Blueberry Banana Bread

When blueberry season comes around, I love baking with those fresh berries! So I thought I’d try combining blueberries and bananas in a bread, and I also decided to add a little oatmeal–I thought oatmeal would give it a nice texture and make a nice quick bread for breakfast.

This bread is so moist and packed with blueberries! It’s sweet, but not overly sweet–and the ripe bananas add just the right amount of sweetness and moistness to the bread. I actually didn’t taste my loaf until the day after I baked it, and it was wonderful the day after! I’m not sure what it tastes like while still warm, but I’m guessing it’s pretty good. The flavor of the bread is so good you really don’t need to put anything on it–but you can always add a little dab of butter on a warm slice, or lightly spread some cream cheese on a cooled slice if you want.

BLUEBERRY OAT BANANA BREAD by NancyC

Makes one 8 x 4″ loaf

1 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons light olive oil

2 Tablespoons milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup ripe mashed bananas (2 to 3 bananas, depending on size)

1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour an 8 x 4″ loaf pan.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In medium bowl, blend olive oil, milk, and egg, blending well, then add vanilla and mashed bananas, blending everything well. Add this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350˚F for 50 to 52 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.