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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Banana Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bread

A few days after Christmas, I set out on a run. Yes, I was determined to burn off some of the dozens of cookies I consumed in the month of December. More importantly, I wanted to take advantage of the time off and the fact that I could leisurely run without having to worry about rushing to shower and get to work.

1.5 miles into my run, I managed to slip on the one patch of ice in St. Louis that day (literally. It was sunny and 30 degrees with temperatures quickly rising). One bad fall and a long walk home later, i found myself sobbing on the couch, debating whether a trip to the ER was necessary. 

Thankfully after popping some ibuprofen and icing for awhile, we determined my arm was swollen and sore, but not broken. Relieved, I spent the evening making this bread, breaking Ryan's orders to rest. As annoyed as he was at my refusal to sit still, he was no longer mad when he cut a slice of this bread. 

My increasingly sore arm was totally worth it and I opted to use the bread to soothe the pain ;) Twenty-four hours later, this bread was nearly gone. I took photos of this after the first evening, when we'd already eaten almost half of the loaf. My bread looks extra chocolaty due to the full cup of chocolate chunks I added. For a more moderate amount, use just 3/4 cup. 

This is good for dessert, breakfast, a mid-morning snack, whatever. We would know, as we had it for each! I don't recommend attempting to run on a patch of ice, but I do recommend mixing up a loaf of this. (Note--I adapted from Jessica's recipe which didn't include bananas. To make a non-banana version, omit the bananas and up the buttermilk to 1 cup!)
One Year Ago: Creamy Peanut Butter Dip
Two Years Ago: Whole Wheat Beer Bread


Banana Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bread
adapted from How Sweet Eats
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Ingredients:
-1/4 cup butter, softened
-1/3 cup brown sugar
-2 ripe bananas
-1 large egg
-1 tbsp vanilla extract
-1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
-1 cup old fashioned oats
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 tsp salt
-2/3 cup buttermilk
-3/4 cup chocolate chunks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. Beat butter until creamy. Add brown sugar and bananas and beat until combined. Add egg and vanilla, beating after each addition.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combined flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating just until combined. Add buttermilk, mix, and then add remaining dry ingredients.
4. Fold in chocolate chunks before pouring batter into the prepared pan and spreading evenly with a spatula.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (mine took closer to 25 minutes). Place loaf pan on a wire rack to cool before removing bread and slicing.