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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.
Mash the bananas, melted butter, and vanilla extract together. Lightly beat the eggs together.
Mash the banana mixture with the eggs until smooth and well blended.
Pour the banana mixture onto the dry ingredients. Add the walnuts.
Fold the ingredients together until no more white flour is uncovered while folding.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes at 350°F.
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.
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.Banana Nut Bread (about 10 servings)
| Butter and flour a loaf pan | ||||||
| Preheat oven to 350°F (170°C) | ||||||
| 2 large (250 g) ripe bananas | mash | mash until smooth | fold | bake 350°F (170°C) 55 min. | cool 10 min. in pan | cool on wire rack |
| 6 Tbs. (90 mL) butter | melt | |||||
| 1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla extract | ||||||
| 2 large eggs | lightly beat | |||||
| 1-1/3 cups (167 g) all-purpose flour | whisk | |||||
| 2/3 cup (130 g) sugar | ||||||
| 1/2 tsp. (2.3 g) baking soda | ||||||
| 1/4 tsp. (1.2 g) baking powder | ||||||
| 1/2 tsp. (3 g) salt | ||||||
| 1/2 cup (70 g) chopped walnuts | ||||||
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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.
Best wishes.
You have just transformed a very common banana bread into a <B>chocolate lava cake.</B>
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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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. ;)
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!!
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
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.
Using this method DOES cook all of the ingredients fully, but you will not dryout the outsides of the bread. I hate it when I get good bananna bread and the outside is all dry and tasteless.
Happy cooking!
Back then I never knew
That I'd be cooking all the time,
Once I learned to Chu.[/size:c78fa8fa21][/i:c78fa8fa21]
;)
Just finished a couple of perfect loaves of banana bread; probably the fifth recipe from this blog that I've successfully served up. Can't think of any better way to say it, "Cooking for Engineers rocks!"
Thanks Michael!
My kids hate nuts, so I put the following topping on banana bread.
This is great, straight out of Better Homes & Gardens:
In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Optional: Stir in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.)
This is the 2nd recipie I am trying from your site. (first one was orza risotto....very good).
I havent eaten banana bread in a long time so I have almost forgotten how the texture/taste is...I think mine came out yummy but a bit tough & not so sweet....did I bake too long (after 55min it was still gooey in the center so I baked for 10 ) ? or is it because I beat the eggs mixture for too long ? is banana bread supposed to be sweet like say a regular cake (without icing) ?
Thanks,
Sonali
But it does look similar to the posted pic...well defined brown outside & not crumbly on the inside.
-Sonali
thank you!!
Sabine (Austria)
vale a pena
it's probably tough because you blended the flour in too much. Overmixing flour=gluten development=tough quickbread. This mixing method, where you fold the liquids into the dry, just until moistened, is what my ma calls the "muffin method". Take it easy and you'll have tender lovely muffins/quickbreads every time.
I'm going to make this right now, for brekkie! Thanks for an awesome website, sir. I knew those frozen bananas would come in handy someday.
Adding spices isin't much extra work, and adds lots of flavour.
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed (about 1/14 lbs. or 4 medium)
1 cup pecans, chopped, toasted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange Pecan Topping
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, toasted
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice, fresh
1 teaspoon orange rind, grated
OR
Cinnamon-Crisp Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, toasted
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with electric mixer, until creamy.
Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.
Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla.
Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8 x 4 inch loafpans.
Bake at 350º for 1 hour, or until tests clean. (Shield with foil the last 15 minutes to prevent browning, if necessary.
Cool bread in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.
Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.
Orange Pecan Topping:.
Sprinkle pecans over batter before baking.
Cool bread 10 minutes, remove from pans.
Stir together sugar, orange juice and orange rind.
Drizzle evenly over warm bread.
Cinnamon-Crisp Topping.
Stir together brown sugar, toasted pecans, flour, melted butter and cinnamon.
Sprinle mixture evenly over batter.
Bake and cool bread.
:)
A year ago I made a delicious banana loaf, where I mashed the banana until smooth for the recipe, But recently saw a recipe where you chop the banana into chunks then fold into bread mixture... once baked and cooled, when I sliced it open , I noticed that the banana patched in the loaf were purple !! Does anyone know if this is a normal reaction? I immediatley baked a second loaf to see if I had perhaps done something wrong, but the same thing happened!
It still tastes good though. Can anyone shed a little light on my confusion?
:( :)
Another thing that will make non-yeast breads more tender is using "soft wheat" white flour. It has less protein and wheat gluten than regular white flour.
Anyway, the way I ripen the bananas is this:
When the bananas start to get there brown spots and no one in the house will eat them, I put them in the freezer and start a collection (watch them diving out of the freezer - it does hurt!).
They turn brown and all the sugars and starches break down and leaves you with brown bananas and a wonderful mush in the middle.
This leaves you with a wonderfully ripened banana and mush to put into your bread.
Thank for this recipe[/b:d468e21d63]
I do have a question, my gf and I were discussing this: she says baking powder never goes bad and told me to use the one in the fridge (the one we use for odor-absorbing), but I couldn't imagine that it would still be good for cooking so i went out and bought a new box. She won't stop telling me that I'm anal about my (attempts at) cooking. Was she right?
P.S. I LOVE Cooking for Engineers, I'm a computer geek by profession and the directions for all the dishes are perfect for a step by step guy like me!
Baking powder and baking soda last a long time (typically, a couple years) and in a dry environment, but will lose it's efficacy if it comes in contact with moisture. The open box of baking soda (I assume it's baking soda and not baking powder) in your fridge is probably not as potent as a fresh box.
I am using a non-stick baking loaf pan. Is dusting flour and butter still require? Please advise.
Thanks.
I prefer to butter and dust the pan even if it is non-stick. It's a guaranteed easy release then.
For any kind of loaf bread recipe,which calls for greasing and flouring the loaf pan, try this little trick.
Invert your bread loaf pan, take a large rectangle piece of heavy duty Aluminum Foil, and put it on the raised top of your pan(which has been inverted). Now press and shape with your hands, remove the foil and put the loaf pan right side up.
Carefully put the foil insid the pan, reshaping with fingers and securing, so the foil completely lines the pan. Make sure to have a little extra foil on the edges, and fold under. Now you can use a cooking spray to coat the inside of your bread loaf pan, pour you batter and bake.
After you bread is done, leave you bread on a cooling rack for 10 minutes or so. Now you can release the foil from the edges with you fingers, lift up you bread and the let it cool. You may now loosen the foil around the loaf care fully, and remove the foil.
I loved the raph at the end of the recipe... indeed it's for engineers!
To whomever posted the recipe: congratulations!
Thank you.
Marcos Sifrin
Quito, Ecuador
2 bananas
A bunch of nuts, yes...
6 TBsps of olive oil
100 gr of sugar
Vanilla extract
+/- 170 gr of self raisin flour
2 eggs
And no variations when cooking it. Have a try, it's so delicious and moist ;-)
1. the whole top layer of the bread burnt (i followed the correct temperature settings!)
2. the mixture inside started oozing out from one side of the baking pan.. when the top layer was cooked
i was thinking, is it because of the number of eggs i put in.. in your recipe you indicted, "2 large eggs (250g)".. but when i weighed 250g worth of eggs, it turned out to be 4 eggs.. probably the eggs here in singapore are much smaller than those over there.. does that mean that one egg of yours weighed 125g?? that must be a massive egg! hahaha! =D
my bread mixture seemed alittle "watery" when everything was mixed it.. i'm not sure if it's meant to be that way because it's my first time making bread..
in the end i just removed the burnt layer, and chucked the bread back into the oven to bake.. and it still turned out yummy.. =D
2 large eggs is about 100 g. 2 large bananas is about 250 g. The only mention of 250 g in the recipe is for the bananas.
1. Using up the bunch of lady finger bananas from my backyard, and
2. Making something relatively healthy that I can eat quickly in the morning.
So I tried the above with the following changes:
1. No sugar, substitute 1/3 cup honey and 1/3 cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses (--> more potassium and iron)
2. Substitute whole wheat flour
The molasses made for some very moist bread, although I needed to double the baking soda to account for its acidity as well as add 15 minutes to the cook time. Additionally lady fingers are so sweet to begin with that you don't really need to wait for them to turn brown. Overall a success.
Vegans tend to use bananas as a binder substitute for eggs when making things like brownies (which, coincidentally, is insanely good w/bananas). I'm sure It wouldn't be hard to leave out the eggs/butter in this recipe, assuming you used molasses or apple butter (as suggested above).
I definitely want to do it again but make it even healthier by substituting something for the oil. I've used applesauce before so that is always an option, but I was also considering low or nonfat yogurt. Any idea how that might turn out?
came out... FANTASTIC. thank you.
Add crushed pineapple. It keeps the bread unbelievably moist.
The result: sweet, fluffy, cakey...but a little too overbaked on the corners (but this might be due to my oven's heat circulation).
I had found a previous recipe that excluded baking powder and the result was a dense and moist bread. Mind you I got many compliments for it, but I miss my mom's homemade banana nut bread (which includes baking powder), but unfortunately the recipe card is lost somewhere in her messy kitchen drawers.
This recipe reminds me of my mom's recipe, and that's why I love it.
A solution to the overbaked corners can be resolved by adding water in an oven-safe bowl or tray and letting the steam moisten the heat while baking. I will do this next time now that I know the end result.
Thanks!
foodista fan
Help
I used one extra banana that I had;
I left out the nuts only because I had already folded the dry with the wet ingredients and did not want to over do the mixing-----but, actually, the bread without the nuts was superb!!!;
and I baked in a white pyrex dish instead of metal---I still baked at 350 for 55 minutes. It turned out great! I definitly found a recipe for banana bread that I will stick with. Hubby gave his approval too!!
ty so much! :D [/i:d54533beb8]
Thank you. :)
Also, if you're having trouble buttering and flouring a pan, this works for both metal and glass, but don't try it with stone (cracks!!!). Place pan in refridgerator for about 10 minutes. Melt butter (stove, micro, leave out in hot sun - ok, maybe not that last one- :D ). T
ake pan out of fridge, pour butter into it. Place back into fridge for another 10 minutes.
Then place flour in pan and rotate pan, coating all surfaces.
Yeah it adds some time, but it works for me and cuts down on some of the mess of trying to spread butter off the stick/wrapper.
I stumbled onto this site a couple days ago, favorited (Is that a word - oh well) it immediately and have been cruising it ever since. This is a great site, well written, well though out, love the way it is laid out (not just the recipes, but the eintire site).
Way to go Michael, and a big Kudo to all the other posters. Thanks for the great suggestions!
Enjoy!