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Brown Sugar Oat Flour Banana Walnut Bread

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Another banana bread? Yeah, I know. I just wrote about the double chocolate one last week. But this one is different.

It’s more of a breakfast bread. It eschews chocolate in favor of whole grain oat flour and toasted walnuts and a more restrained use of butter and sugar.

It fits a classic banana nut bread flavor profile, but the oat flour and brown sugar and the crunchy dusting of turbinado sugar give it a little extra depth.

Brown Sugar Oat Flour Walnut Banana Bread. What I want for breakfast tomorrow. From Blossom To Stem | Because Delicious www.blossomtostem.net

I love oat flour. So many whole grain flours have a heaviness to them, but oat flour feels so light. And it’s a natural flavor partner for brown sugar and bananas and walnuts.

(And if you like the combination of oat flour and brown sugar, you should try this strawberry rhubarb crisp with oat flour.)

It’s also something that you can make yourself from rolled or quick oats–all you need to do is pulse them in a food processor and you have oat flour. Or you can go with the pre-milled versions from Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour or any other producer you like.

I went through a phase with my cooking where I was always adding something more–another spice, another flavoring–to make my recipes more interesting.

Lately, I’ve been drawn to the idea of simplifying, stripping things down to the bare essentials so that each flavor can stand on its own.

This banana bread is better for its simplicity. It’s simple banana bread, but it’s really good simple banana bread.

Brown Sugar Oat Flour Walnut Banana Bread. What I want for breakfast tomorrow. From Blossom To Stem | Because Delicious www.blossomtostem.net

You could add cinnamon or chocolate chips or any number of extras and it would still be tasty, but this banana bread just doesn’t need any of those things.

It makes me appreciate just how pleasurable the flavors of banana and oats and brown sugar and toasted walnuts are together and reminds me that they don’t need to hide behind anything else. They’re perfectly wonderful stars themselves.

Brown Sugar Oat Flour Walnut Banana Bread. What I want for breakfast tomorrow. From Blossom To Stem | Because Delicious www.blossomtostem.net

The only extra on this bread is the sprinkle of turbinado (or raw sugar), which adds a little textural contrast and serves to enhance the brown sugar flavor rather than competing with it. It also gives this homey banana bread a glint of sparkle when it catches the light.

This made a lovely breakfast for most of last week. When it was gone, Dan and I were wishing we had more.

Brown Sugar Oat Flour Walnut Banana Bread. What I want for breakfast tomorrow. From Blossom To Stem | Because Delicious www.blossomtostem.net
Yield: 1 9x5-inch loaf

Brown Sugar Oat Flour Banana Walnut Bread

Brown Sugar Oat Flour Banana Walnut Bread

This is a lovely banana bread with a classic flavor profile. You can make your own oat flour by pulsing rolled or quick oats (but not steel cut) in a food processor or you can use a commercial oat flour. You could substitute all-purpose or whole wheat flour for the oat flour and it would still work, but I really like the homey oat flavor here. This is one of my favorite kinds of banana bread to have for breakfast. It feels wholesome enough that I don’t mistake it for dessert. You can freeze overripe bananas if you want to keep them around for whenever the urge for banana bread strikes. [Update: I just tested this using all oat flour, and it was great. It would be a great gluten free option for banana bread. It's a little more delicate than the part-wheat version. You could add a little xanthan gum for extra stability. Oats don’t contain gluten, but they’re often contaminated with wheat in processing, so be sure to make sure you’re using certified gluten free oat products if you’re making this for someone with gluten sensitivities.]

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 medium overripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup (4 oz, 110 g) brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1 cup (3 1/4 oz, 95 g) oat flour
  • 6 tablespoons (3 oz, 90 g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (4 1/4 oz, 125 g) all-purpose flour (or use all oat flour)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (3 oz, 85 g) walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz, 12 g) turbinado sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add the brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat and all-purpose flours, baking soda, and salt. Add to the banana mixture and stir until no dry bits of flour remain. Stir in the walnuts.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with top with an even layer of turbinado sugar, and bake for about 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  5. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
  6. Keeps, well wrapped at room temperature, for about 5 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 214

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Arthi

Saturday 1st of December 2018

Amazing recipe thank you for sharing. I baked it exactly the same way and it turned out pretty. I especially liked the crunchy feel at the top because of that sprinkled sugar. Would like to share my bread photo but don’t know how to include it

Mary

Sunday 2nd of December 2018

Arthi, I'm so glad it turned out well!

Luci's Morsels

Wednesday 8th of March 2017

This looks so good and I can only imagine how great it smells too! I love how simple it is too. Thank you for sharing!!

Luci's Morsels

Wednesday 8th of March 2017

This looks so good and I can only imagine how great it smells too! I love how simple it is too.

Cricket Plunkett

Wednesday 8th of March 2017

I love the sprinkling top with sugar! I bet it makes it extra delicious!

Karen @ Seasonal Cravings

Wednesday 8th of March 2017

I've seen a lot of banana bread recipes around, but this one really got me excited. Love it and going to try it soon!

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