Rich but not greasy, sweet but not cloying, and packed full of whole wheat flavor, this banana bread is definitely one of the best I’ve made. Be sure to try it out!
I was always (and still am) perplexed with the idea of banana bread. Made well, a banana bread resembles cake: tender, moist, and bursting with banana flavor. What is funny is that a poorly made banana bread actually has bread like characteristics (crunchy crust with spongy interior, dry and chewy). Any carrot cake baked in a loaf pan would still be called carrot cake and not carrot bread. Perhaps people just want an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. I don’t blame them.
So here is my recipe for banana bread (cake).
Ingredients
- 310 grams mashed bananas (around 3 bananas)
- 130 grams (a bit less than 2/3 cup) vegetable oil
- 150 grams dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 75 grams (1/3 cup) buttermilk
- 210 grams (1 1/2 cups) whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- a couple handfuls of chopped pecans or nuts of your choice for topping
Procedure
Mash the bananas in a bowl. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk together all wet ingredients in another bowl.
Add the mashed bananas. (If you are super lazy mash the bananas together with the wet ingredients. However, it will lead to bigger banana chunks that might sink to the bottom while baking. )
Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients being careful not to overwork the batter.
Dump into loaf pan and sprinkle with chopped nuts (I used pecans)
Bake in a preheated 350F oven until top is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, around 45 mins.
Let cool for 30 mins and enjoy!
Stop and Smell the Flours 