Award-Winning Oatmeal Banana Bread (+ Vegan Substitutions)
You are going to go nuts over the flavor and texture of this brilliant Oatmeal Banana Bread. The recipe is easily adjusted to make Vegan Banana Bread, plus it’s an Award-Winning Banana Bread Recipe!
Why We Love This Award-Winning Oatmeal Banana Bread
Is there anything more comforting than warm soft banana bread?
I have made a lot of banana bread variations over the years, but this is the recipe we always come back to… Hearty Oatmeal Banana Bread.
It involves simple ingredients, no-fuss preparation, pure banana-oat flavor, and a decadent texture.
One of my friends even won an award using this oatmeal banana bread recipe!
The combination of ripe bananas and oats creates a lovely tender, yet rustic, texture. The oats soak up and hold the moisture from the bananas, so the bread doesn’t dry out quickly.
The sweet, earthy flavor of bananas, grains, and spices is simplistic and alluring. This is truly a recipe you will keep and reuse.
Banana Oat Bread can be served at room temperature, or warm, slathered with butter. It makes a marvelous breakfast or midday snack!
What You Need To Make This Recipe
- All-purpose flour – Or GF baking mix
- Quick oats
- Light brown sugar
- Very ripe bananas
- Unsalted butter – Or vegan butter or coconut oil
- Eggs – Or vegan egg substitute
- Milk – Or nut milk or soy milk
- Vanilla extract
- Apple pie spice – Or pumpkin pie spice blend
- Salt
- Baking powder and baking soda
How To Make Oatmeal Banana Bread From Scratch
Prep the Pan. Set out a 9X5 loaf pan. Cut a strip of parchment paper 9 inches wide. Then, fold it to fit down into the bottom and long edges of the pan. Spray or grease the pan and paper.
Smash. Smash the bananas and measure out 1 ½ cups. You can do this with your hands or in a small bowl with a wooden spoon.
Mix it up. Set out a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, apple pie spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Then mix in the mashed banana, melted butter, eggs, and milk. Stir again until smooth. (There’s no need to separate the wet ingredients from the dry ingredients in this recipe.)
Bake! Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with extra oats if desired. Then bake for 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to rest in the pan for 15 minutes. Then, lift it out by the edges of the parchment paper.
Get the Full (Printable) Award-Winning Banana Bread Recipe + Video Below!
How to Make Vegan Banana Bread
Our oatmeal bread recipe is so versatile! Although it includes animal products (like butter and eggs) the recipe is very easy to adjust for dietary needs.
For a dairy-free version, substitute nut milk and plant-based butter spread for the dairy.
For vegan banana bread, you can swap eggs and dairy for vegan butter, nut milk, and flax eggs or a store-bought vegan egg substitute.
You can also make a gluten-free banana bread variation by swapping the wheat flour for a good gluten-free 1-to-1 baking mix. As-is, our oat bread recipe is already nut-free!
Recipe Tips & Variations
- You can add loads of different ingredients to add sweetness and texture! Try adding chocolate chips, pecans or walnuts, shredded coconut, dried fruit, pineapple chunks, coffee granules, or shredded zucchini or carrots!
- Many banana bread recipes feature cinnamon. If you like the taste that cinnamon adds to banana bread, go ahead and add one teaspoon!
- If you can’t wait for days for your bananas to turn dark brown, quick-ripen them by popping them in a 350-degree F oven for 5-8 minutes. They will get very dark and very ripe!
Frequently Asked Questions
Well, no, not really. Although this banana bread recipe includes healthy bananas and oats, it also involves a decent amount of butter, sugar, and white flour, making it more like cake than bread.
Therefore, it does have more fat, carbs, and calories than standard sandwich bread or French bread. Think of our banana oatmeal bread as more of a decadent breakfast or snack than a health food. *wink*
For a healthy banana bread recipe, try my high protein banana bread instead!
Very. The darker and softer the bananas are, the more flavor and sweetness they lend to the bread! Also, the squishy texture makes the bread ultra moist and luxurious. Banana oat bread is a great way to use up the black bananas sitting on your countertop!
We can how you How to Ripen Bananas Fast if needed!
You can store any leftover banana bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days! Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave and slather on some butter!
Absolutely! Be sure to wrap it well with plastic, and then with foil. If the wrapping is tight, you can freeze the bread for 3-6 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving!
If your banana bread is too wet in the middle, most likely you added too much smashed banana, or too little flour. It’s best to smash the bananas and measure in cups, rather than just counting bananas. With flour, first stir and fluff the flour in the bag/container. Then, scoop it into the measuring cups and level the top.
Looking for More Bread Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
- Sweet Irish Soda Bread
- Easy Garlic Bread
- Best Cloud Bread
- Croatian Lepinja Bread
- Hawaiian Luau Bread
- Zucchini Parmesan Bread
- Fluffy Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
- Focaccia Bread with Olives and Garlic
- Kahlua Banana Bread
Award-Winning Oatmeal Banana Bread (+ Vegan Substitutions)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (or GF baking mix)
- 1 cup quick oats
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 3 very ripe bananas (1 ½ cups mashed)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice (or pumpkin pie spice)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set out a 9X5 loaf pan. Cut a strip of parchment paper 9 inches wide. Then fold it to fit down into the bottom and long edges of the pan. Spray or grease the pan and paper.
- Smash the bananas and measure out 1 ½ cups.
- Set out a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, apple pie spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Then mix in the mashed banana, melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
- Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with extra oats if desired. Then bake for 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted deep into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to rest in the pan for 15 minutes. Then lift is out by the edges of the parchment paper. Wait until the loaf is fully cooled to cut.
wow, this is a keeper. I made them as muffins (400deg F for about 20mins) and did standard muffin mixing method, just because i can’t help myself. I’m looking forward making them again and playing around with using different spices and adding nuts. thank you!!
This recipe sounds great! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us.
My question is: I want to use maple syrup instead of brown sugar but I’m not sure how much to use. Please advise and thanks again.
Raquel
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Hi Raquel!
Without trying it, my first suggestion would be to swap maple syrup for the brown sugar and then omit the milk. If you give it a try, please let me know how it turns out! :)
Absolutely the very best banana bread I have ever made. Just the right spices just the right texture. It is delightful!!!
Great texture and moist, I ended up using coconut oil and found the overall taste too salty. Not sure if the original unsalted butter would’ve balanced it out or not, I will decrease the salt amount next time I make it.
This recipe worked out great! Moist and delicious! I used a flour blend (spelt and white) and Splenda brown sugar. I will be using this recipe again!
I’ve made this bread many times now and it’s soooooo good. Like I wish I could eat it all in one sitting good. Next time I’m hoping to make it into muffins for my kiddos. For anyone reading – make this! You won’t regret it.
I doubled the recipe with no problem, however I did cut back a little bit on the pumpkin spice, I also split the brown sugar with Splenda. Recipe came out fantastic, got rave reviews from the family including my mother-in-law!
I’ve made this recipe a bunch of times. My kids love it. The only thing I added was 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. It’s my go-to banana bread recipe.
Hi- I DID make your recipe, however, I made some alterations. I write and edit recipes, and this recipe of yours peaked my interest- because, I got back in town and the bananas in the fruit bowl were going brown. I didn’t want to throw them out, so I basically combined one of my recipes for a Zucchini Bread, and your recipe for Oatmeal Banana Bread. I also used buckwheat flour in place of some of the AP flour, less sugar, also added shredded zucchini and sweet potato. It made my house smell like the holiday season- as I usually only bake then (we live in TX and it is SO hot!) Anyway- your recipe is a “winner!” I plan to serve it in the morning for my son’s birthday in place of cake with a good sea salted French butter- that I have room temp in a butter bell.
I baked this banana bread twenty minutes ago and it was the most delicious moist banana bread love it and will make it again .
Are steel cut oats okay for this recipe?
I made this recipe as instructed and it was excellent. Making it again now. Steel cut oats take a lot longer to cook, so I don’t think that they will work for this recipe. They’re also a different texture and may require more liquid. I suggest looking for a recipe specific for steel cut oats. I found a yummy bar recipe a few years ago.
Hi Rosie,
Unfortunately, no. The only way to use steel-cut oats in this recipe would be to grind them first into powder. Hope this helps!
Love you for the banana nut bread recipe thank you I will be trying the recipe soon.
Take care and God bless Sommer 🤠👍