The Ultimate Banana Oat Loaf

So I've been experimenting with a banana bread recipe that called for the addition of oatmeal. The first batch I made by roughly following the recipe (but doubling the oatmeal) came out pretty well, but wasn't quite substantial enough for my personal taste. I wanted something I could eat for breakfast and really not be hungry afterwards. After three more batches, here's the rib-sticking result:

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Loaf

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter, softened
3 eggs
6 or 8 very ripe bananas (frozen works just fine too, just let them thaw completely first)
2/3 cup brown sugar or honey
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup dried cranberries (a couple of handfuls out of the bag)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (a couple handfuls)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional...but recommended)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine butter, eggs, bananas and sugar in a LARGE bowl.
- When combined, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, oatmeal and spices.
- Continue until well mixed, and add in the cranberries, nuts and chocolate chips, if using. Batter will be thick and gloppy, but will just get more soggy the longer you let it sit as the oatmeal absorbs the liquid. Don't worry, it turns out fine.
- Scrape into a well-greased bundt pan or 9x13 pyrex. Do not skimp on the cooking spray here. This batter will rise, but not too much. As long as you're not overflowing or too close to the lip of your pan it should be fine.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes for a 9x13 or 50-55 minutes for a bundt. It's done when a toothpick to the center comes out mostly clean and the edges are browned a bit. It's ok to slightly underbake this, as it will not give a perfectly clean toothpick and it's better slightly under than burned.
-If using a bundt, turn out the loaf and allow to cool on the counter or a rack.

Notes:
-You can use whatever kinds of dried fruit you have taking up cupboard space. I just don't like raisins, but think this might be quite good with dates or dried apples or chopped dried apricots.
-This loaf is HEAVY. It comes out mostly oatmeal, held together with some eggs and kept moist with bananas. It will in no way resemble cake, hence the "Loaf" designation in the title.
-I imagine you could try subbing apple sauce for the butter, at least for some of it. I'm trying that as soon as I restock the oatmeal and buy some. I'd up the sauce to half a cup or so though.
-This recipe is pretty easy to halve, just use a loaf pan, 8 or 9 inch cake pan or pie plate to bake it.
-This stuff stays moist uncovered on the counter for days, freezes just fine and is delightful with a cup of tea at my desk for breakfast.

Most of all, use this as a jumping off point of your own. I've found that so far, no matter what I do to it, it stays completely edible, so you can add whatever kinds of things you like to the banana/oatmeal batter and it should come out fine as long as it's good and set in the middle when you take it out of the oven. Enjoy it, this is supposed to be fun :)