Bananas should always be bread.  It’s just what’s right.  Like how grapes should always be wine… or jelly.  I can’t handle eating a plain banana.  I have to drown… completely drown it in peanut butter, or wrap it in white bread and drench it in honey.  I just can’t handle it.

I’ll tell you what I can handle.  Sweet, warm banana bread.  With strawberries.  With peanut butter.  With oatmeal.  With mango.  Whatever you do, don’t stop.

Low-Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread I made this and ate a major amount… and I didn’t even feel bad.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread As good as you think it sounds.

Strawberry Banana Bread And there’s browned butter.  I know.  I just won’t quit.

Vegan Mango Banana Bread Double fruit!

Vegan Pineapple Coconut Banana Bread A lot of words.  A lot of awesome.

Rot some bananas and get your body bakin’!

Ps.  I’m making kale chips today.

Listen up dearhearts.

I made banana bread with peanut butter in it.

It’s a good idea and you should totally jump on this bandwagon.

I like the word bandwagon.  It makes me want to wear bellbottoms.

You don’t really need a lot of convincing when it comes to this bread, do you?

Three things are working in this loaf’s favor:   peanut butter, banana and flaxseed meal.  Oh!  Butter too.  That’s four things.

This bread is super moist with a slightly crunchy top and crunchy peanut bits baked in.  Peanut butter and banana are a combination as old as time so this bread just makes sense… don’t you think?

Now,  if you wanted to add chocolate chips and a splash of bourbon.. I want to marry you.

Want to know what’s in my fridge?  A whole lot of ’what the heck am I going to do with that’?  Maraschino cherries.  Basil pesto.  Expired buttermilk.  Kale… lots of kale.  A bottle with less that a tablespoon of maple syrup and carrot juice.  It’s a glamorous life I lead.  Totally.

You should be thankful I didn’t reach into my fridge for this recipe.  Cherry Pesto Kale Bread sounds like a big mistake.

Instead I scavenged through my cupboards.  What did I find?  A can of crushed pineapple.  A bag of dried beans.  Shredded coconut and bananas that I had very obviously forgotten about.   So!  Yes!  Bread!  Minus the beans…. cause…  that would just be weird.

So, just in case you’re keeping score… you could go ahead and call me an ‘oh crap I’m out of eggs and butter and just about every other animal product needed for baking’ type of vegan.  Also… I totally love bacon. Worst vegan ever.

You would never know that this bread was something I threw together out of cupboard desperation.  It’s dang good.  With bananas and pineapple, you can afford to add less oil… meaning less fat.  Of course, all our dreams of low fat banana bread fly out the window when we add sweetened shredded coconut.  It’s just too good to leave out.

Moist.  Flavorful.  Fruity.  Vegan.  This just proves that we can add just about anything to banana bread and still call it delicious.  Well… except dried beans.  That will always be weird.

Need more banana in your bread?  Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

It would seem that you can throw just about anything into an 8×4-inch loaf pan and have some sweet smellin’ magic come out of your kitchen after an hour or so.  What’s more, pulling a beautifully risen quick bread out of the oven is sure to make you feel like your a prime-time, super legit baker.  

Here’s a peek at my favorite quick bread recipes.  

Oh!  Happy Wednesday to you.  Also… you look pretty today.  I like what you did with your hair.  

Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread.  Still moist.  Still all sorts of delicious.  I even counted the Weight Watchers points on this one.  Whaaaat!?  Yea.  That happened. 

Raspberry Almond Bread.  Yes, after it’s baked the bread turns a touch blue from the raspberries.  What’s the science on that?  Can we get Bill Nye the Science Guy on this one?

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread.  Fresh grated zucchini.  Raw grated sweet potato.  It’s unique, full of spice and delicious.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  It’s chocolate.  It’s for breakfast.  If this offends you… I’m not sure what you’re doing here.  I mean that with love and respect.  

Lemon Drenched Lemon Cakes.  Ok… so maybe this is more of a pound cake recipe than a quick bread recipe.  This cake is too good to pass up.  Lemon plus lemon syrup plus cake.  I vote:  awesome. 

Honey Cranberry Cornmeal Quick Bread.  Have any leftover cranberries in your fridge?  Me too.  

Fresh Mango Bread.  I never would have thought to put fresh mango in bread until Dorie Greenspan told me it was ok.  

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread.  Dense and moist.  Who says you need butter and eggs to make awesome bread!?  Whoever they are… kick ‘em in the toe.  They’re wrong. 

Persimmon Bread.  You are mighty strange persimmon bread, but I love you just the same. 

Honey Whole Wheat Pound Cake.  Dense.  Nutty.  It’ll charm your pants off.  Be prepared. 

Not every morning in my life is filled with Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread… not when things like my ten year class reunion and bathing suit season loom just around the corner.  For real friends, those are two scary things.  At least I don’t have to go to my ten year reunion in my bathing suit.  Can you imagine the horror!?   Yea… so there’s always a silver lining.

I’d like to introduce you to Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread.  If this bread were one of your dear friends from high school, it would be that friend who wore old lady shoes because they were the most practical, and played the trombone, and was the super smart editor of the school newspaper.  This bread would be the friend that was super sensible, and sweet and just downright made you feel good about your day.

Go ahead, think of this Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread as your friend… and then it eat.  No, there’s nothing weird about that.

This bread is packed full of happy, heart-healthy oats, cinnamon spice and crazy ripe bananas.  It’s just the thing to throw together over the weekend, slice up, wrap individually, and freeze for breakfast for the entire week.  I just grab a slice from the freezer as I’m running out the door, and by the time I have a chance to eat it, it’s perfectly defrosted.  Of course the microwave and toaster oven work wonders too.

I remember when I was a kid, I used to entice my little sister into the kitchen to cook with me. That sounds sweet and cozy, right? Well… I had slightly more selfish intentions. I had plans for my sister once we hit the kitchen: I would do all the fun stuff like measuring out sugar and chocolate, and she would do all of the not so fun stuff, like getting the flour containers out of the pantry, reaching for bowls, and doing all the dirty dishes. Baking always seemed like more fun if I had someone to do all the grunt work for me.

That sort of fun in the kitchen with my sister didn’t last long. Lauren very quickly caught on to my tricks, and before long we were sharing the dirty dish responsibilities.

Since then, I’d like to think I’ve become a much more accommodating kitchen partner. Ask Simon. You know Simon, he’s that crazy kid fromFoodproof. We made Almond Banana Bread together. It went swimmingly, and I don’t think I made him do the dishes.

This banana bread was an excuse to accomplish two things: to watch Simon use a spatula and to experiment with Almond Oil. Do you bake with nut oils? I was surprised at how mild, if nonexistent the nut flavor was. We used a bit of oil, and a bit of melted butter. The oil definitely made for a more dense and moist banana bread experience. Tossed together with toasted, coarsely chopped almonds, this nutty banana bread was pretty delicious.

I always have the best of intentions when I buy barely yellow bananas at the grocery store.  I have visions of healthy breakfast shakes, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and healthy mid afternoon snacks.  Without fail the bananas turn brown and speckled.  They start to mush and sink into themselves.  They just become all around unsexy.  They threaten to spread they’re over exposure to the unsuspecting apples and oranges in the same bowl, and we simply can’t tolerate that!

I should just come to terms with the real reason that I buy bananas- so that I can mix them with chocolate and try to pass them off as breakfast.  This Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is attempt to do just that-  eat loads of chocolate and say yes!  Yes, I ate a glorious breakfast!

There is satisfaction in that, to be sure!

This quick bread comes out more like a delicious chocolate cake than a traditional banana bread- that wouldn’t have anything to do with the truck load of chocolate in the bread, would it?  It’s tender and moist and has an absolutely beautiful undercurrent of banana flavor.  Try it for breakfast.  Milk is essential, or good coffee.  And that’s a start to a beautiful day, lovebird.