Did you know you can bake yummy, comforting banana bread in your crockpot while you sleep and wake up to delicious smells and a warm breakfast all ready for slicing? I just figured this out last weekend and it is a game changer! Next I am going to try zucchini bread. I am including the recipe I used, but you can use whatever recipe is your favorite. Just be sure to figure out how the pan will fit in your crockpot before you fill it. I am able to set a timer on my crockpot, so I just put it on before we went to bed and let it cook on low for four hours, then it switched to the warm setting until the morning. I got up at 2:30am (because I wake up at 2:30am every night) to check on it and make sure it wasn’t over cooking. I started it around 11pm and when we got up at 6:30am, the house smelled amazing! I used aluminum foil to build the bottom up so that the pan would fit.
The best thing about cooking like this in your crockpot? No soaking and scraping the crockpot when the meal is over; simply rinse and dry!
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Oats
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, plus a handful for the top
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 TBSP milk (or milk substitute)
- optional 2 TBSP peanut butter
Directions: Put the oats in a mixing bowl and add the milk, and let it sit for about five minutes until the milk is soaked up. Meanwhile, mash the bananas in another bowl. Beat the eggs and add them to the bananas along with the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to the flour and then combine with the oats and the bananas until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into a prepared loaf pan (I used glass) and top with a few oats and chocolate chips. Put in your crockpot with the lid on and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
