Banana Oat Quick Bread

This is a quick and delicious tea bread. It is exceptionally moist and freezes really well. It's the best banana bread I have developed and the addition of the coarsely shredded apple keeps it moist.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup oat bran

¼ cup flax meal

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

¼ cup Maple Syrup

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup rolled oats, Old Fashioned

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored, unpeeled

½ cup Greek style yogurt or sour cream

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large ripe bananas) plus the juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place oven rack to middle position. Line bottom with parchment paper and grease and flour sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan.

In a large bowl whisk together the flours, oats, flax meal, chopped nuts, oat bran, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Coarsely shred the cored, unpeeled apple and mix with the mashed bananas and lime juice. Discard any large pieces of apple peel that remain on shredding.

In a medium-sized bowl whisk the eggs, oil, yogurt, maple syrup, sugar, and vanilla until pale and smooth. With a wooden spoon, lightly fold in  the banana mixture, mixing well. Add all to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. Do not over-mix the batter.  Scrape batter into prepared pan, and level off the top with the spoon. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack. Cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.