beekeepers’ blueberry- granola banana bread

I recently needed something delicious to share at our monthly beekeepers’ meeting but didn’t particularly have time to drive to the store for anything extra. A quick scan of refrigerator and pantry supplies inspired an adaptation of Martha Stewart’s classic banana bread, the same one I have been making happily and in a thousand different ways for about fourteen years.

You probably have your favorite banana bread style. You should! It’s so versatile, and the ingredients are pretty easy going.

Honestly, friends, this particular twist might be my new personal favorite banana bread, and everyone who tasted it seemed to agree. The plate I took to our beekeepers meeting was empty in a minute. Crumbs. Only crumbs remained. It’s extra juicy and so tangy thanks to fresh blueberries, and in my opinion crunchy granola is so much better than just nuts.

Thank you Sandy for tempting me with chocolate chip granola cookies! That gave me the idea.

All Ingredients Needed:

• 1 cup of chopped nuts
• 1 cup of quick oats
• thick drizzle of honey (fresh Oklahoma honey!) 
• cinnamon
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 stick of butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (sour cream is ok)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• up to a cup of fresh blueberries

Granola:

Use about 3/4 cup of any granola you have or love. Here is what I whipped up with found ingredients. Since only about 3/4 cup of this finished granola went into the banana bread, the rest made a decadent bowl of cereal the next morning.

• Stir together equal parts quick oats and chopped nuts with cinnamon and a heavy drizzle of fresh honey. Use fresh Oklahoma honey ok!!
• Bake it all on a cookie sheet until fragrant and toasty.
• Flip and stir it halfway through baking.
• For sure go ahead and make it more interesting if you have, say, sunflower kernels or multiple kinds of nuts available. This is what I had on hand. And it was great. 
• Or use packaged or bulk granola! Totally delish.

Bread:

• Using an electric mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well.
• Sift together dry ingredients and combine with the butter mixture. 
• Fold in the granola and rinsed blueberries.
• Pour into a buttered and flour-dusted loaf pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour.
• If the bread develops a brown crust but is still too moist in the center, you can leave the bread in the oven, still warm but turned OFF. 
• Once you finally pull it out of the over, please trust me and let this pretty thing cool before you slice it. 

Okay I hope you try this recipe while you can still get nice blueberries in the produce section! And if you are out of honey, make a beeline for a local apiary. Local is so much better. 

Exciting side note: I might be extracting our own honey this week! Stay tuned. I will post the harvest process to Instagram or Snapchat before it lands here.

Over and out.
XOXOXOXO