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Banana nut breads come in all varieties. Popular recipes result in textures ranging from moist to cakey. Personally, I like banana nut bread that is denser than a classic yellow cake, but not quite as dry as wheat bread. The banana nut bread should be tender and flavorful, but not have the consumer feel like he needs to drink a glass of water with it. Some of the recipes that I've tried were so moist that the "bread" sticks to the roof of the mouth, while other recipes were much too dry - both require drinking a glass of water to get the bread down. (Of course, drinking a glass of milk while eating a slice of good banana bread is an awesome combination, but it shouldn't be considered a necessity for enjoying banana nut bread.) This recipe results in what I feel is the perfect combination of flavor and texture in banana nut bread.
Banana nut bread should always start with fully ripe bananas. Unfortunately, ripe bananas are not usually sold in the supermarket. While a banana ripens, the starch of the banana slowly converts to sugars. Allow green or yellow bananas to ripen at room temperature until the skin is liberally covered with brown spots. Once the banana has reached this stage, it is fully ripe. Bananas can be frozen once they have reached the desired ripeness. Their peels will turn completely brown, but don't worry about the banana within. When ready to use, simply thaw the bananas by letting them sit (unpeeled) on the counter until they warm up. Once thawed, peel the bananas.
Start by preparing a loaf pan by buttering the bottom and sides. Lightly flour the pan and tap out the excess flour. The loaf pan should be around 5 in. by 9 in. (13 cm by 23 cm) in size - a little larger or smaller isn't a problem.
The wet ingredients are: two ripe bananas, 6 Tbs. melted butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, and two large eggs. For the dry ingredients: 1-1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Combine and whisk all the dry ingredients except for the walnuts. The use of both baking soda and powder are necessary to provide enough leavening for the proper consistency of the bread. The baking soda is just enough to utilize the slight acidity of the bananas to create the desired carbon dioxide bubbles. Baking powder (which is a mix of baking soda, a base, and cream of tartar, an acid) provides even more leavening power. [IMG]
Mash the bananas, melted butter, and vanilla extract together. Lightly beat the eggs together. [IMG]
Mash the banana mixture with the eggs until smooth and well blended. [IMG]
Pour the banana mixture onto the dry ingredients. Add the walnuts. [IMG]
Fold the ingredients together until no more white flour is uncovered while folding. [IMG]
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes at 350°F. [IMG]
After 55 minutes, the loaf of banana bread should be done. A wooden toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes. [IMG]
Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool on the wire rack. Serve warm or fully cooled. The loaf can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for about four or five days. [IMG]
Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 5:00 pm Post subject: slight variation
I used to make banana bread for work, on the theory that positive feedback association worked in the technology workplace ...
Someone got competitive once, and called a banana bread bake-off. Despite my belief that banana bread should be non-competitive, I entered and got second. I tink first and second ended up breaking along sytle lines.
FWIW, I like mine moist, to go with coffee.
So, with that wind-up, I basically follow Bernard Clayton's "Hana Banana - Nut Loaf" from his Complete Book of Breads. It is VERY close to your's:
Cream together 6 T room temp butter, 1/3 cup sugar, add 2 eggs. Mix in 1 1/2 c mashed (but chunky, I just use a dinner knife) bananas. Stir in 1 c flour, 1 t baking soda, 1/2 t baking powder, 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t vanilla extract. Stir to blend and add remaining 1/c flour and 1 c walnut pieces (original uses macadamia nuts). Pour into buttered 8"x4" pyrex pan. They say 1 hour at 350F but it usually only went 45 minutes in my oven.
Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 5:45 am Post subject: banana bread - advanced version, maybe for engineers
Now take that same banana bread and cut it into cubes. Don't eat it yet. Dunk the cubes into chocolate custard that you have just made and let them absorb all of the goo. Place the soaked bananabread chocolate custard cubes into ramekins and don't forget to press a ball of chocloate ganache into the lot. Mash it all down, wash your hands and put the ramekins in the oven (190°c) for 25 mins (or when it smells really amazing).
You have just transformed a very common banana bread into a chocolate lava cake.
Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:17 am Post subject: Tested and Confirmed for Goodness
I tried out this recipe over the weekend because my baby loves banana bread. It took me longer to cook in his oven, about 73 minutes, before the toothpick came out clean.
We were in an argument at the 70th minute and most of his arguments melted away when I presented him with the finished product. I'm not even sure if he came up for air during the first two slices.
I didn't add walnuts at his request but was wondering if there is anything that can go on top, like a crumble mixture that would add a bit of zip to this loaf. Any ideas?
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:57 pm Post subject: Flouring a pan
Hi, how do you butter and flour the pan? The last time I did it, I did it with a spoon and had clumps of flour on some parts of the pan and other parts virtually untouched...Should I use a sieve next time to flour? Any advice?
Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 12:08 am Post subject: buttering and flouring pan
To butter and flower a pan, hold the stick of butter and spread it evenly inside the pan, then pour some flour in and pat out the excess. You can also spread the butter on with your fingers;it's a little messier than a spoon, but a lot more effective.
Joined: 13 May 2005 Posts: 12 Location: Tustin, CA
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:58 pm Post subject:
I usually "butter" a pan with a leftover butter wrapper (folded in half with butter sides in and kept in the fridge), and a little shortening, then toss the used wrapper. This keeps your hands clean.
Then, if you need to flour the pan, sprinkle some flour, tap the pan so it is evenly distributed, then tap out the excess in the trash.
I have also read that if you are making chocolate cake, use a little of the combined dry ingredients instead of flour, so that the resultant cake doesn't have white flour residue on the bottom/sides.
I pour my batter into muffin cups instead of a loaf pan. This usually requires a shorter cooking time and I find the individual servings more convenient.
my oven's temp can only be set to 160C or 180C (increment of 20C)..
so, if this need to be baked at 170C, what do i do? shd i go like 180C for 30min and 160C for 25min.. or? shd i start with 160C first then 180C? MTIA!!
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:19 am Post subject: buttering and flouring..............topping
for buttering, i use the wrapping of the butter itself, i keep ziplock baggies of old wrappers, marked with dates for food safety
for topping, i make streusel
softened butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg, cloves, etc.
add nuts if your into that
many recipes exist, i mainly wing it, use enough butter to hold it together
use a fork to blend it
some recipes allow you to add it in the beginning (provided dense enough dough), but bear in mind cooking time and oven temp....nothing like burned sugar to ruin something
Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 1654 Location: Austin, TX (USA)
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:51 am Post subject:
small_fry wrote:
my oven's temp can only be set to 160C or 180C (increment of 20C)..
so, if this need to be baked at 170C, what do i do? shd i go like 180C for 30min and 160C for 25min.. or? shd i start with 160C first then 180C? MTIA!!
I would say, try the lower temperature and stick with that temperature (for all we know your stove could be 10 degrees hotter than stated (or cooler...).
Then afer 50 min. start checking the bread to see if it's done. A thin wood skewer (like the cheap ones sold for kabobs) does the trick. Thrust into the center and see if anything sticks when you withdraw.
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