CINNAMON BANANA BREAD

Exactly one month ago on the 28th of March, I scribbled down the ingredients and amounts for banana bread. No directions, just the ingredients. Even before Coronavirus hit, I planned to write my version of this quick bread but never did. Even with the bananas becoming increasingly blackened as they sat on the counter, some to the point of becoming liquified, I would toss them into the bin instead of using them.

During this past month, I baked this recipe at least six times. Possibly more as I had lost count. I only bake it the weeks that the kids are with me as I cannot eat the entire loaf on my own. And because it is much more satisfying to bake for others. So, I look forward to my three children coming to my place so I can bake for them. The last time they were here, I made the banana bread three times during that week. This week I’ve made it twice so far with today’s version being better than Friday’s simply due to the fact that the bananas were very soft, which meant a moister bread.

Every time I would make this recipe, I would make at least one small change. First it was the amount of yoghurt. Then I increased the butter and baking soda amounts. I even experimented with less blackened bananas. In the end, the kids liked today’s version the best of all so I decided to write the recipe on my blog in case I lost my paper with scribbles. Eventually I will write in my new recipe journal and expand on my recipes so that one day the kids will be able to have easy access to the foods we ate whilst they were at my place.

Cinnamon Banana Bread

makes one loaf

THE INGREDIENTS:

              240g all-purpose flour

              60g cake flour

              150g sugar

              1 tsp baking soda

              ½ tsp sea salt

              1 T cinnamon

              100g toasted walnuts, chopped

              2 eggs, room temperature

              100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

              100g full-fat, plain yoghurt, room temperature

              1 tsp vanilla extract

              3 large, very ripe bananas (with lots of black specks), mashed

THE METHOD:

Heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter a 9” x 5” x 3” (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan and dust with a combination of sugar and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and cake flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and walnuts. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the cooled butter, yoghurt, vanilla extract, and bananas. Pour this liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and fold together until no flour remains but making sure you do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. Remove banana bread from oven and let cool on wire rack. Alternatively, as my oldest prefers, let cool in pan for about 30 minutes before removing and eating the bread warm.

There are still four bananas sitting on my counter which means we will once again be eating three loaves of banana bread this week. I’m certain the kids will not mind but I’m already thinking of another loaf bread to try the next time they will be here.