Oatmeal banana bread with oatmeal cereal recipe

This is a sponsored recipe post for The Women Bloggers, LLC which is led by the Kendal King Group and #SoapboxInfluence to share the goodness of Nestle Gerber® Cereal. All opinions are 100% my own. #CookingwithGerberEvery parent wants to serve the most nutritious foods possible to their families, but if you’re like me and have a picky eater, you know this can be a huge struggle. I have dreams of my healthy recipes being gobbled up, but more often than not, they just don’t get eaten. That just means I have to get sneaky and hide the good stuff in what might otherwise be considered snack foods.

This quick and easy oatmeal banana bread recipe with a super-secret ingredient is my new favorite quick-grab breakfast for our busy mornings. We rarely have time for a sit-down meal in the mornings, but I hate the idea of them grabbing junk and starting their day off on the wrong foot. This nutritious banana bread is perfect because you can easily grab a slice or a muffin on your way out of the house or you can pair it with fruit and yogurt for a balanced breakfast.

Oatmeal Banana Bread {or muffins} ingredients:

2 large eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large over-ripe bananas

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup unbleached flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

1-1/4 cup Gerber Oatmeal Cereal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs, milk, and vanilla and combine with mashed bananas and melted butter. Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, flour, brown sugar, and Gerber cereal and stir. Batter will be slightly lumpy.Grease loaf pans or prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners and pour batter in. Place in oven on low rack so tops of loaf pans are in the center of the oven. Bake for approximately 60 minutes, or 35 minutes for muffins.

Did you catch the secret ingredient? That's right, it's Gerber Oatmeal Cereal. I bet you thought Gerber oatmeal cereal was just for babies and toddlers, but you’d be mistaken. Their single-grain iron-fortified oatmeal is actually just an awesome way to sneak in some extra nutrition into your homemade baked goods in place of extra flour. Folks, this is a game changer.  I may be using “baby food”, but this oatmeal banana bread is perfect for the whole family – for the baby and the older kids, but also for my husband and I who are always trying to eat healthier. Brilliant, right? We get the oatmeal flavor and nutrition we love, the kids get their banana bread and banana muffins they beg for, and I don’t need to mess with a grain mill. Now making nutritious and delicious recipes with Gerber oatmeal with Vitablocks® blend of six B Vitamins, Vitamins E and C, iron, zinc, and calcium takes literally no extra work. I can pick up some Gerber cereal varieties at Walmart in the baby aisle when I stock up all my other baby necessities, and I can choose whatever flavor best fits my recipe {Oatmeal Cereal Single-Grain, Multigrain Cereal, Oatmeal & Banana Cereal and Lil’ Bits Oatmeal Banana Strawberry}.

Excuse me while I pat myself on the back… but not for too long, because this little one just learned how to pull herself up and no Gerber stash is safe anymore. While the bread and muffins are baking, we take a much-appreciated baby food break. She cheers after each and every bite, which is just as adorable as it sounds. When the muffins are done and have cooled for an hour or so, baby gets banana muffins paired with her favorite side dish: Gerber baby foods. It makes for a very happy baby. The muffins are good, but as for me, I'm all about the oatmeal banana bread. It's amazingly delicious, and it's something I can feel good about feeding my family. Have you ever substituted Gerber cereal in your favorite recipe? Let me know what worked and what didn't and tell me what should we try and make next!

Ready to start baking? You can find even more Nestle Cereal recipes you can try with my new favorite secret ingredient and you can get #CookingWithGerber, too.