Sour Cream Banana Oatmeal Crunch Bread

The other day my co-workers and I polished this off so quickly that I didn’t even get to snag a picture of the thing. The problem was, I didn’t think to take a picture of it; it was unexpectedly good. So good. Good good good good good. And good for you.

I had no such aspirations for it. I don’t recall ever trying to make banana bread before, and I have one highly underdeveloped sense of baking, as seen in previous escapades. But this time I threw it together, wrapped it in plastic, and brought it to work for my co-workers to feed on. I guess I was willing to throw something at them that wasn’t very good. But something magical happened this time. It could have happened from the start–with the choice of ingredients–or at the end, when I stabbed a toothpick through the warm crust of the bread at just the right, bulls-eye moment of susceptibility. Or possibly when it cooled overnight, coagulating into a denser, more unified loaf. Whatever it was that made it turn good, I thought this recipe healthy and tasty enough to share, even without visual accompaniment.

Sour Cream Banana Oatmeal Crunch Bread
(makes one loaf)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup regular flour
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 very large ripe banana, partly mashed so there’s still little chunks for yum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup regular sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
(for the crumb topping)
2 Tb butter, softened
1 Tb whole wheat flour
2 Tb rolled oats
1 Tb brown or regular sugar (or both)
dash of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, sugar, oil, sour cream, and the banana, partially mashing it (don’t forget the chunks). Fold wet mixture into the dry ingredients until it just comes together. Pour into a greased loaf pan. In a small bowl, combine the crumb topping ingredients and drop this on top of the batter. Bake for about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let rest for a good while before slicing.

Cost Calculator
(for about 8 servings)

1 cup whole wheat flour + 1 Tb (about 1/8 of a $1.80 bag): $0.23
1/2 cup regular flour: $0.08
1 egg (at $2.20/doz): $0.18
1/4 cup oil: $0.10
1/4 cup sour cream: $0.20
1 very large ripe banana, partly mashed so there’s still little chunks for yum (at $0.69/lb): $0.25
1/2 cup brown sugar & 1/4 cup regular sugar: $0.15
2 Tb rolled oats (at $0.89/lb at the health food store): $0.05
2 Tb butter: $0.15
baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon: $0.05

Total: $1.44 (whoa…my co-workers better not find out)

Health Factor

Four brownie points – straddled between the moist ooey cake world and the whole grain health world, this bread is my kind of dessert. Or breakfast? Or snack. Whole wheat, oats and banana never did anyone any harm, and the fats are natural and of course un-hydrogenated (and you can be sure of this, unlike many store-bought baked goods).