Banana Bread

Black speckled overripe bananas shout out to be converted into moist banana bread. If there’s a comfort-bread, then this is it. It’s popular with almost everyone, except banana haters like my husband, and once baked, freezes brilliantly.  Stale banana bread (if it exists) is also great toasted. Toast it in thick slices in the toaster on a low setting, spread some butter for a truly marvellous treat.

It’s not terribly healthy as it does have white flour and sugar, but you can substitute half of the flour with a light whole-wheat flour (like atta), and half the sugar with coconut sugar or rapadura. This will make the bread a little denser, but delicious nonetheless.

There are many variations of banana bread and I can honestly say that I have tried at least a dozen different recipes. American ones tend to be sweeter and richer, Ina Garten has a lot more sugar, and Tyler Florence a lot more fat.

The bananas

Banana bread must be made with overripe bananas, to get the fragrant sweet flavour. You can freeze left over bananas and use them once you have 3 or 4 tucked away. Don’t be alarmed by the black unappetising colour the bananas get to after freezing; they are perfect to bake with. This is what mine looked like after a week in the fridge.

The fat

More fat makes it more of a cake than bread. I generally prefer the former, as I want to eat it relatively guilt-free.  In terms of the type of fat, recipes call for either oil or butter. The benefit of the former is that it makes the bread very moist, even if refrigerated, but butter undisputedly has the better flavour. I prefer the latter.

I have also tried a bon appétit recipe with mascarpone, and another one with sour cream. They were both very good, but I don’t often have either of these ingredients in my fridge.

The sugar

Apart from the quantity, the type of sugar affects the result. White sugar will make for the lightest bread.  At the other end of the scale dark brown sugar or coconut sugar makes for denser, albeit moister bread. The choice is yours. Use half and half of white and another type of sugar as a starting point.

Buttermilk

I have tried recipes with buttermilk or soured milk (the best one from my Mexican friend Agueda) and ones without (Felicity Cloake in the Guardian).  Buttermilk is a nice addition as it makes the overall result more moist and the bread seems to keep better.

Nuts, chocolate and spices

I always add nuts to my bread – nuts are good for all of us. Pecans or walnuts are my favourite, but cashews work well too. You can omit these, if someone has allergy issues. For die-hard chocolate fans a few choc chips thrown in at the end will always be popular, but they do make the bread sweeter.

Finally, several recipes add cinnamon or in the case of Dan Lepard’s healthier version, some mixed spice. I generally keep it simple, preferring the flavour of the banana to come through.

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Print Recipe
  Banana Bread
A simple low risk recipe. Do read the notes at the top before starting out. The recipe calls for a little buttermilk, but it’s easily substituted with the same amount of yoghurt. If you don’t have either, put away 1/4 cup milk with little lemon juice to sour it. The milk will thicken and will act like buttermilk. For baking recipes I normally prefer to weigh all the ingredients, but this is a forgiving recipe and cup measurements are quicker to use.
Prep Time 20 min
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
loaf
Ingredients
Prep Time 20 min
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
loaf
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 175C (160C fan).
  2. Prepare a loaf tin by lining the base of the tin with greaseproof paper and buttering the base and sides.
  3. If using nuts, chop the nuts roughly.
  4. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar. You can use a stand mixer, handheld beater, or a wire whisk. Beat well until the sugar isn’t too grainy and the mixture lightens in colour.
  5. Beat in the mashed banana and the vanilla extract.
  6. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and allow each egg to blend in well before adding the next one.
  7. Sieve the flour with the salt, baking powder and the baking soda.
  8. Fold in the half the flour followed by half the buttermilk. Finish by folding in the balance flour and buttermilk.
  9. Finally add the nuts, if using, and fold in gently. The batter should be thick and should drop off a spoon, not run off.
  10. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin, and gently smooth the top with a flat spatula.
  11. Bake at in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Use a toothpick to check doneness. The toothpick should come out dry when poked in the centre of the bread.
  12. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
  13. Let cool completely before slicing. Store wrapped well at room temperature for a few days, after which refrigerate, especially if your kitchen is hot. See freezing notes below.
Recipe Notes

Banana bread freezes really well, and it’s best to slice it into portions and freeze. Defrost in the fridge and ideally serve at room temperature or toasted with butter.

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