The Best Banana Bread

Ahhh one of those classics that probably everyone tried making before; Banana Bread. I loooove myself a good, thick slice of banana bread. I prefer a richly spiced one, that is incredibly moist and full of that good banana flavour, so I can trick my brain in that I am not actually just eating a piece of cake. This banana bread is the best one I’ve tried making so far and I know that is quite the statement to make, but really, this is IT. It is just so moist, fluffy and slightly fudgy, full of flavour with the different spices, banana and vanilla. Nothing fancy, just good, simple banana bread. You can eat it with your tea, as a snack or for breakfast with some yoghurt and nuts.

Oil + Butter

For loaf recipes, for example, I always like to use a mix of butter and neutral oil. I like to use oil to make the texture of the cake fluffier and lighter. As a result, it doesn’t get as dense when I put it in the fridge because when only using butter, it will harden the cake up when you cool it down. The oil does prevent this and you will still have a light slice of cake when you take it out of the fridge.

I also like to use a mix of white and brown sugar in most of my recipes. The little bit of white sugar makes sure the outside will turn a bit crisper and the brown sugar makes the cake fudgier.

Fresh or Freezed overripe Bananas

You can use fresh overripe bananas for this cake, if you have them on hand. If I have some overripe bananas you can just make the cake on the spot if you have all the other ingredients ready to go in your pantry, but if you haven’t you can actually peel the bananas and freeze them. Then just defrost them whenever you feel like making your banana bread.

In this banana bread I am using a lot of spices, if you don’t like spice, just don’t add these. However I would definitely recommend using them! I like to use some extra spices than just the common cinnamon everyone puts in it. You can use mixed spice, all spice, ginger, cinnamon and vanilla. Or go a little bit crazier and use some speculoos spice, cardamom or anise if you like these flavours!

Ingredients

• 224 g | 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 62 ml | 1/4 cup of any neutral oil, like canola or vegetable oil. Peanut oil and sunflower oil also work great.
• 57 g | 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 110 g | 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 50 g | 1/4 cup white sugar
• approx 225 g | 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2-3 bananas
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla paste/extract

optional spices (you can add them all or just choose one or two):

• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp speculoos spice

For topping:

• 1 large banana, cut in halve through the length.
• 2 tbsp white sugar

Method

• Preheat you oven to 175°C  or 350°F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter or oil. Or line it if you want with baking paper.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and your desired spices.
• In a second larger bowl beat the butter, oil and the sugar until light and fluffy. You can use a stand mixer for this or a hand mixer. This will take 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs in one at a time and beat well until well incorporated. Now add the mashed bananas, lemon juice and the vanilla. Mix well. (At this point it can look a little bit curdled but this is totally normal, will be fine later).
• Slowly at the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed. Do not overmix. Pour the batter in the prepared loaf pan. If you want to do a toping, you can cut a banana in half through the length and place this on the bitter, just push it slightly into the batter and sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the banana, so it will caramelize in the oven.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes in the center of the oven. Test the loaf with a toothpick, will be ready when it comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer it to a wire rack. Enjoy!

I hoped you enjoyed this recipe! If you want to try other banana recipes, try this kiwi banana bread or this french toast with caramelized banana! Let me know how it turned out and tag me @doughtodelight on instagram.