Avocado Banana Bread

Something strange happened last week.

I had leftover AVOCADOS. That never happens, like, ever.

We were heading out of town for a few days and I needed to use them up quickly. While I have used frozen avocado before with success (just mash and freeze flat in a freezer bag), I wanted to make something we could snack on in the car and for breakfast during our trip (breakfast guac?). I also had a borderline-gross banana looking to be used, and I thought.. avocado banana bread? Why not?

Why not, indeed!

It may seem like there are a lot of ingredients, but it's worth rummaging around your cupboards to find everything. The avocado gives the bread richness and color- I love the bright specks of avocado peeking out in each slice. They almost remind me of pistachios- next time I'll throw some of those in, too.

 

The ingredients come together quickly, but of course, it takes an hour to bake, plus cooling time.. so you'll have to wait a bit before you dig in. I know they call them quick breads because they mix up quickly, but they should really be called it's-going-to-be-really-hard-to-wait-for-this-to-cool-before-you-stuff-your-face breads. Just my opinion.

 

Hopefully you have an extra avocado around waiting to be baked up into this bread.

I would also recommend just smashing it up on some toast with sea salt.

And I'll bring the breakfast guac back on the table- that's a solid option, too.

Avocado for president!

Avocado Banana Bread
by Oven Love, inspired by Kale & Cardamom

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground, if possible)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup roughly mashed avocado
• 1/2 cup mashed banana
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt at room temperature
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (in liquid state)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
• 1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used minis)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper rubbed lightly with oil.
2. Whisk together flour baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, avocado, banana, yogurt, oil, honey, vanilla and lemon juice until combined, making sure all ingredients are at room temperature so the coconut oil doesn't harden.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, being careful not to overmix. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.