I don’t think anyone hasn’t played around with a banana bread recipe during this quarantine! Here’s an easy recipe that I optimized and that is bound to please everyone. Make sure you use overripe bananas and don’t skip the spices and the yoghurt!
Ingredients:
(for 1 loaf)
- 225 g Plain Flour, sifted
- 75 g Brown Sugar
- 75 g Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom
- 1 teaspoon All-Spice
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 100 g Unsalted Butter, melted or 80 ml Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs, room temperature
- 120 ml Full Fat Yoghurt, room temperature
- 3 Large Bananas, very ripe and mashed.
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Banana, to decorate, optional
Notes:
- If your bananas aren’t ripe enough just bake them (peel on) them at 180 C (350C) for about 10 minutes or until they become dark brown. Allow them to cool a bit, then remove the skin, transfer to bowl and mash them up. Ripe bananas have a more intense banana flavor and using them will make all the difference.
- You could also add about a cup of chocolate chips or a cup of chopped walnuts (or half of both!) at the final stage before transferring to the tin. Make sure you fold them in carefully so you don’t end up developing the gluten in the flour as that would result in a tough and chewy banana bread.
- This banana bread can be wrapped carefully after it cools and can be frozen and stored for a month. I usually end up doubling the portions and freezing one loaf for later!
- If you don’t have any yogurt, you could also add sour cream or Labneh. The addition of these will make for a very moist banana bread!
- You could also add another depth of flavor by browning the butter before adding it the mixture. Just make sure it’s cool enough before mixing it with the eggs, otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled eggs.
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven at 180C (350F) and line loaf tin with baking parchments.
2. Whisk all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices) together in a large bowl.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. Don’t worry about leaving small chunks of banana in the batter as they add to the flavor!
4. Add the wet ingredients onto the dry ones and mix until just combined. Don’t over-mix the batter, otherwise your banana bread will turn out tough due to gluten developing.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and level with a spatula.
6. Cut a banana lengthwise into two thin slices and place on top of loaf.
7. Bake at 180C (350 F) for 50-60 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Mrs. Sucrée 
Looks lovely. I experimented with banana bread recently. I might add some of to these spices to the next one I bake.
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