Super rich and moist Banana Bread recipe

Last updated on October 15th, 2019 at 10:49 am

Super soft and moist Banana bread loaded with walnuts. Looking for the ultimate recipe for all your banana bread cravings? Look no further, this is the only recipe you’ll ever need!

Hey there!

I’m back after spending three dramatic weeks; being worried, followed by a vacation and then by post vacation blues (yeah that happens). My daughter, fell down and hit her head hard. No, it was not one of those run and bump on the floor kinda thing. She lost balance from bed and hit the corner of a nightstand.

I know, it deserves a gasp and judgements. Our room is completely baby proofed, my in laws’ room isn’t. They couldn’t have been as fast as we would have been in preventing it. While it wasn’t anybody’s fault, I know I should have baby proofed everyroom she goes into. I couldn’t stop beating myself up over it.

Soon after she fell, a serious goose egg popped up. Although she quickly went back to playing, we had to be cautious. After monitoring her for two whole days and nights, giving her meds and talks about possibly getting a CT scan; her goose egg went away. It was a plain nightmare!

I had to get out of it by getting out of our house, to get some peace of mind. We started on an impromptu road trip to Bangalore and then to Mysore. I was still worried sick and kept monitoring her for the first two days. And slowly, we started having fun and we began to forget about it. The wound is still healing, but it’s okay.

Lil A got into the pool for the first time and had a blast. We thoroughly enjoyed the place and food in the resort we stayed in. We drove through a reserve forest and a ghat road on our way back; suffice to say that the drive was just as exciting as our trip. I had packed a batch of banana bread I had made that week, it was pretty useful for travel. Watching out for possible animals on the road while munching on the Banana bread got me thinking I should put this on the blog. You’re gonna love this recipe, I know I do! Oh btw, I did spot a few deers, a couple of foxes and boars!!

Banana Bread / Banana Cake:

Is it a cake or a bread? Every time I make this, at least one person asks if it is a bread or cake. David Leibovitz himself, in his Banana bread post, isn’t sure about it. With the wet batter and the super soft texture, it surely is close to a cake. But making it in a loaf pan, and those beautiful slices, couldn’t hurt to call it either ways.

Banana bread is one of the first few things I baked. Years later, after a number of changes to the recipe, I’ve arrived at the best ever recipe. This recipe gives a bread that is sooo soft, flavorful and crunchy from the addition of walnuts. And of course I’ve perfected the cracks on top. Cracks on top of banana bread is something I’ve been after for over two years. It is like what the crackly tops on brownies are.

Cracks on top of the Banana bread gives a gorgeous look, like in those magazines; at least to someone who is fascinated about it. To others it might look like a disastrous cake. LOL. The Banana bread I used to make before was tasty for sure. But for a good banana bread, the texture is just as important as the taste.

The ingredients:

I use a variety locally called as Karpooravalli Bananas. It has a distinctively thin skin, and lotta seeds. And it is incredibly sweeter which would definitely satisfy a sweet tooth. Imagine that in the form of bread with butter and brown sugar, mmm!

Second to the Bananas, brown sugar is another star ingredient. It is what gives a soft soft loaf. Next comes the addition of sour cream. A number of magazines and bloggers use sour cream. While that’s fantastic, sour cream is not easily available in my place, or more like never available.

I swapped it with some homemade Greek yogurt and it turned out great. I haven’t looked for other recipe ever since. The smooth texture would be boring over time, which is why Walnut comes to the rescue. It breaks the texture and adds a new dimension to the Banana Bread.

How to make this bread:

This is one of the easiest yet the most fulfilling cake you could bake. This Banana bread comes together in a jiffy, but the only catch is you need to have some well ripe bananas at home. However, there seems to a quick fix for it. Spruce eats has a detailed article about freezing ripe bananas. They recommend slicing and freezing the bananas. Although it is true that freezing the bananas with the skin will make it difficult to remove it while thawing, I find it easier.

It adds an extra layer of protection to the bananas. Wash and store the bananas with the skin in a freezer bag. This way you can make banana bread anytime you want. Also, it saves those sad spotted or blackened Bananas from going to waste. Which happens to me all the time; I buy a dozen Bananas and go to my parents house. When I come back it sure is sad looking.

These Karpooravalli variety Bananas turn black very quick. But the banana as such stays good compared to other varieties at this point. You can use any Bananas, I mean Bananas are delicious! but I highly recommend this one for a perfect flavor and natural sweetness.

To get started with the cake batter:

Peel the bananas and wash them gently. You can use a Potato masher, it gets the job done. However it leaves bits and pieces as it is. For an even distribution of bananas, pulse it in a food processor for a few seconds. I like the pureed version.

Cream together soft room temperature butter with brown sugar till it’s pale. Add eggs one by one, whisking after the addition of the first and then adding the second. Whisk until thoroughly mixed.

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Add the yogurt and the vanilla extract. Give it a thorough mix. Now add the mashed or pureed Bananas and mix it with a spatula until incorporated.

For the final cake batter:

For the dry ingredients, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Pass the mix through a sieve. Add this to the wet batter and gently fold it in using a spatula. Keep folding it until it’s completely mixed.

Add the chopped walnuts and set it aside. Preheat the oven at 170 C for 10 minutes. Butter a loaf pan and fill it with the batter till it reaches the 3/4th level. You can also fill it upto the brim if you desire a cracked and raised top. Bake it for 40-50 minutes or until a long wooden skewer comes out clean. Serve it warm or at room temperature any time of the day!

Recipe adpated and modified from Bake from Scratch’s caramelized Banana bread.

Notes:

• Mashing the bananas is really simple and doesn’t require cleaning the food processor. It gives a banana bread with bits and pieces of Bananas with a purplish tone. Some like it and some like me don’t. If you’re one of those who wouldn’t mind it, use a potato masher to mash the Bananas.
• Baking time usually differs from oven to oven. Also, it depends on the loaf pan size and the quantity of the batter. Approximately it takes 40-50 minutes. However, sometimes I’ve waited till 60 mins. Hence, at the mark of 30 mins start checking if it’s cooked by inserting a long wooden skewer or a steel skewer. The batter wouldn’t stick on the skewer if it’s cooked.
• If you’d like to see a cracked top on the bread, preheat the oven at 170 C for 10 mins. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 C and then reduce it to 150 C for the rest of the baking time. I learned this from Sally’s baking addiction, it works every time!

Enjoy!

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