Banana bread is one of my all-time favorite things to bake because it’s so versatile and delicious!  Not only is it perfect with coffee in the morning but it’s a great go-to snack anytime of day.  It’s also really easy to customize and make your own depending on what you have in your cabinet: have some nuts? throw them in! do you love dried fruit? it goes great in banana bread! want to make it more sinful? add some chocolate chips or nutella!! The possibilities are endless…. and oh so delicious…

I discovered this first hand when one of my great friends had her first baby while we were living in Savannah, GA.  The most obvious thing to make for a new mom is some sort of casserole dinner so I decided to go a different route and stick to breakfast- new Moms need to eat in the morning too!!  Banana bread seemed like the perfect solution for eating with one hand- feeding baby with the other and I ended up making three different versions for her. Each morning and afternoon I got a text thanking me for the fabulous bread!

Fast-forward two and a half years; this same friend is now the mom of a busy toddler and we were catching up the other week about life.   She said the recipes I posted on my blog looked great but she really wanted something she could whip up during naptime without wasting too much of her precious me-time!  She wanted a recipe that was:

1. Fast
2. Easy
3. Minimal mess/dishes
4. Something she could eat with her coffee

My response: Challenge Accepted!!!  Not only is this banana bread something you can have in the oven in less than 10 minutes, it also uses only ONE bowl.  You read that right– ONE bowl.  Read as: LESS DISHES!!  It’s also healthy!! Something she can feel good feeding to her family with no butter and oats for added nutrition!  While this is totally something you can make quick during naptime- it would also be a GREAT recipe to bake WITH your kids! They’d have a lot of fun decorating the top of the bread with the sliced bananas and did you know that dry oats are a great sensory item for small kids to play with? Create an indoor sand-table with oats and you won’t have to worry about them undoubtedly putting some in their mouth! LOL

I already had her test the recipe herself to be sure it exceeded expectations and it did!! I’m so glad she inspired me to create this recipe!  Without further delay.. round up your bananas!!

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Naptime Banana Bread

Yield: 8-10 slices – prep time: <10 Minutes – bake time: 40 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of old fashioned oats (or quick, it really doesn’t matter)

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 extra ripe bananas

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OK GET YOUR ONE BOWL READY!!!!

Step One: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Depending on how many bananas you’re using- mash up at least two and a half in a large bowl with a fork.  Make sure to reserve about one half a banana to slice and add on top before baking.

Step Two: Crack in the two eggs and whip them in with the bananas.

Step Three: Add the vegetable oil, vanilla and brown sugar, mixing until smooth.

Step Four: Create a little pile of the dry ingredients on top of the wet: flour, salt & baking powder:

Using your fork, gently mix the dry ingredients only (as best you can) so the salt and baking powder are one with the flour.  Then, mix the whole bowl together until smooth.

Step Five: Once the batter is smooth, add in the oats and mix until fully combined. You can do all of this mixing with one utensil & your hand, you don’t need a standing or hand-end mixer for this!

Step Five: Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.  Add sliced bananas on top.

Note: pictured here I actually lined my loaf pan with parchment paper which just made it easier to pull out in the end- but you don’t have to do this if you don’t have parchment paper.  Pam will do the trick! Plus, you’re usually just eating the banana bread straight from the pan when it’s done anyways.. AMIRIGHT?

Step Six: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes and you. are. done! Clean that ONE bowl you have and Enjoy!!