Banana Nut Loaf

This is a simple, classic, no-nonsense, moist and delicious loaf (I simply refuse to classify it as a bread or cake, so I’m just going to stick with loaf), made with brown sugar, plenty of bananas, chocolate chips and a hint of cinnamon.

I actually scaled down the recipe to 2/3 so that I can bake it in my 8×4-inch loaf. After scaling down the recipe, I should need only 1 cup of mashed bananas, but it seemed to have slipped my mind and I kept thinking I need 1 1/2 cups instead, so I kept peeling, mashing and measuring when I abruptly stopped myself and realized I had already mashed 1 1/3 cups.

Darn.

What am I going to do with the additional 1/3 cup of mashed bananas? I am certainly not going to spoon it into my mouth – mashed bananas just looked… You know what I mean?

Not wanting to waste any bit of the bananas, I decided to just add all of it into the batter – and it resulted in a really intense banana-y and moist loaf. Not sure how it will fare if I have used lesser, but I’m glad the loaf turned out fine delicious in the end!

Have you ever measured a key ingredient wrongly in a recipe? When did you realized, and what did you do? Most importantly, how did your dessert/dish turned out? Would love to read all of your “kitchen disasters”!

On a side note, my apologies for not being able to reply all of your lovely comments. I’ve been swamped with work lately, sounds like a really lame excuse but unfortunately it’s true (sigh… life of an auditor…) Please forgive me! My priority now is to keep this blog updated as much as I can, hence I’m seriously lagging behind in replying the comments… thank you so much for your understanding!

Let’s move on to something more happy: step-by-step photos for this recipe!

(Click on the photo to see to a larger image.)

1) Peel some bananas – use bananas that are as ripe as possible.	2) Mash the bananas – I used the beater of my mixer, don’t have a masher on hand :/
3) Cream butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.	4) Add in the mashed bananas and beat it in.
5) Crack 2 eggs in a small bowl.	6) Beat the eggs lightly, add into the batter, and beat it in.
7) Add in some buttermilk and beat until just combined.	8) Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chopped, toasted walnuts together.
9) Add in the flour mixture and stir to combine.	10) On a last minute whim, add in some dark chocolate chips.
11) Transfer the batter into a loaf tin.	12) Bake until done!

Who’s ready for tea?

I’m submitting this recipe to:

1) Bake Along hosted by these wonderful and sweet ladies: Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lenafrom Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. Click on the little froggie below to see how other foodies’ bakes turned out!

2) Recipe Box hosted by the amazing Chaya from Bizzy Bakes!

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Banana Nut Loaf (makes a 8×4-inch loaf)

adapted from Williams Sonoma Banana Nut Bread

55 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/4 cup; 1/2 stick)
100 grams brown sugar (1/2 cup)
300 grams very ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/3 cups)
2 eggs, beaten lightly
80 ml buttermilk (1/3 cup)
165 grams all-purpose flour (1 1/3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Butter a 8×4-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat, using an electric mixer, on medium-high speed for 5 minutes until the mixture is pale, light and fluffy. Add in the mashed bananas and beat on medium speed for another 1 minute. Add in the beaten eggs and beat on medium speed for another 1 minute. Add in the buttermilk and beat on low speed until just combined.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, walnuts and chocolate chips in a small bowl and stir to mix them together.

Add the flour mixture into the batter and stir with a large wooden spoon until just combined (until no flecks of flour is visible).

Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf tin and spread it evenly with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Tap the loaf twice on the table counter to get rid of excess air bubbles and bake for 45 to 55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. (Check the loaf after 30 minutes, if the top is getting overly browned, tent it with a piece of aluminum foil.) Let the loaf cool completely on a wire rack.

Turn the loaf out onto a serving plate. Slice and serve!

Notes:

[1] Ingredients: All ingredients should be at room temperature.

[2] Use very ripe bananas: They are softer and sweeter. If you have very ripe bananas but have no time to bake them, peel the bananas. Wrap the bananas individually with plastic wrap and stick them into the freezer until needed.

[3] How to toast nuts: Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in the center rack for 3 to 5 minutes until the nuts are lightly browned. Let cool completely before chopping. (Or you can chop first then toast them.)

[4] Substituting buttermilk: Measure 1 teaspoon of vinegar / lemon into the measuring cup. Top up with enough fresh milk to get 1/3 cup of liquid. Stir gently to mix the acid and milk together. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before using (stir the mixture before using).

[5] Cinnamon: If you’re not a fan of cinnamon, simply omit it or substitute with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

[6] Chocolate chips: Purely optional – you can use milk, semisweet or dark chocolate chips.

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Happy baking!

More bananas for you?

• Healthy Marble Banana Bread (thelabyrinthguide.wordpress.com)
• One of my favorite recipe…the Banana Bread! (beautyandfoodblog.wordpress.com)
• Honey-Banana Cake (sweetbetweens.com)
• Yogurt Banana Chocolate Bread (chewoutloud.com)
• Chocolate banana nuts bread (belesaaru.wordpress.com)

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Tags: baking, bananas, breads, Cakes, CHOCOLATE, cinnamon, food, nuts, recipes, spiced, walnuts

• March 5, 2013
• b) Medium, Bake-Along, Bread & Dough, Cakes (Others), Chocolate, Fruits, Nuts & Spices, Step-by-Step Photos
• 14 comments