Oat bran banana bread

I know – everyone and their dog has made banana bread. But has everyone made a banana bread like this? This is über healthy banana bread. One hearty slice of this loaf will fill you up. It’s fantastic for breakfast and it’s a great way to sneak some nutrition into my boys. This loaf has whole wheat flour, oat bran and ground flax. And while the recipe doesn’t call for chocolate chips, my boys like them thrown in for good measure.

This recipe was adapted from the Dietitians of Canada’s “Simply Great Food”. This is an excellent cook book and I use it all the time. I usually double the recipe as we tend to have a lot of bananas in this house.

Oat Bran Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

½ oat bran

1/3 cup ground flaxseed

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 egg whites

1 whole egg

½ granulated sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup low-fat plain yogurt

3 ripe bananas (about 1 1/3 cups)

(chocolate chips if desired)

In a medium bowl, combine flour, oat bran, ground flaxseed, baking powder and baking soda

In a large bowl, beat egg whites, whole egg, sugar, oil and vanilla for 3 to 4 minutes or until well combined. Stir in bananas. Gradually fold in flour mixture. (add chocolate chips if using)

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth top.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until top is firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.