Banana Bread
We really love this quick and easy banana bread recipe. With a soft and moist centre, and the added crunchiness of the walnuts, this is a simple yet irresistible combination of flavours and textures.
If you have some ripe bananas at home, give it a go!
Ingredients
MAKES ONE 23x13cm LOAF
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
100g caster sugar
100g light brown sugar
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
200g plain flour
50g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder (about 5g)
100g walnuts, chopped (optional)
Steps
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Lightly coat the loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray and line with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on each side.
In a large bowl, mix soft butter with mashed bananas and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs with caster sugar for about a minute, then add vanilla bean paste.
Whisk the egg mixture with the butter and bananas until combined.
Fold in ground almonds, then flour and baking powder, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Finally fold in walnuts.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. If the top of the loaf is brown but the centre is still wet, loosely cover the top with foil and continue baking until ready.
Transfer the bake to a wire rack and let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely before serving.
Tips
Banana bread tastes best with slightly overripe bananas. You can mash them with a fork or slice them first, and use your electric mixer on a medium speed until the bananas break down into a smooth mash.
For best results, use room temperature ingredients. They will bond together easily, and the batter will be silky and evenly textured.
You can replace the walnuts for pecans or other nuts. You can also add chocolate chips if you like, either as a replacement for the nuts or as an extra.
For a wow effect, you can decorate the top with halved bananas (see main photo).
