Banana Bread

This delicious banana bread with a hint of cinnamon is a hybrid between a sweet cake and a hearty bread loaf. Make sure you use ripe banana's for the best flavor.

I have tried out quite a few recipes of banana bread over the years but this particular recipe has to be the best I have tried. It's by Curtis Stone who is one of my favorite celebrity chefs courtesy MasterChef Australia. A friend had requested me to make it for her, and she loved it so much that she promptly ordered three more.Turns out it was the only thing that her sister (who was expecting at that time) would eat. Had no inkling of how popular this recipe could be.

It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes in the oven, and during that time our home is filled with the beautiful fragrance of this bread baking. The bread itself is moist with a delicious crunchy exterior - lots of banana flavor, and a hint of cinnamon. As with all banana bread's, the loaf tastes better the next day, and can (actually should) be slathered with butter and jam for a truly decadent breakfast.

Selecting the correct bananas for banana bread:

One thing that that you need to keep in mind is that while the recipe is good, what will turn it spectacular is selecting the right banana's. The banana's MUST, and I repeat, MUST be ripe. The outer cover should have black patches and the inside should be mushy, with a rich fragrance. It's tempting to make it with just under-ripe banana's but just wait one more day, or put them in a brown paper to speed the ripening process and the taste will be totally worth it. Of course, that means that now you know exactly what to make when you have some over ripe bananas in the house!

Play around with this banana bread recipe and add your favourite mix-ins:

Some of my favourite mix-ins for banana bread are walnuts, shredded coconut and chocolate chips. In fact, sometimes I make this banana bread in a muffin pan, and make a few of each kind. Other options for mix-ins include:

• chocolate chips (white, dark, semisweet, or milk)
• spices – I have used cinnamon in this recipe but you can experiment with cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger etc.
• raisins
• dried fruits
• lemon zest or orange zest
• coconut
• nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts.

Make sure that you coat mix-ins (such as nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips) in a small amount of flour before adding them to the batter. This step is necessary to prevent sinking.

If you are looking for other dessert recipes, do try out the following:

1. Almond Cake
2. Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
3. Caramel Chocolate Brownies 

Would love it if you could try out and rate the recipe, and let me know how it was in the comments below! 

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4 from 1 vote

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Banana Bread

This delicious banana bread with a hint of cinnamon is a hybrid between a sweet cake and a hearty bread loaf. Make sure you use ripe banana's for the best flavor.

Course Baking, Dessert

Cuisine Baking, Dessert

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings 8 people

Calories 320 kcal

Ingredients

• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate soda
• 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour maida
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups gugar ground for 30 seconds in a spice grinder.
• ½ cup vegetable Oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla Essence
• 2 tablespoon yoghurt Dahi
• 4 medium sized bananas mashed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line base of a large 13.5cm x 23.5cm loaf pan with baking paper / parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together in a large bowl and keep aside. Place the banana's in a small bowl. Mash with a fork, and then add the vanilla and yoghurt. Cover and set aside.

3. Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk for about 5 - 8 minutes, or until very thick and pale and the mixture forms a ribbon when beater is lifted. Alternatively, use a stand mixer on medium-high speed.

4. Reduce speed to low and beat in the oil in a steady stream. Mix in the banana and yoghurt mixture slowly. 

5. Add the dry mixture (flour and cinnamon) into the wet mixture, and fold lightly with a spatula. Make sure the mixture is thoroughly combined. At this point you can add any mix-ins.

6. Pour mixture into loaf pan and bake for 1 - 1 ¼ hours, or until a skewer comes out clean when tested. If bread is brown too much or too quickly, lightly cover it with foil while baking.

7. Cool in pan briefly then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Recipe Notes

If bread is brown too much or too quickly, lightly cover it with foil while baking.

Note: Adapted by a Curtis Stone recipe