With a twist on a classic, this Banana Bread made with oat flour is a deliciously healthy bake that could just become a staple in your kitchen! Being nut free, this Oat Flour Banana Bread is perfect for school and kindy lunchboxes.
This recipe is also dairy free and refined sugar free. While not suitable for Coeliacs, this recipe can be suitable for those on a gluten free diet (explained a little further down).
Is there anything better then a slice of warm banana bread lathered in butter? I think not! If you love this healthy oatmeal banana bread then you might also like to try these other quick bread recipes (especially if you are looking for a gluten-free banana bread recipe:
- Buckwheat Flour Banana Bread (gluten free)
- Spelt Flour Banana Bread
- Chocolate Vegan Banana Bread (gluten free)
And if you are looking for more recipes using oat flour then you might like to try my oat flour pancakes. They are soft and fluffy and the perfect, sweet and healthy breakfast!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- this is a healthy banana bread recipe the whole family will love!
- This banana bread recipe is low FODMAP.
- Easy to make and delicious!
- This recipe is wheat free, dairy free and made using whole food ingredients.
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
This recipe is made using affordable, simple ingredients. For best results I always recommend sticking with the ingredients called for, however I have listed some possible substitutions as well as ingredients notes below for you.
- Overripe Bananas - using over-ripe bananas is what gives banana bread that beautiful banana flavor. They also add moisture into the batter and create nice moist crumbs so make sure you look for bananas with brown spots on the skin.
- Eggs (I recommend organic and/or free range) - if you have an egg allergy or are vegan, you can try swapping the eggs for flax eggs, but please not that I haven't tested this so I'm not sure how well it would turn out. Swap each egg for a flax egg (1 flax egg = 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds whisked with 3 tablespoons water).
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil - you can use macadamia oil in place of olive oil.
- Pure Vanilla Extract - if you prefer, you can swap the vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
- Oat Flour - this banana bread recipe is similar to a classic banana bread recipe except that it uses, you guessed it, oat flour instead of all purpose flour! Oat flour is made from oats and has a nutty flavor. I have used store-bought oat flour but you can actually make your own oat flour at home by blending rolled oats in a high-speed blender until you have a flour consistency. I always use certified non-contaminated oats and oat flour, meaning that there has been no contamination with other gluten containing grains. In the US this will be called "certified gluten-free oat flour", however, if you are Coeliac it is best to chat to your immunologist before including this in your diet.
- Baking Powder - I recommend using aluminium free and gluten free baking powder. Do not replace baking powder for baking soda.
- Rapadura Sugar (or coconut sugar) - rapadura sugar is ideal as it adds a bit more moisture to the batter then coconut sugar, but you definitely can use coconut sugar.
- Linseed Meal (also known as flax meal or flaxseed meal)
- Sea Salt
- Rolled Oats (old fashioned oats)
Find ingredient quantities in the recipe card below.
Equipment
- large bowl x 2
- a fork or potato masher
- measuring cups and spoons
- parchment paper
- loaf tin
- whisk
- mixing spoon
- wire rack
How to Make Healthy Oat Flour Banana Bread
To make this delicious and healthy recipe you will need to follow the below simple steps.
Firstly, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 356 degrees Fahrenheit. I grease the tin with olive oil first and then line my loaf tin with parchment paper, for easy removal of the banana bread.
Next, make the wet mixture. Add the ripened bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash with a fork or a potato masher. To the mashed bananas add the eggs, olive oil and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined.
To your second bowl, sieve the oat flour and baking powder. Add the linseed meal, rapadura sugar and salt and whisk to combine. Make sure you use a spoon to squash any lumps of rapadura sugar.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to create a smooth batter. Pour banana bread batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth out. Top with extra rapadura sugar and rolled oats.
Place into the preheated oven and bake for 65 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when pressed into the centre and the top is golden brown. You will need the loaf to cool in the tin for around 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.
Variations
- Choc chip - add half a cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
- Berry - stir through 1 cup of frozen raspberries or other berries before baking.
Are Oats Gluten Free?
While oats are "technically" a gluten free grain, they are more often than not, contaminated with gluten. This is because Oats are often manufactured on equipment that also processes wheat and other gluten containing grains.
You can purchase non-contaminated oats, for those who are gluten intolerant. You may have seen these referred to as gluten-free oats or gluten-free oat flour. If you are a Coeliac, eating even non-contaminated oats isn't recommended as they still contain a compound that is similar to gluten, and may therefore create a similar reaction.
am personally gluten intolerant (not Coeliac), however I find that I can eat oats without any issues and eat them most days.
How to Make Oat Flour
Oat flour can be a little bit tricky to find from the grocery store and I often end up ordering it online from an online organic grocer. If you can't find oat flour it is really very easy to make your own oat flour.
- Add rolled oats (also known as old-fashioned oats), quick oats, oat groats or steel cut oats to a food processor or high powdered blender.
- Blend until it becomes a fine flour consistency.
Please note: There may be some differences in the final result of this recipe when using homemade oat flour. I have tested this banana bread made with oat flour bought from the shops and not homemade. When I have a chance I will test it using homemade oat flour as well to make sure that it works just as well.
The reason why there could be some differences is that store bought oat flour is made by milling oat groats as opposed to blending rolled oats. I would imagine the differences would be minor but I don't know for sure at this stage.
Storage
Once cooled to room temperature, store banana bread in an airtight container for around 1-2 days at room temperature. If you live in a warm climate I would recommend storing in the fridge after 1-2 days. Store in the fridge for up to one week.
To freeze, slice the whole loaf and place pieces of parchment paper between individual slices. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- 2 mixing bowls
- A Fork or potato masher
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Whisk
- Mixing Spoon
- Loaf Tin
- Baking Paper
Ingredients
- 320 grams ripe bananas skin off, or approximately 2 large bananas
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil mild flavoured
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups oat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup rapadura sugar
- 2 tablespoons linseed meal
- pinch sea salt
- 1 tablespoon rolled oats optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, mash the bananas.
- Add the eggs, extra virgin olive oil and vanilla extract to the banana and whisk to combine.
- In a seperate, larger mixing bowl, seive the oat flour and baking flour. Add the rapadura sugar, linseed meal and salt. Use a clean & dry whisk to combine. Break any lumps of sugar up with the back of a spoon.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir through until all of the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients.
- Pour the batter into the baking paper lined tin and top with extra rapadura sugar and rolled oats. Place into the oven and bake for 60 minutes.
- After 60 minutes, remove the tin from the oven. Allow the banana bread to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Wait until room temperature before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Let us know how you went by rating the recipe and commenting below.
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Nancy Belz
I’m looking forward to trying your recipe and was wondering is the 320 g of ripe bananas with the skin on or is that 320 g banana flesh? As this would make a big difference to the end result of the recipe. I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you.
Sarah Bell
Hi Nancy, this is with the skin off, thank you for raising this! I'll add this to the recipe now. Happy baking!
Sophie Jeffries
This is delicious! The home made oat flour worked really well! Thanks for the recipe ??
Sarah Bell
So great to know that the homemade oat flour worked well, thank you! Glad you loved it!
Nancy Belz
Hi Sarah, just wanted to let you know that I made your recipe this evening and it was delicious! These were my notes and variations. I chose to use rice bran oil, 2 cups of oat flour came to 181 g and I only used 1/3 of a cup of rapadura sugar which came to 50 g. Just my personal preference as I was wanting to add in some dried cranberries (50% less sugar). I also added 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon for extra flavour and chose to make them into muffins, 21 small ones, only because I love to eat them warm out of the oven. I also topped half of them with finely chopped walnuts and hazelnuts. Yum! They only took 22 minutes to bake in the oven at 155°C fan forced. ?
Sarah Bell
Oh that sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your variations Nancy!