Sweet Banana Bread with Walnuts Recipe
Moist, aromatic banana bread that tastes more like cake than bread, packed with chunks of banana and crunchy walnuts. In the USA it’s a classic way to use up very ripe bananas that nobody wants to eat raw anymore. The flavor is sweet, slightly caramel-like, with a clear banana and vanilla note.
Banana bread with walnuts is a classic American way to rescue very ripe bananas and turn them into a moist, aromatic cake. The sweet, slightly caramelized flavor of the bananas combines with crunchy walnut pieces and a hint of vanilla, so every slice tastes like a dessert to go with coffee. It stays soft and moist for a long time, which makes it perfect for storing and “nibbling a slice at a time.”
Chef's tips
Use really very ripe, even very brown bananas for this bread – the more “tired” they are, the better the aroma and sweetness. After combining the dry and wet ingredients, mix only until the flour disappears; overmixing will make the bake dense and rubbery. Towards the end of baking, check the center with a skewer – if the top is browning quickly while the middle is still raw, loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil.
How to serve
This banana bread is excellent for breakfast with a mug of black coffee or tea, spread with a little peanut butter or natural yogurt. For a coffee gathering you can serve it cut into small rectangles like brownies – guests usually go back for seconds. It also works well as a sweet snack in a lunchbox for work or school, because it doesn’t crumble as much as delicate cakes.
Ingredients
- bananas very ripe, with brown spots on the skin - 3 pieces
- wheat flour - 220 g
- sugar - 120 g
- egg at room temperature - 2 pieces
- butter melted and cooled - 80 g
- baking powder - 1.5 teaspoons
- baking soda - 0.5 teaspoons
- salt - 0.25 teaspoons
- vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
- walnuts roughly chopped - 60 g
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (top and bottom heat). Line a 22–25 cm loaf pan with baking paper or grease it with butter and dust with flour.
- In a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork into a smooth puree with small chunks. Add the sugar, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract, and whisk together thoroughly.
- In a second bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix with a spoon just until combined – do not overmix so the bread doesn’t turn out dense.
- Add the chopped walnuts and briefly mix so they are evenly distributed in the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spoon.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for about 50–55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs (but no raw batter).
- After baking, remove the pan from the oven and leave it for 10 minutes. Then take the bread out of the pan and cool it on a wire rack. Slicing is easier when it is completely cooled, but it’s hard to resist tasting a still-warm slice.
Storage
Po wystudzeniu przechowuj zawinięty w folię lub w pojemniku, aby nie wysechł. Możesz zamrozić pokrojony na plastry chlebek i rozmrażać pojedyncze kawałki, podgrzewając je w tosterze lub piekarniku.
