Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Bread

Good news, folks. . .  

Top Gear returns! 

 Top Gear features three hosts: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.  They face ridiculous car based challenges.  Don’t let that fool you though; it is so much more than a car show.  They crossed the salt flats in Africa, rode motorcycles from southern to northern Vietnam, and traversed glaciers to be the first people to drive to the north pole.  Clarkson at 6’5″ drives the world’s smallest car. . . through the BBC.  Ahh.  What an excellent show.  Watch June 20th for season 15 to begin.

And, look at that!  I made bread!  I quite liked it.  It had an excellent flavor and the oatmeal really offered something to the texture of it.  Nate’s only critique was that the bread was a bit dense.  I did actually follow the recipe and use bread flour.  Bread flour contains a higher amount of gluten that gives bread a chewier consistency.  In this recipe, I’m not sure it is needed.

Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Bread

-Source: MultiplyDelicious on Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups White Whole Wheat Bread Flour
• 1 cup Rolled Oats
• ½ cups Organic Cane Sugar (I only had granulated white sugar available)
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon (I actually think I would have preferred the bread without the cinnamon.  Use it or lose it as you see fit)
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1-½ cup Buttermilk
• 2 whole Eggs, Lightly Beaten
• ¼ cups Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 cup Ripe Bananas, Mashed (about 3 Medium)
• ¾ cups Semi-sweet (or Dark!) Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9×5 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a medium bowl, mix together buttermilk, eggs, butter, and bananas. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: you can also use the batter to make muffins.  The muffins will need to bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.