Cardamom is very aromatic and tasty, but can also be replaced by cinnamon.
The oil can be replaced by the same amount of applesauce.
One egg can be replaced by 2 egg whites.
Tip: Freeze your over-ripe bananas without the peel in a bag, indicating the number of bananas on the bag. Defrost the desired number of bananas.